Afġānistān, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Persian: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان), is a landlocked country that is located in the heart of Asia. It is variously designated within Central or South Asia, as well as the Middle East sometimes.^[1][2][3] It has religious, ethno-linguistic, and geographic links with most of its neighbours. It is largely bordered by Pakistan in the south and east,^[4] Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, Kashmir in the north-east and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast. The name Afghanistan means the "Land of Afghans". Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Coat_of_arms_of_Afghanistan. ... Afghanistans flag, from 2004 to Present. ... Emblem of Afghanistan The National Emblem of Afghanistan has appeared in some form on the Flag of Afghanistan since the inception of that nation. ... A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that is evoking and eulogizing the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nations government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. ... Soroud-e-Melli (Persian for National Anthem) is the national anthem of Afghanistan. ... Image File history File links LocationAfghanistan. ... This article is about a city that serves as a center of government and politics. ... Ethnic groups of Afghanistan (1980 map)  42% Pashtun  27% Tajik  9% Hazara  9% Uzbek         3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        Languages of Afghanistan (1980 map)  50% Dari dialect of Persian  35% Pashto  8% Uzbek  3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        The Demographics of Afghanistan are ethnically and linguistically mixed. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... An official language is a language that is given a unique legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... Pashto (پښتو; also known as Afghan, Pushto, Pashto, Pashtoe, Pashtu, and Pukhto) is the language spoken by the ethnic Afghan otherwise known as the Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and the Western provinces of Pakistan. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Dari (Persian: ‎ ) is the official name for the Persian language in Afghanistan, popularly and locally known as Farsi. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Afghanistan has only intermittently been a republic - between 1973-1992 and from 2001 onwards - at other times being governed by a variety of kings, emirs and (under the mujahideen and Taliban regimes in the 1990s) Islamist rulers. ... Hamid Karzai (Pashto: حامد کرزي, Persian: حامد کرزی) (b. ... A vice president is an officer in government or business who is next in rank below a president. ... Ahmad Zia Massoud is the current vice-president of Afghanistan in the administration of President Hamid Karzai. ... A vice president is an officer in government or business who is next in rank below a president. ... This biographical article needs to be wikified. ... Motto Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right)1 Anthem God Save the King/Queen Territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Capital London Language(s) English2 Government Constitutional monarchy Monarch  - 1801–1820 George III  - 1820–1830 George IV  - 1830–1837 William IV  - 1837–1901... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. ... To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions, we list here surface areas between 100,000 km² and 1,000,000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude. ... This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by area. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... A percentage is a way of expressing a proportion, a ratio or a fraction as a whole number, by using 100 as the denominator. ... This is a list of sovereign states and other territories by population, using the most recently available official figures. ... Population density by country, 2006 Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. ... Population density by country, 2006 List of countries and dependencies by population density in inhabitants/km². The list includes sovereign states and self-governing dependent territories that are recognized by the United Nations. ... The Purchasing power parity (PPP) theory was developed by Gustav Cassel in 1920. ... Map of world GDP (PPP) by country using the IMF list for 2005 There are three lists of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP) (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year). ... Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head. ... Map of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita, based on the 2005 IMF data. ... World map indicating Human Development Index (2004). ... Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (2004) This is a list of countries by Human Development Index as included in the United Nations Development Programmes Human Development Report 2006, compiled on the basis of 2004 data. ... The Afghani is the system of currency used in Afghanistan. ... ISO 4217 is the international standard describing three letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ... A time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. ... Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is a high-precison atomic time standard. ... Though DST is common in Europe and North America, most of the worlds people do not use it. ... Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is a high-precison atomic time standard. ... A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain used and reserved for a country or a dependent territory. ... .af is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Afghanistan. ... This is a list of country calling codes defined by ITU-T recommendation E.164. ... The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Pashto (‎, IPA: also known as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto ‎, Pashtoe, Pashtu, Pushtu, Pushtoo, Pathan, or Afghan language) is an Iranian language of the Indo-Iranian language family spoken by Pashtuns living in southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... A landlocked country is one that has no coastline. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ...

Afghanistan is a mosaic of ethnic groups and a crossroads between the East and the West. It has been an ancient focal point of trade and migration. The region has seen many invaders or conquerors, including the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, Muslim Arabs, Turkic and Mongol nomads, the British Empire, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. On the other hand, native entities had conquered surrounding regions to form empires of their own. The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures, social structures and philosophical systems of the East, namely Asia (including China, India, Japan, and surrounding regions). ... The term Western world or the West (also on rare occasions called the Occident) can have multiple meanings depending on its context (i. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... The Arab Empire at its greatest extent The Arab Empire usually refers to the following Caliphates: Rashidun Caliphate (632 - 661) Umayyad Caliphate (661 - 750) - Successor of the Rashidun Caliphate Umayyad Emirate in Islamic Spain (750 - 929) Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in Islamic Spain (929 - 1031) Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258... This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ... Expansion of the Mongol Empire Another picture of Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: Их Монгол Улс, literally meaning Greater Mongol Nation; 1206–1405) was the largest contiguous land empire in history, covering over 33 million km² [1] (12 million square miles) at its peak, with an estimated population of over 100 million... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

Ahmad Shah Durrani created a large empire in the middle of the eighteenth century, with its capital at Kandahar.^[5] Subsequently, most of its territories were ceded to former neighboring countries by the early twentieth century, due to regional conflicts. On August 19 1919, following the third Anglo-Afghan war, the country regained full independence from the United Kingdom over its foreign affairs. See Ahmad Shah Qajar for the Persian ruler (1909-1925). ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // It was not until 1826 that the energetic Dost Mohammad was able to exert sufficient control over his brothers to take over the throne in Kabul, where he proclaimed himself amir. ... This article is about a journal. ...

Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan has suffered continuous and brutal civil war, which included foreign interventions in the form of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the 2001 conflict with the US in which the ruling Taliban government was toppled. In December 2001, the United Nations Security Council authorized the creation of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This force, composed of NATO troops, has been involved in assisting the government of President Hamid Karzai in establishing authority across the nation. In 2005, the United States and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement committing both nations to a long-term relationship. In the meantime, about 30 billion US dollars have also been provided by the international community for the reconstruction of the country. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... A Soviet soldier on guard in Afghanistan in 1988. ... Combatants Taliban al-Qaeda IMU Hezbi Islami Afghanistan Northern Alliance United Nations: ISAF NATO, including: Canada United Kingdom Netherlands France United States Commanders Osama bin Laden Mohammed Omar Obaidullah Akhund Mullah Dadullah Bismillah Khan Tommy Franks Dan McNeill David Fraser Strength 12,000 claimed by Taliban Afghan Army: 46,000... Public execution of a woman by Taliban at Ghazi Sports Stadium, 1999. ... “UNSC” redirects here. ... Logo of ISAF. Persian writing: کمک و همکاری (Komak va Hamkari) means Help and Cooperation. International Security Assistance Force (10) (ISAF) is an international military force in Afghanistan led by NATO and consisting of about 32,000 personnel from 37 nations as of October 5, 2006. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague. ... Hamid Karzai (Pashto: حامد کرزي, Persian: حامد کرزی) (b. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... After more than two decades of conflict, the Reconstruction of Afghanistan has begun, though it continues to hampered by continuing conflict. ...

Etymology

Main articles: Origins of the name Afghan and List of country name etymologies

The name Afghānistān translates to the "Land of Afghans". Its modern usage derives from the word Afghan. Afghanistan literally means the land of the Afghans, but the region has had a plethora of other names that have been applied to its general location in the past. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The suffix -stan (spelled ـستان in the Perso-Arabic script) is Persian for place of, and -sthan (स्थान in the DevanāgarÄ« script) is a cognate Sanskrit suffix with the same meaning. ...

Origin of the word "Afghan"

The Pashtuns began using the term Afghan as a name for themselves from at least the Islamic period and onwards. According to W. K. Frazier Tyler, M. C. Gillet and several other scholars, "The word Afghan first appears in history in the Hudud-al-Alam in 982 AD." In this regard, the Encyclopædia Iranica states:^[6] Languages Pashto (plus second languages from countries of residence) Religions Islam (predominantly Sunni) Related ethnic groups Neighboring Iranian peoples (Tajiks, Persians, Baloch, Pamiri peoples, Kurds) BurushoHindkowans KalashNuristanis Pashai Pashtuns[9] (also Pathans[10] or ethnic Afghans[11][12]) are an ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in eastern and southern... Hudud ul-alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib (حدود العالم من المشرق الی المغرب) meaning The Limits of The World from The East to The West is a tenth century Geography book written by an unknown author. ... Encyclopædia Iranica is a project of Columbia University started in 1974 at its Center for Iranian (Persian) Studies with the goal to create a comprehensive and authoritiative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. ...

From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Afghān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afghan [and] Paštūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paštūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically.

It further explains:

The term "Afghān" has probably designated the Paštūn since ancient times. Under the form Avagānā, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century CE in his Brihat-samhita. The population of the Earth rises to about 208 million people. ...

This information is supported by traditional Pashto literature, for example in the writings of the seventeenth century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak:^[7] Pashto (پښتو; also known as Afghan, Pushto, Pashto, Pashtoe, Pashtu, and Pukhto) is the language spoken by the ethnic Afghan otherwise known as the Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and the Western provinces of Pakistan. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Khushal Khan Khattak Khushal Khan Khattak (1613 - 1690) was a famous Afghan warrior, poet, and tribal chief of the Khattak tribe. ...

Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashtun and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtuns, Pashtuns are Afghans!

Meaning and origin of the name "Afghanistan"

The last part of the name, -stān, is an Indo-Iranian suffix for "place", prominent in many languages of the region. Indo-Iranian languages (also called Aryan languages) are the eastern-most group of the living Indo-European languages. ...

The term "Afghanistan", meaning the "Land of Afghans", was mentioned by the sixteenth century Mughal Emperor Babur in his memoirs, referring to the territories south of Kabul that were inhabited by Pashtuns (called "Afghans" by Babur).^[8] (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... It has been suggested that Mughal Era be merged into this article or section. ... Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad, commonly known as Bābur (February 14, 1483 – December 26, 1530) (Chaghatay/Persian: ; also spelled ), was a Muslim Emperor from Central Asia who founded the Mughal dynasty of India. ... Bāburnāma (Chaghatay/Persian: ‎ ; literally: Book of Babur or Letters of Babur) are the memoirs of Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur (1483-1530), the founder of the Mughal Empire and the great-great-great-grandson of Timur. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ...

In his Baburnama, Babur calls Afghanistan the southern territories of Kabulistan and north of Kandahar that were inhabited by nomadic Khilijs (Ghilzais) (Kuchis) who traveled from Sindh to Khorasan and from Khorasan to Sindh. Khilijs were also called "Afghans" by Babur. Bāburnāma (Chaghatay/Persian: ‎ ; literally: Book of Babur or Letters of Babur) are the memoirs of Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur (1483-1530), the founder of the Mughal Empire and the great-great-great-grandson of Timur. ... Kabulistan (Persian: ‎ ) is a historical region around Kabul. ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ... The Ghilzais (also known as Khiljis or Ghaljis) are one of two largest groups of Pashtuns, along with the Durrani tribe, found in Afghanistan with a large group also found in neighboring Pakistan. ... Kuchis are a tribe of Pashtun nomads in Afghanistan. ... Sindh (Sindhī: سنڌ, Urdū: سندھ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Sindhis, and Muhajirs and various other groups. ... Khorasan (Persian: خراسان) (also transcribed as Khurasan and Khorassan; Horasan in Turkish) is a region located in eastern Iran. ...

Regarding the modern nation "Afghanistan", the Encyclopædia of Islam^[9] states: The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI) is the standard encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies. ...

Afghānistān has borne that name only since the middle of the eighteenth century, when the supremacy of the Afghan race (Pashtuns) became assured: previously various districts bore distinct appellations, but the country was not a definite political unit, and its component parts were not bound together by any identity of race or language. The earlier meaning of the word was simply “the land of the Afghans”, a limited territory which did not include many parts of the present state but did comprise large districts now either independent or within the boundary of Pakistan. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, or ethnic Afghan; in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan) are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India who follow Pashtunwali, their indigenous religion. ...

Until the nineteenth century, the name was only used for the traditional lands of the Pashtuns, while the kingdom as a whole was known as the Kingdom of Kabul, as mentioned by the British statesman and historian Mountstuart Elphinstone.^[10] Other parts of the country were at certain periods recognized as independent kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Balkh in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.^[11] Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of the Kingdom of Caboul, published in 1838 by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. ... Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 - November 20, 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the British government of India. ...

With the expansion and centralization of the country, Afghan authorities adopted and extended the name "Afghanistan" to the entire kingdom, after its English translation, "Afghanland", had already appeared in various treaties between British Raj and Qajarid Persia, referring to the lands that were subject to the Pashtun Barakzai Dynasty of Kabul.^[12] "Afghanistan" as the name for the entire kingdom was mentioned in 1857 by Frederick Engels.^[13] It became the official name when the country was recognized by the world community in 1919, after regaining its full independence from the British,^[14] and was confirmed as such in the nation's 1923 constitution.^[15] The flag of British India British India, circa 1860 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule; from Sanskrit Rajya) was the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, which included the present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Burma (Myanmar), whereby these lands were under the colonial... The Qajar dynasty ( ) (Persian: ‎ - or دودمان قاجار - Qâjâr) was the ruling family of Persia from 1781 to 1925. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, ethnic Afghan, or Pathan) are an ethno-linguistic group consisting mainly of eastern Iranian stock living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... Barakzai or Barakzay is a Pashtun clan, belonging to Afghanistan and some also to Pakistan. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820, Wuppertal – August 5, 1895, London), a 19th-century German political philosopher, developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Geography

Main article: Geography of Afghanistan

Topography

Afghanistan is a land-locked and mountainous country in central Asia, with plains in the north and southwest. The highest point is Nowshak, at 7,485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level. Large parts of the country are dry, and fresh water supplies are limited. Afghanistan has a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The country is frequently subject to minor earthquakes, mainly in the northeast of Hindu Kush mountain areas. Afghanistan is located in the center or heart of Asia and specifically upon the geologic Iranian plateau, which is 647,500km². The country is landlocked and mountainous, containing most of the Hindu Kush. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1400x1083, 537 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1400x1083, 537 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Lyskamm, 4 527 m, Pennine Alps A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ... Noshaq (or Nowshak) is the highest mountain in Afghanistan and the second highest peak of the Hindu Kush, Tirich Mir (7,690 m) being the highest. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... An earthquake is the result from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... The Hindu Kush or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ...

At 249,984 mi² (647,500 km²), Afghanistan is the world's 41st-largest country (after Myanmar). Comparatively, it is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Texas. A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... Official language(s) No Official Language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ...

The country's natural resources include gold, silver, copper, zinc and iron ore in southeastern areas; precious and semi-precious stones such as lapis, emerald and azure in the north-east; and potentially significant petroleum and natural gas reserves in the north. The country also has coal, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, and salt. However, these significant mineral and energy resources remain largely untapped due to the effects of the Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil war. Plans are underway to begin extracting them in the near future.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Standard atomic weight 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ... A selection of gemstone pebbles made by tumbling rough rock with abrasive grit, in a rotating drum. ... Lapis lazuli, also known as just lapis, is one of the stones with the longest tradition of being considered a gem, with a history stretching back to 5000 BC. Deep blue in color and opaque, this gemstone was highly prized by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, as can be seen... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The term Azure (from Persian لاژورد lazhward) can refer to any of the following: The blueish color of the sky. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane but including significant quantities of ethane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... Chromite, iron magnesium chromium oxide: (Fe,Mg)Cr2O4, is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. ... Talc (derived from the Persian via Arabic talq) is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg3(SiO3)4 or Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. ... Baryte with Cerussite from Morocco Baryte with Galena and Hematite from Poland Barite (BaSO4) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Standard atomic weight 32. ... For Pb as an abbreviation, see PB. General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ... A magnified crystal of a salt (halite/sodium chloride) Salt covering the floor of Bad Water in Death Valley, CA, the lowest point in the US. A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and bases. ...

History

Main article: History of Afghanistan

Excavation of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institute and others suggests that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the area were among the earliest in the world.^[21][22] Excavation of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institute and others suggests that early humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities in Afghanistan were among the earliest in the world. ... This article is about the private Ivy League university in Philadelphia. ... The Smithsonian castle, as seen through the garden gate. ...

Afghanistan is a country at a unique nexus point where numerous Indo-European civilizations have interacted and often fought, and was an important site of early historical activity. Through the ages, the region has been home to various people, among them the Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tribes, such as the Kambojas, Bactrians, Persians, etc. For the language group see Indo-European languages; for other uses see Indo-European (disambiguation) Indo-Europeans are speakers of Indo-European languages. ... Aryan (/eərjən/ or /ɑːrjən/, Sanskrit: ) is a Sanskrit and Avestan word meaning noble/spiritual one. ... Map of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture (red), its expansion into the Andronovo culture during the 2nd millennium BC, showing the overlap with the BMAC in the south. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of the north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent and what is now Afghanistan, frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Bactria (Bactriana) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Caucasus Indicus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus), with the capital Bactra (now Balkh). ... The Persians of Iran (officially named Persia by West until 1935 while still referred to as Persia by some) are an Iranian people who speak Persian (locally named Fârsi by native speakers) and often refer to themselves as ethnic Iranians as well. ...

It also has been invaded or conquered by a host of people, including the Median and Persian Empires, Greeks, Kushans, Hepthalites, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, British, Soviets, and most recently by the Americans and their allies. On the other hand, native entities have invaded or conquered surrounding regions in Iranian Plateau and Indian Subcontinent to form empires of their own. This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... Boundary of the Kushan empire, c. ... The Hephthalites, also known as White Huns, were a nomadic people who lived across northern China, Central Asia, and northern India in the fourth through sixth centuries. ... Languages Arabic other languages (Arab minorities) Religions Predominantly Islam Some adherents of Druze, Judaism, Samaritan, Christianity Related ethnic groups Jews, Canaanites, other Semitic-speaking groups An Arab (Arabic: ); is a member of a Semitic group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to the... The name Mongols (Mongolian: Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups. ... “CCCP” redirects here. ... Topographic map of the Iranian plateau connecting to Anatolia in the west and Hindu Kush and Himalaya in the east The Iranian plateau is a major geologic formation in West Asia between Anatolian Plateau in the northwest and the Indian Subcontinent in the southeast. ... Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ...

The region that is now Afghanistan was for much of its history part of various Persian dynasties, such as the Achaemenid Empire (559–330 BCE)

Between 2000 and 1200 BC, waves of Indo-European-speaking Aryans from the north of Amu Darya are thought to have flooded into northern Afghanistan and then spread south towards India and west towards Persia, setting up a nation that during the rule of Medes and Achaemenid Persians became known as Aryānām Xšaθra or Airyānem Vāejah. Later, during the rule of Ashkanian, Sasanian and after, it was called Erānshahr (Persian: ايرانشهر - Īrānšahr) meaning "Dominion of the Aryans", which included large parts of Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and modern-day Central Asia (Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, the western part of Pakistan, etc., depending on differing interpretations). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 786 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (971 × 741 pixel, file size: 76 KB, MIME type: image/gif) The Persian Empire in 490 BC. A public domain image created by the Department of History, United States Military Academy, West Point. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 786 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (971 × 741 pixel, file size: 76 KB, MIME type: image/gif) The Persian Empire in 490 BC. A public domain image created by the Department of History, United States Military Academy, West Point. ... The Persepolis Ruins The Achaemenid dynasty (Old Persian:Hakamanishiya, Persian: هخامنشیان) - was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... This article is about the term Aryan. For Arian, a follower of the ancient Christian sect, See Arianism. ... The Amu Darya (Darya means river) rises in the Pamirs and flows mainly north-west through the Hindu Kush, Uzbekistan to join the Aral Sea in a large delta. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly emcompassing some parts of todays Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon... The Airyanem Vaejah or Airyana Waejah (Aryan Expanse) was the legendary home of the Aryan (Indo-Iranian) people, as described in writings in the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrians. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ...

It has been speculated that Zoroastrianism might have originated in what is now Afghanistan between 1800 to 800 BC^{[citation needed]}. Ancient Eastern Iranian languages, such as Avestan, may have been spoken in this region around a similar time-line with the rise of Zoroastrianism. By the middle of the sixth century BC, the Persian Empire of the Achaemenids supplanted the Median Empire and incorporated what was known as Persia to the Greeks within its boundaries; and by 330 BC, Alexander the Great had invaded Afghanistan and conquered the surrounding regions. Following Alexander's brief occupation, the Hellenistic successor states of the Seleucids and Greco-Bactrians controlled the area, while the Mauryas from India annexed the southeast for a time and introduced Buddhism to the region until the area returned to the Bactrian rule. Zoroastrianism (Avestan DaÄ“nā Vañuhi the good religion)[1][2] is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ... The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family with an estimated 150-200 million native speakers today. ... Yasna 28. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... The term Hellenistic (derived from HéllÄ“n, the Greeks traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek people that were conquered by Alexander the Great. ... Seleucus I Nicator (Nicator, the Victor) (around 358–281 BC) was one of Alexander the Greats generals who, after Alexanders death in 323 BC, founded the Seleucid Empire. ... Approximate extent of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom circa 220 BCE. The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising todays northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion... Chandragupta Maurya (ruled 322–298 BC), known to the Greeks as Sandracottus, was the first emperor of the Mauryan empire. ... Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion and a philosophy. ...

Buddhas of Bamyan were the largest Buddha statues in the world, dating back to the first century AD.

During the first century AD, the Kushans created a vast empire centered in modern Afghanistan and were patrons of Buddhist culture. The Kushans were defeated by the Sassanids in the third century. Although various rulers calling themselves Kushans (and generally known as Kushano-Sasanians) continued to rule at least parts of the region today known as Afghanistan, they were probably more or less subject to the Sassanids.^[23] The late Kushans were followed by the Kidarite Huns^[24] who, in turn, were replaced by the short-lived but powerful Hephthalites, as rulers of the region in the first half of the fifth century.^[25] The Hephthalites were defeated by the Sasanian king Khosrau I in AD 557, who re-established Sasanian power in Persia. However, the successors of Kushans and Hepthalites established a small dynasty in Kabulistan called Kushano-Hephthalites or Kabul-Shahan and were later defeated by the Muslim Armies. Download high resolution version (526x707, 131 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (526x707, 131 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... One of the Buddhas of Bamyan as it stood in 1963. ... Media:Example. ... The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ... ALSO REFER TO SYDNEY DEATH METAL BAND ANNO DOMINI - REFER TO [www. ... Boundary of the Kushan empire, c. ... The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Empire (Persian: Ṣāṣānīyān) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226 - 651). ... Xionites or Chionites Middle Persian: Xiyon, (Hiun/Hion) Chinese: Xiyung (西戎) meaning Western Rong or simply Yǔn (狁) or Xiong (匈), Armenian: Hunni, were the inhabitants of Turan from ancient times and dominated various subservient tribes to the east which were known to the Chinese as Xiongnu. ... The Hephthalites, also known as White Huns, were a nomadic people who lived across northern China, Central Asia, and northern India in the fourth through sixth centuries. ... A coin of Khosrau I. Khosrau I, (Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anooshiravan also spelled Anushirvan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anooshiravan the Just (انوشیروان عادل, Anooshiravan-e-ādel) (ruled 531–579), was the favourite son and successor of Kavadh I (488–531... Kabulistan (Persian: ‎ ) is a historical region around Kabul. ... The Kushano-Hephthalites (565 - 670 CE) were the successors of Kushans and Hephthalites. ... The Kushano-Hephthalites (565 - 670 CE) were the successors of Kushans and Hephthalites. ...

In the Middle Ages, up to the eighteenth century, the region was known as Khorasan.^[26][27] Several important centers of Khorāsān are thus located in modern Afghanistan, such as Balkh, Herat, Ghazni and Kabul. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Friday Mosque in Herat, a city which is known as The Pearl of Khorasan Greater Khorasan is a modern term for eastern territories of ancient Persia. ... Today Balkh (Persian: بلخ) is a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazari Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. ... Ghazni (Persian: غزنی , ÄžaznÄ«) is a city in eastern Afghanistan, with an estimated population of 149,998 people. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ...

Map showing the Muslim world and the Mongolian invasion in the 13th century. In the Middle Ages the territory that is today Afghanistan was known as Khorasan.

The region of Afghanistan became the center of various important empires, including that of the Samanids (875–999), Ghaznavids (977–1187), Seljukids (1037–1194), Ghurids (1149–1212), and Timurids (1370–1506). Among them, the periods of Ghaznavids^[28] of Ghazni, and Timurids^[29] of Herat are considered as some of the most brilliant eras of Afghanistan's history. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Nations with a Muslim majority appear in green, while nations that are approximately 50% Muslim appear yellow. ... Friday Mosque in Herat, a city which is known as The Pearl of Khorasan Greater Khorasan is a modern term for eastern territories of ancient Persia. ... The Samanids (875-999) (in Persian: Samanian) were a Persian dynasty in Central Asia and eastern Iran, named after its founder Saman Khoda. ... The Ghaznavid Empire (سلسله غزنویان in Persian) was a state in the region of todays Afghanistan that existed from 962 to 1187. ... The Seljuk Turks (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq;in Turkish Selçuklu, in Persian سلجوقيان SaljÅ«qiyān ; in Arabic سلجوق SaljÅ«q, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa;) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turkics and a dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th... The Ghurids (or Ghoris; self-designation: ShansabānÄ«) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty in Khorasan, most likely of Eastern Iranian TājÄ«k[1][2] origin. ... Flag of the Timurid Empire according to the Catalan Atlas c. ...

In 1219, the region was overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who devastated the land. Their rule continued with the Ilkhanates, and was extended further following the invasion of Timur Lang ("Tamerlane"), a ruler from Central Asia. In 1504, Babur, a descendant of both Timur Lang and Genghis Khan, established the Mughal Empire with its capital at Kabul. By the early 1700s, Afghanistan was controlled by several ruling groups: Uzbeks to the north, Safavids to the west and the remaining larger area by the Mughals or self-ruled by local Afghan tribes. // Events Saint Francis of Assisi introduces Catholicism into Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade The Flag of Denmark fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse Ongoing events Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) Births Christopher I of Denmark (died 1259) Frederick II of Austria (died 1246) Guillaume de Gisors, supposedly the... The name Mongols (Mongolian: Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups. ... For other uses, see Genghis Khan (disambiguation). ... Khanates of Mongolian Empire: Il-Khanate, Chagatai Khanate, Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty), Golden Horde The Ilkhanate (also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate) was one of the four divisions within the Mongol Empire. ... Statue of Timur in Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan Tīmūr bin Taraghay Barlas (Chagatai Turkic: تیمور - Tēmōr, iron) (1336 – February 1405) was a 14th-century warlord of Turco-Mongol descent[1][2][3][4], conqueror of much of Western and central Asia, and founder of the Timurid Empire (1370–1405... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... The Safavid Empire at its 1512 borders. ...

In 1709, Mirwais Khan Hotak, a local Afghan (Pashtun) from the Ghilzai clan, overthrew and killed Gurgin Khan, the Safavid governor of Kandahar. Mirwais Khan successfully defeated the Persians, who were attempting to convert the local population of Kandahar from Sunni to Shia sect of Islam. Mirwais held the region of Kandahar until his death in 1715 and was succeeded by his son Mir Mahmud Hotaki. In 1722, Mir Mahmud led an Afghan army to Isfahan (now in Iran), sacked the city and proclaimed himself King of Persia. However, the great majority still rejected the Afghan regime as usurping, and after the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan by the Afghans – including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family – the Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new ruler, Nadir Shah of Persia.^[30][31] // Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... It has been suggested that Mir Wais Khan be merged into this article or section. ... The Ghilzais (also known as Khiljis or Ghaljis) are one of two largest groups of Pashtuns, along with the Durrani tribe, found in Afghanistan with a large group also found in neighboring Pakistan. ... Giorgi XI or Gurgin Khan, as he was known in Persia, was the ruler of eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli from Bagrationi dynasty and reigned in 1676-1688 and 1703-1709. ... Kandahar province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Naghsh-i Jahan Square, Isfahan This article is about the city of Isfahan. ... One of the worlds longest-lasting monarchies, the Iranian monarchy went through many transformations over the centuries, from the days of Persia to the creation of what is now modern day Iran. ... The Hotaki dynasty (1709-1736) was founded by Afghans (Pashuns) from the Ghilzai clan. ... Nadir Shah’s portrait from the collection of Smithsonian Institute Nadir Shah (Persian: نادر شاه) (Nadir Qoli Beg (Persian: نادر قلی بیگ), also Tahmasp-Qoli Khan (Persian: تهماسپ قلی خان) also Nadir Shah Afshar (Persian: نادر شاه افشار) ) (October 22, 1688 - June 19, 1747) ruled as Shah of Iran (1736–47) and was the founder of the short-lived Turkic Afsharid...

In 1738, Nadir Shah and his army, which included four thousand Pashtuns of the Abdali clan,^[32] conquered the region of Kandahar; in the same year he occupied Ghazni, Kabul and Lahore. On June 19, 1747, Nadir Shah was assassinated, possibly planned by his nephew Ali Qoli. In the same year, one of Nadir's military commanders and personal bodyguard, Ahmad Shah Abdali, a Pashtun from the Abdali clan, called for a loya jirga following Nadir's death. The Afghans gathered at Kandahar and chose Ahmad Shah as their King. Since then, he is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan.^[16][33][34] After the inauguration, he changed his title or clans' name to "Durrani", which derives from the Persian word Durr, meaning "Pearl".^[32] This page has been deleted, and should not be re-created without a good reason. ... Lahore (Urdu: لاہور, Punjabi: لہور, pronounced ) is the capital of the province of Punjab, and the second most dense city in Pakistan, also known as the Gardens of the Mughals or City of Gardens, after the significant rich heritage of the Mughal Empire. ... Adil Shah Afshar (? - 1748) was Shah of Persia from 1747 until 1748. ... See Ahmad Shah Qajar for the Persian ruler (1909-1925). ... Loya Jirga (June 13, 2002) Loya jirga, occasionally loya jirgah, is a large meeting held in Afghanistan, originally attended by Pashtun groups but later including other ethnic groups. ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ...

Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani Empire in 1747 and often considered the founder of Afghanistan.

By 1751, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his Afghan army conquered the entire present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, along with Delhi in India.^[13] In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Maruf, Kandahar, where he died peacefully. He was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah Durrani, who transferred the capital from Kandahar to Kabul. Timur died in 1793 and was finally succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani. Image File history File links The Emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani (died 1772) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links The Emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani (died 1772) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Durrani Empire was a larger state that included modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of eastern Iran and western India. ... Delhi   (Hindi: , Urdu: , Punjabi: ), sometimes refered to as Dilli, is the second-largest metropolis in India after Mumbai with a population of 13 million. ... Year 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Maruf is a city in Maruf District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. ... Timur Shah (1748 - 18 May 1793), the second son of Ahmed Shah Abdali and the second of the Durrani Dynasty, was the Shah of Afghanistan from 16 October 1772 until his death. ... Zaman Shah, (c. ...

During the nineteenth century, following the Anglo-Afghan wars (fought 1839–42, 1878–80, and lastly in 1919) and the ascension of the Barakzai dynasty, Afghanistan saw much of its territory and autonomy ceded to the United Kingdom. The UK exercised a great deal of influence, and it was not until King Amanullah Khan acceded to the throne in 1919 that Afghanistan re-gained complete independence over its foreign affairs (see "The Great Game"). During the period of British intervention in Afghanistan, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line. This would lead to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India – and later the new state of Pakistan – over what came to be known as the Pashtunistan debate. A series of three wars between Britain and the Afghans in the 19th century and early 20th century was formerly called the Afghan Wars but is now referred to as the Anglo-Afghan wars perhaps to distinguish them from the civil strife in the 1980s. ... The Barakzai Dynasty was the line of rulers in Afghanistan in the 19th and 20th centuries. ... Central Asia, circa 1848. ... The Durand Line is the term for the poorly marked 2,640 kilometer (1,610 mile) border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. ... British India (otherwise known as The British Raj) was a historical period during which most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, were under the colonial authority of the British Empire (Undivided India). ... Pashtunistan (Pashto, Persian: پشتونستان) or Pakhtunistan (Pashto, Persian: پختونستان), is what many Pashtun nationalists call the Pashtun-dominated areas of Pakistan. ...

The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was between 1933 and 1973, when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. However, in 1973, Zahir Shah's brother-in-law, Sardar Daoud Khan, launched a bloodless coup. Daoud Khan and his entire family were murdered in 1978, when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan launched a coup known as the Great Saur Revolution and took over the government. // The Shah was born into the Persian speaking Pashtun Barakzai dynasty of Afghanistan. ... Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan (July 18, 1909 - April 28, 1978) was an Afghani statesman and President of the Republic of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978 as a result of a revolution led by the quasi-Marxist Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (in Persian: حزب دموکراتيک خلق افغانستان, in Pashto: د افغانستان د خلق دموکراټیک ګوند, PDPA) was a Soviet-aligned Revisionist party that ruled Afghanistan from 1978 to 1991 with the help of 12000 Russian troops. ... Khalq (Masses) was a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan. ...

As part of a Cold War strategy, in 1979 the United States government (under President Jimmy Carter and National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski) began to covertly fund and train anti-government Mujahideen forces through the Pakistani secret service known as Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). In order to bolster the local Communist forces, the Soviet Union—citing the 1978 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborliness that had been signed between the two countries—intervened on December 24, 1979. Over 100,000 Soviet troops took part in the invasion, who were backed by over 100,000 pro-communist forces of Afghanistan. The Soviet occupation resulted in the killings of 1-2 million Afghan civilians. over 5 million Afghans fled their country, more than 3 million settled in Pakistan, over a million in Iran and many others settled in different parts world. Faced with mounting international pressure and great number of casaulties on both sides, the Soviets withdrew in 1989. For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (born March 28, 1928, Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish-American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman. ... Mujahideen (Arabic: , ; Turkish: , literally strugglers) is a term for Muslims fighting in a war or involved in any other struggle. ... Inter Services Intelligence or ISI refers to the Pakistani intelligence agency. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (359th in leap years). ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further information: Soviet war in Afghanistan

Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988.

The Soviet withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was seen as an ideological victory in the US, which had backed the Mujahideen through three US presidential administrations in order to counter Soviet influence in the vicinity of the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Combatants Soviet Union Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Afghan and foreign Mujahideen rebels supported by nations such as: United States, Peoples Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran Commanders Soviet forces only Boris Gromov Pavel Grachev Valentin Varennikov Abdul Haq Jalaluddin Haqqani Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Mohammed Khalis Ismail Khan Ahmed Shah... ImageMetadata File history File links Evstafiev-afghan-apc-passes-russian. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Evstafiev-afghan-apc-passes-russian. ... This article is about Communist rule in Afghanistan (1978-1992), which is separate, although slightly so, from the Soviet war in Afghanistan. ... Map of the Persian Gulf. ...

Following the removal of the Soviet forces, the US and its allies lost interest in Afghanistan and did little to help rebuild the war-ravaged country or influence events there. The USSR continued to support President Najibullah (former head of the Afghan secret service, KHAD) until 1992 when they refused to sell oil products to Najibullah regime.^[35] Mohammad Najibullah (1947–September 27, 1996) was the fourth President of Afghanistan during the period of the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. ... KHAD or KhAD is an abbreviation for Khedamat-e Eteleaat-e Dawlati, the Afghanistan Marxist regimes secret police, also known as the State Information Agency. ...

Ahmad Shah Massoud was a famous military commander. He fought the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s, until he was assassinated by al Qaeda on September 9, 2001.

The result of the fighting was that the vast majority of the elites and intellectuals had escaped to take refuge abroad, a dangerous leadership vacuum thereby coming into existence. Fighting continued among the victorious Mujahideen factions, eventually giving rise to a state of warlordism. The most serious fighting during this period occurred in 1994, when over 10,000 people were killed in Kabul alone. The chaos and corruption that dominated post-Soviet Afghanistan in turn spawned the rise of the Taliban, whos top leaders were mostly from the souther regions of the country. Image File history File links Ahmad_shah_massoud_3. ... Image File history File links Ahmad_shah_massoud_3. ... Ahmed Shah Massoud (احمد شاه مسعود) (c. ... Public execution of a woman by Taliban at Ghazi Sports Stadium, 1999. ...

The Taliban developed as a politico-religious force, and eventually seized Kabul in 1996. By the end of 2000, the Taliban were able to capture 95% of the country, aside from the opposition (Afghan Northern Alliance) strongholds primarily found in the northeast corner of Badakhshan Province. The Taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Northern Alliance is a term used by the western media, Taliban and Al Qaida to identify the military coalition of various Afghan groups fighting the Taliban. ... Sharia (Arabic: transliteration: ) is the body of Islamic law. ...

During the Taliban's seven-year rule, much of the population experienced restrictions on their freedom and violations of their human rights. Women were banned from jobs, girls forbidden to attend schools or universities. Those who resisted were punished instantly. Communists were systematically eradicated and thieves were punished by amputating one of their hands or feet. Meanwhile, the Taliban managed to nearly eradicate the majority of the opium production by 2001.^[36]

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, a military campaign to destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist training compounds in Afghanistan. The US also threatened to overthrow the Taliban government for refusing to hand-over Osama bin Laden and a list of senior al-Qaida leaders. The US made common cause with the former Afghan Mujahideen to achieve its ends. A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... Combatants United States Canada Australia United Kingdom Netherlands Philippines (in the Philippines theatre only) Northern Alliance GUAM Poland Italy Visegrad Group Hungary Ethiopia Somalia Estonia Latvia Lithuania Slovakia Vilnius group Croatia Albania Macedonia Romania Bulgaria Taliban al-Qaeda Abu Sayyaf Jemaah Islamiyah Islamic Courts Union Commanders General Tommy Franks Brig. ... Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957[1]), most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. ...

In December 2001, leaders of the former Afghan Mujahideen groups and diaspora met in Germany, and agreed on a plan for the formulation of a new democratic government that resulted in the inauguration of Hamid Karzai, a ethnic Pashtun from the southern city of Kandahar, as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority. Officially the Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the Re-Establishment of Permanent Government Institutions, the Bonn Agreement was the initial series of agreements intended to re-create the State of Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, an... Hamid Karzai (Pashto: حامد کرزي, Persian: حامد کرزی) (b. ... After Taliban were ousted by Northern Alliance(Former Mujahideen Groups such as Massoud, Rabbani, Dostum, Mohammed Atta, Karim Khalili, Sayaff, Islmail Khan and others joined a coalition to destroy the ultra Islamic Taliban Regime) helped by U.S fighter jets, An Interim Government. ...

President George W. Bush and President Hamid Karzai appear together in 2006 at a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.

After a nationwide Loya Jirga in 2002, Karzai was chosen by the representatives to assume the title as Interim President of Afghanistan. In 2003, the country convened a Constitutional Loya Jirga (Council of Elders) and a new constitution was ratified in January 2004. Following an election in October 2004, Hamid Karzai became President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Legislative elections were held in September 2005. The National Assembly – the first freely elected legislature in Afghanistan since 1973 – sat in December 2005, and was noteworthy for the inclusion of women as voters, candidates, and elected members. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... Hamid Karzai (Pashto: حامد کرزي, Persian: حامد کرزی) (b. ... Loya Jirga (June 13, 2002) Loya jirga, occasionally loya jirgah, is a large meeting held in Afghanistan, originally attended by Pashtun groups but later including other ethnic groups. ... January 2004 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Irelands Roman Catholic and Protestant Boy Scouts organisations merge after nearly a century of division, in spite of efforts by the Roman Catholic bishops to block the merger. ... October 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: October 2004 in sports Events Deaths in October • 29 HRH Princess Alice • 25 John Peel • 24 James Cardinal Hickey • 23 Robert Merrill • 19 Paul Nitze • 18 K. M. Veerappan • 16 Pierre Salinger • 10 Christopher... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in September September 28 : Constance Baker Motley September 25 : M. Scott Peck September 25 : Don Adams September 20 : Simon Wiesenthal September 14 : Robert Wise September 10 : Hermann Bondi September 8 : Donald Horne September 7 : Moussa Arafat... December 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 31 December 2005 (Saturday) 25-year-old Scottish human rights worker Kate Burton and her parents are freed unharmed in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian gunmen who kidnapped them two days earlier. ...

As the country continues to rebuild and recover, it is still struggling against poverty, poor infrastructure, large concentration of land mines and other unexploded ordnance on earth, as well as a huge illegal poppy cultivation and opium trade. Afghanistan also remains subject to occasionally violent political jockeying. The country continues to grapple with the Taliban insurgency, the threat of attacks from a few remaining al Qaeda, and instability, particularly in the north, caused by the remaining few semi-independent warlords. “Minefield” redirects here. ... Binomial name Papaver somniferum L. The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the type of poppy from which opium and all refined opiates such as morphine (up to 20%), thebaine (5%), codeine (1%), papaverine (1%), and noscapine (5-8%) are extracted. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants Afghan National Army, NATO, United States Taliban Commanders Hamid Karzai, Dan McNeill Mohammed Omar Casualties Coalition casualties: 496 killed, 1000 wounded[1]. Afghan security forces casaulties: 1100 killed, 125 captured. ...

Latest on Afghanistan

At the start of 2007, reports of the Taliban's increasing presence in Afghanistan led the US to consider longer tours of duty and even an increase in troop numbers. According to a report filed by Robert Burns of Associated Press on January 16, 2007, "U.S. military officials cited new evidence that the Pakistani military, which has long-standing ties to the Taliban movement, has turned a blind eye to the incursions." Also, "The number of insurgent attacks is up 300 percent since September, 2006, when the Pakistani government put into effect a peace arrangement with tribal leaders in the north Waziristan area, along Afghanistan's eastern border, a U.S. military intelligence officer told reporters." Opium production has also steadily increased, accounting for one-third to two-thirds of the country's GDP [2].

See also: Afghanistan timeline and Invasions of Afghanistan

Afghanistan timeline Afghanistan timeline October 2004 Afghanistan timeline September 2004 Afghanistan timeline August 2004 Afghanistan timeline July 2004 Afghanistan timeline June 2004 Afghanistan timeline May 2004 Afghanistan timeline April 2004 Afghanistan timeline March 2004 Afghanistan timeline February 2004 Afghanistan timeline January 2004 Afghanistan timeline December 2003 Afghanistan timeline November 2003... Afghanistan has been invaded many times, and its boundaries and legitimate government have almost always been in dispute. ...

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Afghanistan

Politics in Afghanistan has historically consisted of power struggles, bloody coups and unstable transfers of power. With the exception of a military junta, the country has been governed by nearly every system of government over the past century, including a monarchy, republic, theocracy and communist state. The constitution ratified by the 2003 Loya jirga restructured the government as an Islamic republic consisting of three branches, (executive, legislature and judiciary). In recent years the politics of Afghanistan have been dominated by the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the United States and the subsequent efforts to stabilise and democratise the country. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... Augusto Pinochet (sitting) was an army general who led a military coup in Chile in 1973. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A monarchy, from the Greek μονος, one, and αρχειν, to rule, is a form of government that has a monarch as head of state(KING)In most monarchies the monarch usually reigns as head of state for life; this is... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A republic is a form of government maintained by a state or country whose sovereignty is based on popular consent and whose governance is based on popular representation and control. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about a form of government in which the state operates under the control of a Communist Party. ... A 502-delegate loya jirga convened in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 14, 2003, to consider the proposed Afghan Constitution. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... A legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      In law, the judiciary or judicial is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ...

Afghanistan is currently led by President Hamid Karzai, who was elected in October 2004. The current parliament was elected in 2005. Among the elected officials were former mujahadeen, Taliban members, communists, reformists, and Islamic fundamentalists. 28% of the delegates elected were women, 3 points more than the 25% minimum guaranteed under the constitution. This made Afghanistan, long known under the Taliban for its oppression of women, one of the leading countries in terms of female representation. The National Assembly is Afghanistans national legislature. ... Reformism (also called revisionism or revisionist theory) is the belief that gradual changes in a society can ultimately change its fundamental structures. ... The phrase Islamic fundamentalism is primarily used in the West to describe Islamist groups. ...

The Supreme Court of Afghanistan is currently led by Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi, a former university professor who had been legal advisor to the president.^[37] The previous court, appointed during the time of the interim government, had been dominated by fundamentalist religious figures, including Chief Justice Faisal Ahmad Shinwari. The court had issued numerous questionable rulings, such as banning cable television, seeking to ban a candidate in the 2004 presidential election and limiting the rights of women, as well as overstepping its constitutional authority by issuing rulings on subjects not yet brought before the court. The current court is seen as more moderate and led by more technocrats than the previous court, although it has yet to issue any rulings. The Afghan Supreme Court (Stera Mahkama) is the court of last resort in Afghanistan. ... Abdul Salam Azimi (born 1936) has been the Chief Justice of Afghanistan and, as such, the head of the Afghan Supreme Court since May 2006. ... Faisal Ahmad Shinwari is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... Technocrat can refer to: An individual who makes decisions based solely on technical information and not personal or public opinion. ...

See also: Constitution of Afghanistan

The Constitution of afghanistan became the official law of Afghanistan when the 2003 Loya jirga approved it by the consensus on January 4, 2004. ...

Law enforcement

Main article: Military of Afghanistan

Afghan police officers in Kabul.

Afghanistan currently has 60,000 police officers. It plans to recruit 20,000 more officers so that the total number can reach up to 80,000. They are being trained by and through the Afghanistan Police Program. Although the police officially are responsible for maintaining civil order, sometimes local and regional military commanders continue to exercise control in the hinterland. Police have been accused of improper treatment and detention of prisoners. In 2003 the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force, now under command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was extended and expanded beyond the Kabul area. However, in some areas unoccupied by those forces, local militias maintain control. In many areas, crimes have gone uninvestigated because of insufficient police and/or communications. Troops of the Afghan National Army have been sent to quell fighting in some regions lacking police protection.^[38] The military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Air Force. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 681 pixel, file size: 91 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Afghanistan Metadata This file contains additional... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 681 pixel, file size: 91 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Afghanistan Metadata This file contains additional... // The U.S.-funded program is designed to train and equip the Afghan National Police (ANP). ... NATO 2002 Summit The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on April 4, 1949. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... Afghan National Army (ANA) is the army of Afghanistan that is being trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the lead in land-based military operations. ...

Administrative division

Main articles: Provinces of Afghanistan and Districts of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is administratively divided into thirty-four (34) provinces (welayats), and for each province there is a capital. Each province is then divided into many provincial districts, and each district normally covers a city or several townships. Afghanistan consists of 34 provinces, or velayat: Badakhshan Badghis Baghlan Balkh Bamiyan Daikondi - established March 28, 2004 Farah Faryab Ghazni Ghowr Helmand Herat Jowzjan Kabul Kandahar Kapisa Khost Konar Kondoz Laghman Lowgar Nangarhar Nimruz Nurestan Oruzgan Paktia Paktika Panjshir - established April 13, 2004 Parvan Samangan Sar-e Pol Takhar Vardak... After the provinces districts are the second level of administrative subdivisions in Afghanistan. ... A province is a territorial unit, almost always a country subdivision. ... Local government areas called districts are used, or have been used, in several countries. ... The term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. ...

The Governor of the province is appointed by the Ministry of Interior, and the Prefects for the districts of the province will be appointed by the provincial Governor. The Governor is the representative of the central government of Afghanistan, and is responsible for all administrative and formal issues. The provincial Chief of Police is appointed by the Ministry of Interior, who works together with the Governor on law enforcement for all the cities or districts of that province. For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... The Interior Minister is a member of a Cabinet in a Government. ... A prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficere: make in front, i. ... Chief of Police is the title typically given to the head of a police department, particularly in the United States and Canada. ...

There is an exception in the capital city (Kabul) where the Mayor is selected by the President of Afghanistan, and is completely independent from the prefecture of the Kabul Province. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... Afghanistan has only intermittently been a republic - between 1973-1992 and from 2001 onwards - at other times being governed by a variety of kings, emirs and (under the mujahideen and Taliban regimes in the 1990s) Islamist rulers. ... The term prefecture (from the Latin Praefectura) indicates the office, seat, territorial circonscription of a Prefect. ... Kabul is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ...

Map showing the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

Image File history File links Afghanistan_provinces_numbered. ... Image File history File links Afghanistan_provinces_numbered. ... Afghanistan consists of 34 provinces, or velayat: Badakhshan Badghis Baghlan Balkh Bamiyan Daikondi - established March 28, 2004 Farah Faryab Ghazni Ghowr Helmand Herat Jowzjan Kabul Kandahar Kapisa Khost Konar Kondoz Laghman Lowgar Nangarhar Nimruz Nurestan Oruzgan Paktia Paktika Panjshir - established April 13, 2004 Parvan Samangan Sar-e Pol Takhar Vardak... Badakhshan (Persian: بدخشان Badakhshān) is one of the provinces of Afghanistan, consisting of 29 districts. ... Badghis province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Categories: Afghanistan geography stubs | Provinces of Afghanistan ... Balkh is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Buddhas of Bamyan, which dated back to Pre-Islamic Afghanistan, were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 calling them Un-Islamic. Photo by Hadi Zaheer Bamyan is one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys in Afghanistan. ... Daykundi (Persian: دایکندی, also spelt Daikondi, Dāykondī or Daikundi) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Farah is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Categories: Stub | Provinces of Afghanistan ... Ghazni is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Ghowr province (sometimes spelled Ghor) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Helmand (Balochi/Pashto: هلمند) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. ... Herat is a province of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces it makes up the western region of the country. ... Jowzjan province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Kabul is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Kandahar province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Kapisa is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Khost (Persian: خوست) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Categories: Stub | Provinces of Afghanistan ... Kunduz is one of the provinces of Afghanistan, centered on the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan, with an area of 7,827 km square, and a population of about 583,000. ... This article is about the province in Afghanistan. ... Lowgar (Pashto: لوګر) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Nangarhar province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Nimruz (Persian: نیمروز) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Nurestan (also spelled Nuristan or Nooristan) (Persian: نورستان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Oruzgan is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Paktia (Pashto: پکتيا) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the east of the country. ... Paktika (Persian: پکتیکا) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Panjshir (literally Five Lions in Persian) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Parvan province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Samangan (Persian: سمنگان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Sar-e Pol (Persian: سر پل) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Takhar (Persian: تخار) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Vardak province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Categories: Afghanistan geography stubs | Provinces of Afghanistan ...

Economy

Main article: Economy of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is an impoverished country, one of the world's poorest and least developed. Two-thirds of the population lives on less than 2 US dollars a day. The economy has suffered greatly from the recent political and military unrest since the 1979 Soviet invasion and subsequent conflicts, while severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998–2001.^[39][40] The economic outlook of Afghanistans Economy has improved significantly since 2002 due to the infusion of over $2 billion in international assistance, dramatic improvements in agricultural production, and the end of a four-year drought in most of the country. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

The economically active population in 2002 was about 11 million (out of a total of an estimated 29 million). While there are no official unemployment rate estimates available, it is evident that it is high. The number of non-skilled young people is estimated at 3 million, which is likely to increase by some 300,000 per annum.^[41]

A business center in Kabul.

However, Afghanistan has achieved respectable economic recovery and growth since 2002. The real value of non-drug GDP increased by 29% in 2002, 16% in 2003, 8% in 2004 and 14% in 2005.^[42] As much as one-third of Afghanistan's GDP comes from growing poppy and illicit drugs including opium and its two derivatives, morphine and heroin, as well as hashish production.^[16] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1328x1584, 335 KB) Kabul Trade Center is one of the busiest office buildings in Kabul. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1328x1584, 335 KB) Kabul Trade Center is one of the busiest office buildings in Kabul. ... In Financial economics, a financial institution acts as an agent that provides financial services for its clients. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Heroin ((INN) Diacetylmorphine, (BAN) diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In a recent article in the Washington Quarterly, Peter van Ham and Jorrit Kamminga argue that the international community should establish a pilot project and investigate a licensing scheme to start the production of medicines such as morphine and codeine from poppy crops to help it escape the economic dependence on opium:^[43] The Washington Quarterly is a journal of international affairs, analyzing global strategic changes and their public policy implications, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the MIT Press. ...

There is no time to waste, as Afghanistan could well be slipping back to chaos and civil strife. Tackling the drug economy is central to easing Afghanistan´s ills, and the only remaining alternative is the poppies for peace proposal, using medicinal poppy cultivation as bridge to sustainable development and lasting security in Afghanistan.

On a positive note, international efforts to rebuild Afghanistan led to the formation of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) as a result of the December 2001 Bonn Agreement, and later addressed at the Tokyo Donors Conference for Afghan Reconstruction in 2002, where 4.5 billion US dollars were committed in a trust fund to be administered by the World Bank Group. Another 4 billion US dollars were committed in 2004 followed by 10.5 billion US dollars in early 2006 at the London Conference.^[44] In early 2007, 11.6 billion dollars were committed to the country from the United States alone. Priority areas for reconstruction include the rebuilding of the educational system, health, and sanitation facilities, enhancement of administrative capacity, the development of the agricultural sector, and the rebuilding of road, energy, and telecommunication links. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... World Bank Group logo The World Bank Group is a group of five international organizations responsible for providing finance and advice to countries for the purposes of economic development and eliminating poverty. ... The London Conference was held in the United Kingdom in December 1866 and was the final in a series of conferences that led to Canadian confederation in 1867. ...

According to a 2004 report by the Asian Development Bank, the present reconstruction effort is two-pronged: first it focuses on rebuilding critical physical infrastructure, and second, on building modern public sector institutions from the remnants of Soviet style planning to ones that promote market-led development.^[41] In 2006, two US companies, Black & Veatch and the Louis Berger Group, have won a US 1.4 billion dollar contract to rebuild roads, power lines and water supply systems of Afghanistan.^[45] The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral development finance institution dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific. ... The Louis Berger Group, based in East Orange, N.J., according to their website: [1] Origin Dr. Louis Berger, a graduate of Tufts College with a degree in civil engineering; an M.A. (soils and geology) from MIT; and doctorate (soil mechanics) from Northwestern, former faculty member of Penn. ...

One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 4 million refugees from neighbouring countries and the West, who brought with them fresh energy, entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. What is also helping is the estimated US 2–3 billion dollars in international assistance every year, the partial recovery of the agricultural sector, and the reestablishment of market institutions. Private developments are also beginning to get underway. In 2006, a Dubai-based Afghan family opened a $25 million Coca Cola bottling plant in Afghanistan.^[46] Coca-Cola is a cola (a type of carbonated soft drink) sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines in more than 200 countries. ...

While the country's current account deficit is largely financed with the donor money, only a small portion – about 15% – is provided directly to the government budget. The rest is provided to non-budgetary expenditure and donor-designated projects through the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations. The government had a central budget of only $350 million in 2003 and an estimated $550 million in 2004. The country's foreign exchange reserves totals about $500 million. Revenue is mostly generated through customs, as income and corporate tax bases are negligible. The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... The term non-governmental organization (NGO) is used in a variety of ways all over the world and, depending on the context in which it is used, can refer to many different types of organizations. ... The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has recognized that after over twenty-five years of war and civil strife there is now an enormous need for the reconstruction of infrastructure and the provision of basic services to the people of Afghanistan. ...

Inflation had been a major problem until 2002. However, the depreciation of the Afghani in 2002 after the introduction of the new notes (which replaced 1,000 old Afghani by 1 new Afghani) coupled with the relative stability compared to previous periods has helped prices to stabilize and even decrease between December 2002 and February 2003, reflecting the turnaround appreciation of the new Afghani currency. Since then, the index has indicated stability, with a moderate increase toward late 2003.^[41]

The Afghan government and international donors seem to remain committed to improving access to basic necessities, infrastructure development, education, housing and economic reform. The central government is also focusing on improved revenue collection and public sector expenditure discipline. The rebuilding of the financial sector seems to have been so far successful. Money can now be transferred in and out of the country via official banking channels. Since 2003, over fourteen new banks have opened in the country, including Standard Chartered Bank, Afghanistan International Bank, Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, First Micro Finance Bank, and others. A new law on private investment provides three to seven-year tax holidays to eligible companies and a four-year exemption from exports tariffs and duties. Standard Chartered Bank (LSE: STAN, SEHK: 2888) is a British bank headquartered in London with operations in more than fifty countries. ... AIB Logo Afghanistan International Bank (AIB) is a new local Afghan bank with its head office in Kabul. ... Logo of Kabul Bank. ... Azizi Bank is an Afghan bank which has its main branch in Kabul. ... The First Micro Finance Bank (Pakistan) is the embodiment of the concept of micro loans as a means to spur development in the third world. ... A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. ... A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. ...

The plan for Kabul's nine billion dollar future modern urban development project, the City of Light Development.

Some private investment projects, backed with national support, are also beginning to pick up steam in Afghanistan. An initial concept design called the City of Light Development, envisioned by Dr. Hisham N. Ashkouri, Principal of ARCADD, Inc. for the development and the implementation of a privately based investment enterprise has been proposed for multi-function commercial, historic and cultural development within the limits of the Old City of Kabul along the Southern side of the Kabul River and along Jade Meywand Avenue,^[47] revitalizing some of the most commercial and historic districts in the City of Kabul, which contains numerous historic mosques and shrines as well as viable commercial activities among war damaged buildings. Also incorporated in the design is a new complex for the Afghan National Museum. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1484x857, 977 KB) Kabul - City of Light Development area and concept plan File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Kabul Urban planning City of Light Development Metadata This... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1484x857, 977 KB) Kabul - City of Light Development area and concept plan File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Kabul Urban planning City of Light Development Metadata This... The Kabul - City of Light Development is an urban reconstruction plan first conceived in 2004 by urban planner and architect Hisham N. Ashkouri to revitalize Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. ... Hisham N. Ashkouri Portrait Hisham N. Ashkouri (born August 15, 1948, Baghdad, Iraq) is a Boston and New York-based architect. ... Founded in the 1920s, the Afghan National Museum is a place for storage and appreciation of old Afghan items of interest. ...

The overall good news is the country has potential to quickly come out of poverty and become an economically stable country. This is due to many reports showing that the country has possession of mass amounts of high demand natural resources and minerals. According to the US Geological Survey and the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Industry, Afghanistan may be possessing up to 36 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 3.6 billion barrels of petroleum and up to 1,325 million barrels of natural gas liquids. This could mark the turning point in Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts. Energy exports could generate the revenue that Afghan officials need to modernize the country’s infrastructure and expand economic opportunities for the beleaguered and fractious population.^[18] Other reports suggest that the country has huge amounts of gold, copper, coal, iron ore and other rich minerals.^[17][19] Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane but including significant quantities of ethane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Natural gas liquids are the liquids that, combined with methane, form natural gas. ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ...

Afghanistan is now a member of SAARC and ECO regional organizations, as well as the Organization of the Islamic Conference.  Afghanistan  Bangladesh  Bhutan  India  Maldives  Nepal  Pakistan  Sri Lanka Headquarters Kathmandu, Nepal Statistics Area  - Total 7th if ranked 5,130,746 km² Population  - Total (2004)  - Density 1st if ranked 1,467,255,669 285. ... Map of the ECO member states The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an intergovernmental international organization involving ten Asian nations. ... An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... OIC Member States; Full members in blue/Observers in pink The 57 Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries have a combined GDP (at PPP) of $5,540 billions. ...

See also: Opium Production in Afghanistan

Opium production in Afghanistan has been a significant problem for the country since the downfall of the Taliban in 2001. ...

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Afghanistan

The population of Afghanistan is divided into a wide variety of ethnic groups. Because a systematic census has not been held in the country in decades, exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnic groups are not available.^[48] Therefore most figures are approximations only. Ethnic groups of Afghanistan (1980 map)  42% Pashtun  27% Tajik  9% Hazara  9% Uzbek         3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        Languages of Afghanistan (1980 map)  50% Dari dialect of Persian  35% Pashto  8% Uzbek  3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        The Demographics of Afghanistan are ethnically and linguistically mixed. ...

Languages

Main article: Languages of Afghanistan

The CIA factbook on languages spoken in Afghanistan is shown in the right image box. Persian (usually of the Dari dialect) 50% and Pashto 35%; both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family. Pashto and Persian are the official languages of the country. Hazaragi, spoken by the Hazara minority, is another dialect of Persian. Other languages spoken include Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 9%, as well as 30 minor languages 4% (primarily Balochi, Nuristani, Pashai, Brahui, Pamiri languages, Hindko, Hindi/Urdu, etc.). Bilingualism is common. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Dari (Persian: ‎ ) is the official name for the Persian language in Afghanistan, popularly and locally known as Farsi. ... Pashto (‎, IPA: also known as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto ‎, Pashtoe, Pashtu, Pushtu, Pushtoo, Pathan, or Afghan language) is an Iranian language of the Indo-Iranian language family spoken by Pashtuns living in southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family with an estimated 150-200 million native speakers today. ... An official language is a language that is given a unique status in the constitutions of countries, states, and other territories. ... Hazaragi is a dialect of the Persian language, with a significant deviation from it to be on the borderline of being a separate language. ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China with an estimated 140 million native speakers and tens of millions of second-language speakers. ... Balochi may refer to: Baloch people Balochi language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Nuristani languages form a language sub-family of the Indo-Iranian languages localized between the Iranian languages and the Indo-Aryan languages Ashkun language Kamviri language Kati language (Bashgali) Prasuni language (Wasi-Weri) Tregami language Waigali language (Kalasha-Ala) Categories: Language stubs | Indo-Iranian languages ... Minority Afghan group living throughout Afghanistan but mostly in Nooristan, Kabul, Badakhshan, Konar and Laghman. ... Brahui may refer to: The Brahui language The Brahui people This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Pamir languages of the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia are Shughni, Sarikoli, Yazgulyam, Munji, Sanglechi-Ishkashimi, Wakhi, and Yidgha. ... It has been suggested that Hindku be merged into this article or section. ... Hindi (Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is one of the official languages of the Union government of India. ... (اردو), historically spelled Ordu, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to Indo-European family of languages. ... The term bilingualism (from bi meaning two and lingua meaning language) can refer to rather different phenomena. ... According to the Encyclopædia Iranica,[49] the Persian language is the mother tongue of roughly one-third of Afghanistan's population, while it is also the most widely used language of the country, spoken by around 80% of the population. It further states that Pashto is spoken by around 50% of the population.

Languages of Afghanistan      50% Persian (usually of the Dari dialect)      35% Pashto      8% Uzbek      3% Turkmen      2% Balochi       2% other (Nuristani, Pashai, Brahui, etc.)

Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Dari (Persian: ‎ ) is the official name for the Persian language in Afghanistan, popularly and locally known as Farsi. ... Pashto (پښتو; also known as Afghan, Pushto, Pashto, Pashtoe, Pashtu, and Pukhto) is the language spoken by the ethnic Afghan otherwise known as the Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and the Western provinces of Pakistan. ... Balochi (also Baluchi, Baloci or Baluci) is a Northwestern Iranian language. ... Nuristani languages form a language sub-family of the Indo-Iranian languages localized between the Iranian languages and the Indo-Aryan languages Ashkun language Kamviri language Kati language (Bashgali) Prasuni language (Wasi-Weri) Tregami language Waigali language (Kalasha-Ala) Categories: Language stubs | Indo-Iranian languages ... Minority Afghan group living throughout Afghanistan but mostly in Nooristan, Kabul, Badakhshan, Konar and Laghman. ... Brahui may refer to: The Brahui language The Brahui people This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Ethnic groups

An approximate distribution of ethnic groups based on the CIA World Factbook^[16] is as following:

Ethnic groups of Afghanistan      42% Pashtun      27% Tajik      9% Hazara      9% Uzbek       4% Aimak      3% Turkmen      2% Baloch       4% other (Pashai, Nuristani, Brahui, Hindkowans, Hindustani, etc.)

The Parsiwan, or simply Parsi (Persian), are found mainly in western Afghanistan and are generally distiguished from the Tajiks by their adherance to Shia Islam as opposed to the Sunni sect favored by the Tajiks. ... Qizilbash or Kizilbash (Ottoman Turkish/Persian: ‎ Qezelbāš, Turkish: Kızılbaş, Azerbaijani: Qızılbaş) - Ottoman Turkish for Red Heads - name given to a wide variety of extremist Shiite militant groups (ghulāt) who helped found the Safavid Dynasty of Iran. ...

Religions

Main article: Religion in Afghanistan

Blue Mosque in Mazari Sharif.

Religiously, Afghans are over 99% Muslims: approximately 74–89% Sunni and 9–25% Shi'a^[50][16][52] (estimates vary). There are about 30,000 to 150,000 Hindus and Sikhs living in different cities but mostly in Jalalabad, Kabul, and Kandahar.^[53][54] The majority Religion in Afghanistan is Islam, with over 99% of Afghans being counted as Muslims. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1080x720, 132 KB) The historic blue mosque in Mazar-e Sharif Afghanistan File links The following pages link to this file: Mazar-e Sharif Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1080x720, 132 KB) The historic blue mosque in Mazar-e Sharif Afghanistan File links The following pages link to this file: Mazar-e Sharif Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Mazari Sharif, also known as Mazar-i Sharif or Mazār-e SharÄ«f (Persian: ‎ ), is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan, with population of 300,600 people (2006 official estimate). ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Shī‘a Islam, also Shi‘ite Islam, or Shi‘ism (Arabic ) is the second largest denomination of the Islamic faith. ... Inside an Afghan Hindu Temple Hinduism in Afghanistan has existed for almost as long as Hinduism itself. ... A Sikh man wearing a turban The adherents of Sikhism are called Sikhs. ... For the city in Kyrgyzstan, see Jalal-Abad. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ...

Also, there was a small Jewish community in Afghanistan (See Bukharan Jews) who fled the country after the 1979 Soviet invasion, and only one individual, Zablon Simintov, remains today.^[55] For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Bukharan Jews (Bukhoran Jews, Bukhari Jews) is a blanket term for Jews from Central Asia who speak Bukhori, a dialect of the Persian language. ... Zablon Simintov and Grenz are the only remaining Jews in Afghanistan. ...

Largest cities

See also: List of cities in Afghanistan and Places in Afghanistan

The only city in Afghanistan with over one million residents is its capital, Kabul. The other major cities in the country are, in order of population size, Kandahar, Herat, Mazari Sharif, Jalalabad, Ghazni and Kunduz. The following are politically, geographically or economically important places, many of which are cities, of Afghanistan. ... The following are politically, geographically or economically notable places in Afghanistan. ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ... Mazari Sharif, also known as Mazar-i Sharif or Mazār-e Sharīf (Persian: ‎ ), is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan, with population of 300,600 people (2006 official estimate). ... For the city in Kyrgyzstan, see Jalal-Abad. ... President Celal Bayar, King Zahir and Lord Serwar Nasher inspecting the once world-renown cotton of Kunduz Spinzar factory Kunduz (قندوز) is a city in Afghanistan; the name has also sometimes been rendered as Kûnduz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz. ...

Culture

Main article: Culture of Afghanistan

Minaret of Jam.

Afghans display pride in their religion, country, ancestry, and above all, their independence. Like other highlanders, Afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension, for their high regard for personal honor, for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes.^[56] As clan warfare and internecine feuding has been one of their chief occupations since time immemorial, this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region. The culture of the region today known as Afghanistan has been around for millennia and is - since the Arab-Muslim conquest - largely influenced by Islam. ... Image File history File links Jam_Minaret_decoration. ... Image File history File links Jam_Minaret_decoration. ... The Minaret of Jam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Afghanistan. ... A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ...

Afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. However, many of the country's historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars. The two famous statues of Buddha in the Bamyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the very cities of Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari Rud valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cloak worn by Muhammad is stored inside the famous Khalka Sharifa in Kandahar City. Idolatry is a major sin in the Abrahamic religions regarding image. ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ... Herāt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. ... The Hari Rud is a river flowing from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it disappears in the Kara-Kum desert. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). ...

Buzkashi is a national sport in Afghanistan. It is similar to polo and played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold off a goat carcass. Afghan hounds (a type of running dog) also originated from Afghanistan. Game of Buzkashi in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan Buzkashi, Kok-boru or Oglak Tartis (Persian: بزکشی buzkashī: goat grabbing) (Uzbek, Tatar, Turkmen: kökbörü, kök blue + börü wolf, Kazakh: көкпар, Kyrgyz: улак) is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback. ... A game of polo. ... Species See Species and subspecies The goat is a mammal in the genus Capra, which consists of nine species: the Ibex, the West Caucasian Tur, the East Caucasian Tur, the Markhor, and the Wild Goat. ... The Afghan Hound is a very old sighthound dog breed. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ...

Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Persian culture has, and continues to, exert a great influence over Afghan culture. Private poetry competition events known as “musha’era” are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every home owns one or more poetry collection of some sort, even if it is not read often. Persian literature (in Persian: ‎ ) spans two and a half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. ...

The eastern dialects of the Persian language are popularly known as "Dari". The name itself derives from "Pārsī-e Darbārī", meaning Persian of the royal courts. The ancient term Darī – one of the original names of the Persian language – was revived in the Afghan constitution of 1964, and was intended "to signify that Afghans consider their country the cradle of the language. Hence, the name Fārsī, the language of Fārs, is strictly avoided. With this point in mind, we can consider the development of Dari or Persian literature in the political entity known as Afghanistan."^[57] // Introduction Fars is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. ...

Many of the famous Persian poets of the tenth to fifteenth centuries stem from Khorasan where is now known as Afghanistan. They were mostly also scholars in many disciplines like languages, natural sciences, medicine, religion and astronomy. A Meeting of Some Iranian Poets: (L to R) Morteza Keyvan, Ahmad Shamlou, Nima Yooshij, Siavash Kasraie, and Hushang Ebtehaj. ...

• Mawlānā Rumi, who was born and educated in Balkh in the thirteenth century and moved to Konya in modern-day Turkey
• Rabi'a Balkhi (the first poetess in the History of Persian Poetry, tenth century, native of Balkh)
• Daqiqi Balkhi (tenth century, native of Balkh)
• Farrukhi Sistani (tenth century, the Ghaznavids royal poet)
• Unsuri Balkhi (a tenth/eleventh century poet, native of Balkh)
• Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (eleventh century, from Herat)
• Nasir Khusraw (eleventh century, from Qubadyan near Balkh)
• Anvari (twelfth century, lived and died in Balkh)
• Sanā'ī Ghaznawi (twelfth century, native of Ghazni)
• Jāmī of Herāt (fifteenth century, native of Herat in western Afghanistan), and his nephew Abdullah Hatifi Herawi, a well-known poet
• Alī Sher Navā'ī (fifteenth century, Herat).

Most of these individuals were of Persian (Tājīk) ethnicity who still form the second-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. Also, some of the contemporary Persian language poets and writers, who are relatively well-known in Persian-speaking world, include Ustad Betab, Qari Abdullah, Khalilullah Khalili,^[58] Sufi Ghulam Nabi Ashqari,^[59] Sarwar Joya, Qahar Asey, Parwin Pazwak and others. In 2003, Khaled Hosseini published The Kiterunner which though fiction, captured much of the history, politics and culture experienced in Afghanistan from the 1930s to present day. Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-DÄ«n Muhammad RÅ«mÄ«[2] (Persian: ‎ , Turkish: Mevlânâ Celâleddin Mehmed Rumi) , also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-DÄ«n Muhammad BalkhÄ« (Persian: ‎ ), but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (30 September 1207–17 December 1273 CE) was... Tomb of Mevlana Rumi is a popular attraction of Konya. ... Rabea Balkhi (Persian: ), also called as Rabiah bint Kaab Quzdari or Ghozdary (in Persian: رابعه قزداري) , or just as Rabeah was most likely the first poetess in the History of Persian Poetry. ... Abu Mansur Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Daqiqi, sometimes known as simply Daqiqi (935-980) was an early Persian poet. ... Abul Hasan Ali ibn Julugh Farrukhi Sistani was a 10-11th century royal poet of Ghaznavid Persia. ... The Ghaznavid Empire was a state in the region of todays Afghanistan that existed from 977 to 1186. ... Abul Qasim Hasan Unsuri (d. ... Abu Ismaïl Abdullah ibn Abi-Mansour Mohammad or Khwajah Abdullah Ansari (1006-1088) (Persian: خوجه عبدالله انصاری) was a famous Persian poet and Sufi. ... Herāt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. ... Nasir Khusraw Abu Mo’in Hamid al-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw (1004 - 1088 CE) was a scholar, traveller, Persian poet and an Ismaili Dai or theologian, who was especially well-known in the northern areas of Pakistan, parts of China, Afghanistan and Central Asia. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Hakim Sanai (Abûl-Majd Majdûd b. ... Illustration from Jamis Rose Garden of the Pious, dated 1553. ... Nizām al-Din Ali ShÄ«r Navāi (1441-1501) Nizām al-Din Ali ShÄ«r (Heravi) (Persian: مير على شير نوائى - Mir Ali ShÄ«r Nawāi), known by his pen-name Navāi (Persian: the weeper), * February 9th 1441 in Herat; † January 3rd 1501, was a Central Asian politician, mystic... Languages Persian (varieties of Dari and Tajik) Religions Islam (predominantly Sunni) Related ethnic groups Other Iranian peoples TājÄ«k (Persian: ; UniPers: Tâjik; Cyrillic: ) is a term generally applied to Persian-speaking peoples of Iranian origin living east of Iran. ... Khalilollah Khalili on the cover of Deewaan-e Khalilullah Khalili Khalilullāh KhalÄ«lÄ« (1908-1987; Persian: ‎ ; alternative spellings: Khalilollah, Khalil Ullah) was Afghanistans foremost 20th Century poet as well as a noted historian, university professor, diplomat and royal confidant. ... Parwin Pazwak was born to the Pazwak literary and political family (father Nematulla Pazwak and mother Afifah Pazwak) in Kabul in 1967. ...

In addition to poets and authors, numerous Persian scientists have had their origins lie in where it's now called Afghanistan. Most notable was Avicenna (Abu Alī Hussein ibn Sīnā) whose father hailed from Balkh. Ibn Sīnā, who travelled to Isfahan later in life to establish a medical school there, is known by some scholars as "the father of modern medicine". George Sarton called ibn Sīnā "the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times." His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun. Ibn Sīnā's story even found way to the contemporary English literature through Noah Gordon's The Physician, now published in many languages. Moreover, according to Ibn al-Nadim, Al-Farabi, a well-known Philosopher and Scientist, was from the Faryab Province of Afghanistan, . Photo taken from medieval manuscript by Qotbeddin Shirazi. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Part of Shah Abbas large urban project in his new capital, the Chahār Bāgh Four Gardens, is a four-kilometer avenue in the city of Isfahan. ... Noah Gordon (born November 11, 1926 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is an American novelist. ... Ibn al-Nadim (Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq), (died September 17, 995 or 998) was an muslim scholar (of either Arab or Persian origin) and bibliographer and the author of the Kitab al-Fihrist. ... Al Farabi (870-950) was born of a Turkish family and educated by a Christian physician in Baghdad, and was himself later considered a teacher on par with Aristotle. ...

Before the Taliban gained power, the city of Kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern Afghan music, especially during the Nauroz-celebration. Kabul in the middle part of the twentieth century has been likened to Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Haft Seen Norouz (also spelled Norooz, Noruz, Nauroz, Nav-roze, Navroz, Naw-Rúz or Nowrouz and in Persian نوروز) is the traditional Iranian festival of the New Year in the Persian calendar which starts at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ...

The tribal system, which orders the life of most people outside metropolitan areas, is potent in political terms. Men feel a fierce loyalty to their own tribe, such that, if called upon, they would assemble in arms under the tribal chiefs and local clan leaders (Khans). In theory, under Islamic law, every believer has an obligation to bear arms at the ruler's call (Ulul-Amr).

Heathcote considers the tribal system to be the best way of organizing large groups of people in a country that is geographically difficult, and in a society that, from a materialistic point of view, has an uncomplicated lifestyle.^[56]

See also: Radio Kabul, Music of Afghanistan, and Islam in Afghanistan

Radio Kabul is the official radio station of Afghanistan. ... Since the 1980s, Afghanistan has been involved in near constant violence. ... Mazari Sharifs Blue Mosque is a magnificent and sacred structure of cobalt blue and turquoise minarets, attracting visitors and pilgrims throughout the world. ...

Infrastructure

Communications and technology

Main article: Communications in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has rapidly increased in communication technology, and has embarked on wireless companies, internet, radio stations and television channels. Afghan telecommunication companies, Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless, Roshan, Areeba and Etisalat which is expected to be launched in 2007, have boasted increase in rapid cellular phone usage. In 2006, the Afghan Ministry of Communications has signed a US 64.5 million dollar agreement with a company (ZTE Corporation) on the establishment of a countrywide fibre optical cable network. This will improve telephone, internet, television and radio broadcast services throughout the country.^[60] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require rewriting and/or reformatting. ... Ehsan Bayat The Afghan Wireless Communication Company provides wireless voice and data services with national and international connectivity in Afghanistan. ... Roshan - Afghanistans largest wireless communications provider. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

Afghanistan's television channels include:

• Afghanistan National Television
• Aina TV
• Ariana TV
• Lamar TV
• Shamshad TV
• Tolo TV
• Ariana Afghanistan TV (broadcasted from the United States)

Radio Kabul is the official radio station of Afghanistan. ... Aina Television (Aina in Persian, Urdu and some Turkic languages means mirror) is a commercial television station, broadcasting from Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan since late 2004. ... Ariana TV is a private, non-partisan, television in Kabul that along with a Ariana radio station is part of the Ariana Television Network (ATN). ... Tolo TV (Persian for Sunrise) is the name of an Afghan television service. ... Ariana Afghanistan TV is a satellite television channel based in Orange, California with branches in Hamburg. ...

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's commercial airlines, Ariana Afghan Airlines, now serves flights to Frankfurt, Dubai and Istanbul to and from Kabul and Herat. Afghanistan has also improved in vehicle conditions with Toyota, Land Rover, BMW and Hyundai dealerships all over Kabul, and a huge import of fine second-hand vehicles from UAE on display in Kandahar. Afghanistan, however, still is a long way from major modern technological advancements, but is on the fast road to that goal. Transportation in Afghanistan: Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistans border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has barge traffic. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... Coordinates: Emirate Dubai Government  - Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Area [1]  - Metro 4,114 km² (1,588. ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... Herāt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. ... Toyota Motor Corporation ), or Toyota is a Japanese automaker. ... Land Rover was the name of one of the first British civilian all-terrain utility vehicles, first produced by Rover in 1947. ... BMW, abbreviated for Bayerische Motoren Werke or in English Bavarian Motor Works, is an independent German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. ... Hyundai is a South Korean group of companies founded by Chung Joo-young in 1947 as a construction company and was once South Koreas biggest conglomerate company (Jaebul). ... UAE redirects here; for other uses of that term, see UAE (disambiguation) The United Arab Emirates is an oil-rich country situated in the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, comprising seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. ...

Education

Main article: Education in Afghanistan

In the spring of 2003, it was estimated that 30% of Afghanistan's 7,000 schools had been very seriously damaged during more than two decades of civil war. Only half of the schools were reported to have clean water, while fewer than an estimated 40% had adequate sanitation. Education for boys and girls were a priority. We dont have an article called Education in Afghanistan Start this article Search for Education in Afghanistan in. ...

As regards the poverty and violence of their surroundings, a study in 2002 by the Save the Children Fund said Afghan children were resilient and courageous. The study credited the strong institutions of family and community. Save the Children is an international non-profit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid. ...

As of 2006, more than four million male and female students are enrolled in schools throughout the country. Primary education is totally free and available for all boys and girls.

Literacy of the entire population is estimated at 56%, the male literacy rate is 71% and female literacy is 57%. Up to now there are 9,500 schools in the country.

Another aspect of education that is rapidly changing in Afghanistan is the face of higher education. Following the fall of the Taliban, Kabul University was reopened to both male and female students. In 2006, the American University of Afghanistan also opened its doors, with the aim of providing a world-class, English-language, co-educational learning environment in Afghanistan. The university accepts students from Afghanistan and the neighboring countries. Construction work will soon start at the new site selected for University of Balkh in Mazari Sharif. The new building for the university, including the building for the Engineering Department, would be constructed at 600 acres of land at the cost of 250 million US dollars.^[61] The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. ... Kabul University is located in Kabul, Afghanistan and was founded 1931, opened 1932 and formally established in 1947. ... The American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, is a new private university. ... The University of Balkh is located in the Mazari Sharif, capital of Balkh province, Afghanistan. ...

Pakistan And Afghanistan Confederation

Another less discussed issue is wether the two nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan will ever re-unite and reform the now defunct Afghan Empire. Negotiation did include such a plan in bilateral discussions between the two countries in 1951. Many see the eventual formation of a confederation between Pakistan and Afghanistan as the natural sequalae to the problems affecting these two countries. History, cultural affiliation, ethnic ties, economic integration and common religion are amongst the many denominators making such a union inevitable. Many also believe, that failure to achieve some type of confederation between these two countries will further prevent either country from achieving their full potential and continue the ongoing instability (particularly in the border regions) prevalent within their borders. ^[62]

See also

The story of postage stamps and postal history of Afghanistan begins with Sher Ali, who established a postal service in the 1860s as part of a program of modernization in the Kingdom of Kabul. The first stamps appeared in 1871. ... Categories: List of birds on stamps | Afghanistan ... This is a list of fish on stamps of Afghanistan Categories: Lists of fish on stamps ...

Bibliography

William Moorcroft (c. ... George Trebeck (1800-1825) ...was born in Middlesex, England in the year 1800. ...

References and footnotes

January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... Encyclopædia Iranica is a project in Columbia Universitys Center for Iranian studies, to create an English language encyclopedia about Iran and Persia. ... Khushal Khan Khattak Khushal Khan Khattak (1613 - 1690) was a famous Afghan warrior, poet, and tribal chief of the Khattak tribe. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 - November 20, 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the British government of India. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... April 5-12: Mount Tambora explodes, changing climate. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Year 1747 (MDCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... King Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (June 1, 1892 - April 25, 1960) was the ruler of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929. ... The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA), freely available for use by researchers. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the Gregorian calendar (254th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the Gregorian calendar (254th in leap years). ...

External links

 Afghanistan  Bangladesh  Bhutan  India  Maldives  Nepal  Pakistan  Sri Lanka Headquarters Kathmandu, Nepal Statistics Area  - Total 7th if ranked 5,130,746 km² Population  - Total (2004)  - Density 1st if ranked 1,467,255,669 285. ... Anthem YìyÇ’ngjÅ«n JìnxíngqÇ”   (义勇军进行曲/義勇軍進行曲) March of the Volunteers Capital Beijing Largest city Shanghai Official languages Mandarin Chinese1 Government Socialist republic2  -  President Hu Jintao  -  Premier Wen Jiabao Establishment  -  Peoples Republic declared October 1, 1949  Area  -  Total 9,596,960 km² (3rd or 4th4) 3,704,4273...