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Afghanistan

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Background :

Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., a U.S., Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. In December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan and the National Assembly was inaugurated the following December. Karzai was re-elected in November 2009 for a second term. Despite gains toward building a stable central government, a resurgent Taliban and continuing provincial instability - particularly in the south and the east - remain serious challenges for the Afghan Government. 

Location :

Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

33 00 N, 65 00 E  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West 60.48
North 38.48
East 74.88
South 29.38

Area :

total 652 230 square km
land 652 230 square km
water 0 square km

Land boundaries :

total 5 529 km
China (cn) 76 km
Iran (ir) 936 km
Pakistan (pk) 2 430 km
Tajikistan (tj) 1 206 km
Turkmenistan (tm) 744 km
Uzbekistan (uz) 137 km

Coastline :

0.00 km

Climate :

arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers 

Terrain :

mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest 

Elevation extremes :

lowest point 258 metres
highest point 7 485 metres

Natural resources :

barite chromite
coal copper
iron ore lead
natural gas petroleum
precious and semiprecious stones salt
sulfur talc
zinc

Land use :

arable land 12.13 %
permanent crops 0.21 %
other 87.66 %

Irrigated land :

27 200 square km

Natural hazards :

damaging earthquakes droughts
flooding

current issues :

limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution 

international agreements :

Biodiversity Climate Change
Desertification Endangered Species
Environmental Modification Hazardous Wastes
Law of the Sea Marine Dumping
Marine Life Conservation Ozone Layer Protection

Population :

28 395 716 

Indicators :

Growth rate 2.58 %
Birth rate 38.37 births/1,000 population
Total fertility rate 5.60 children born/woman
Death rate 17.83 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate 5.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Age structure :

0-14 years 43.60 %
15-64 years 54.00 %
65 years and over 2.40 %

Median age :

total 17.60 years
male 17.60 years
female 17.60 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.93 male(s)/female
total population 1.05 male(s)/female

Health :

Infant mortality rate 153.14 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth - total population 44.40 years
Life expectancy at birth - male 44.19 years
Life expectancy at birth - female 44.61 years
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 0.01 %

Religions :

Sunni Muslim 80.00 %
Shia Muslim 19.00 %
other 1.00 %

Languages :

Afghan Persian or Dari 50.00 %
Pashtu 35.00 %
Turkic 11.00 %

Literacy :

total population 28.10 %
male 43.10 %
female 12.60 %

Country name :

conventional long form Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
conventional short form Afghanistan
local long form Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan
local short form Afghanestan
former Republic of Afghanistan

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 AF
ISO Numeric 4
ISO3 AFG
FIPS AF
ccTLD af
English Afghanistan

Administrative divisions :

34 provinces (welayat, singular - welayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktiya, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Zabul 

Capital :

name Kabul
geographic coordinates 34 31 N, 69 11 E
time difference 4.50

International organization participation :

ADB CICA
CP ECO
FAO G-77
IAEA IBRD
ICAO ICCt
IDA IDB
IFAD IFC
IFRCS ILO
IMF IOC
IOM ISO (correspondent)
ITSO ITU
Interpol MIGA
NAM OIC
OPCW OSCE (partner)
SAARC SACEP
SCO (guest) UN
UNCTAD UNESCO
UNIDO UNWTO
UPU WCO
WFTU WHO
WIPO WMO
WTO (observer)

Independence :

1919-08-19 

National holiday :

Independence Day

1919-08-19

Executive branch :

President Hamid KARZAI

GDP - Gross Domestic product :

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity 23 350 000 000 $
Official Exchange Rate 13 320 000 000
RGR - Real Growth rate 3.40 %
PPP - per capita 800 $

GDP Composition by sector :

agriculture 31.00 %
industry 26.00 %
services 43.00 %

Labor force - by occupation :

agriculture 78.60 %
industry 5.70 %
services 15.70 %

Other Indicators :

Labor force 15 000 000 people
Unemployment rate 35.00 %
Population below poverty line 36.00 %
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 30.50 %
Current account balance - 2 475 000 000 $
Debt external 2 700 000 000 $
Military expenditures 1.90 % of GDP

Budget :

expenditures 3 300 000 000 $

Agriculture - products :

fruits lambskins
mutton nuts
opium sheepskins
wheat wool

Industries :

apparel cement
coal copper
fertilizer food products
furniture handwoven carpets
mineral water natural gas
non alcoholic beverages production of textiles
shoes soap

Energy :

Electricity Production 285 500 000 kWh
Electricity Consumption 231 100 000 kWh
Electricity Imports 230 000 000 kWh
Oil Consumption 5 000 bbl/day
Oil Imports 4 404 bbl/day
Natural gas Production 30 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Consumption 30 000 000 cubic metres
Electricity Exports 49 550 000 000 cubic metres

Value :

547 000 000 $

Commodities :

cotton fruits and nuts
handwoven carpets hides and pelts
opium precious and semi-precious gems
wool

Value :

5 300 000 000 $

Commodities :

machinery food petroleum products
textiles

Currency-name :

afghani 

Communications :

Telephons Main lines in use 460 000
Telephons Mobile, Cellular 8 450 000
Television broadcast stations 16
Internet Country code (ccTLD) af
Internet Hosts 47
Internet Users 500 000

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 16
Heliports 11
Pipelines - gas 466 km
Roadways - total 42 150 km
Roadways - paved 12 350 km
Roadways - unpaved 29 800 km
Waterways 1 200 km

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