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Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. | 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. Different regions of the country have their own unique traditions, reflecting the multi-cultural and multi-lingual character of the nation. For example, the Pashtuns practice Pashtunwali, which is a pre-Islamic cultural tradition.[1] There are also other traces of pre-Islamic traditions, most of all by religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism,Zoroastrianism and Baha'i Faith, though Islamic norms and mannerisms appear prevalent. Afghanistan has been a crossroads for Pakistan, Iran, and Middle East which has influenced its culture. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ...
For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...
Languages Pashto (plus second languages from countries of residence) Religions Islam (predominantly Sunni) An entry was temporarily removed here. ...
Pashtunwali (Pashto: ) is a concept of living for the Pashtun people (also known as Pathans), which dates back to pre-Islamic eras. ...
A silhouette of a Buddha statue at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ...
Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ...
Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ...
Known in India as the Lotus Temple, the Bahai House of Worship attracts an average of three and a half million visitors a year. ...
Islam (Arabic: ; ( ▶ (help· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ...
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. ...
Art and Entertainment
 Afghanistani Greco-Buddhist sculpture Local art has spanned many centuries. One of the most famous kinds is the Gandhara art between the 1st and 7th century based on Greco-Buddhist art. Since the 1900s Afghanistan began to use Western techniques in art. Afghanistan's art was originally almost entirely done by men but recently in theater arts women have begun to take center stage.[2] Art is largely centered at the Kabul Museum. Other well known forms of art in Afghanistan are Music and Poetry. The art of making carpets has been prominent for centuries. Afghanistan is known for making beautiful oriental rugs. The Afghan carpet has certain prints that make them unique to Afghanistan. Download high resolution version (532x689, 125 KB)Public domain. ...
Download high resolution version (532x689, 125 KB)Public domain. ...
This article is about the philosophical concept of Art. ...
Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE. Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century...
The 1st century was that century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ...
The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ...
Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE. Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century...
The Kabul Museum is a museum in Kabul, Afghanistan. ...
For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the art form. ...
The traditional Bokhara print of Afghanistan Afghan carpets are beautiful pieces with intricate detailing mainly using designs from Turkoman tribes such as the Ersari, Saryk, Salor, and Tekke. ...
Music -
Since the 1980s, Afghanistan has been constantly witnessing a never ending civil unrest in the country. As such, music has been suppressed and recording for outsiders minimal. During the 1990s, the Taliban government banned instrumental music and much public music-making. Many musicians and singers continued to ply their trade in the cities of other countries. Pakistani cities such as Peshawar, Karachi and Islamabad are important centers for the distribution of Afghan music. Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Herat, which is more closely related to Iranian music. Lyrics across the country are typically in both Pashto and Persian languages. Hindi songs from Bollywood films are also very popular in Afghanistan.[3] Since the 1980s, Afghanistan has been involved in near constant violence. ...
Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...
The Taliban (Pashto: , also anglicized as Taleban) are a Sunni Muslim Pashtun movement [2] that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by a cooperative military effort between the Northern Alliance, United States, and the United Kingdom. ...
(Urdu: پشاور; Pashto: پښور) literally means City on the Frontier in Persian and is known as Pekhawar in Pashto. ...
(Urdu: , Sindhi: ) is the largest city in Pakistan and is the provincial capital of Sindh province. ...
(Urdu: اسلام آباد) is the capital city of Pakistan, and is located in the Potohar Plateau in the northwest of the country. ...
For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ...
HerÄt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as HerÄt. ...
Figurines playing stringed instruments, excavated at Susa, 3rd millenia BC. Iran National Museum. ...
Lyrics are the words in songs. ...
Pashto (‎, IPA: also known as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto ‎, Pashtoe, Pashtu, Pushtu or Pushtoo) is a language spoken by Pashtuns living in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. ...
“Farsi†redirects here. ...
Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken all over India in varying degrees and extensively in northern and central India, is one of the two central official languages of India, the other being English. ...
Bollywood (Hindi: , Urdu: ) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. ...
Poetry -
Main article: Afghanistani poetry Afghanistan's poetry is primarily written in Persian (known as Darī in Afghanistan) and - to a lesser degree - in Pashto. The most famous forms of poetry in Afghanistan are Ghazal and Charbeiti both of which were originally unique to the Persian language but have since been used by other languages as well. Afghanistani poetry or Poetry of Afghanistan referes to Persian poetry and Pashto poetry of Afghanistan. ...
Dari (Persian: ) is the official name for the Persian language in Afghanistan, popularly and locally known as Farsi. ...
This article is about the poetic form. ...
Charbeiti is told in four lines and usually describes love, youth, war, or events in the poet's life. They are often passed on orally which often leads to multiple variations of a poem.[4]
Ustad Awal Mir, Beltoon, Naghma, Mangal,Khan Karabagai, Abdullah Muzorai, Nashnas (Ustad Sadiq Fitrat), Ahmad Zahir, Shah Wali, Farhad Darya, Waheed Qasmi, Ahsan Aman, Shafi Muhammad, Noor Muhammad Katawazai are among famous and liked singers in the region.
'Attan' is most famous form of dance, which is performed separately both by male and females on any happy occasion with slight variation by pashtoons.
'Tokey' (Jokes) is another interesting and unique element of Afghan culture. In it one to one or randome irregular competition are held on occasions or general get togethers in which both party make fun of each other in regular order with funny and interesting remarks while others enjoy and appreciate the best joke teller.
Architecture The region has made major contributions to the world architecture. UNESCO has acknowledged Afghanistan's role by declaring the Minaret of Jam and the Valley of Bamiyan, home of the famous Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban, World Heritage Sites. This article is about building architecture. ...
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...
The Minaret of Jam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Afghanistan. ...
One of the Buddhas of Bamiyan as it stood in 1963 The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Persian: تندیس‌های بودا در باميان tandis-ha-ye buda dar bamiyaan) were two monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km (143 miles) northwest of...
Media:Example. ...
The Taliban (Pashto: , also anglicized as Taleban) are a Sunni Muslim Pashtun movement [2] that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by a cooperative military effort between the Northern Alliance, United States, and the United Kingdom. ...
Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ...
Other examples of universally important contributions to architecture may be found in Herat, Mazari Sharif and Ghazni. For more information, see the Society for the Protection of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage. In their names they also have a name called bohardyasindu and that is the most common name![5] HerÄt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as HerÄt. ...
Mazari Sharif, also known as Mazar-i Sharif or MazÄr-e SharÄ«f (Persian: ‎ ), is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan, with population of 300,600 people (2006 official estimate). ...
Ghazni (Persian: غزنی , Ğaznī) is a city in eastern Afghanistan, with an estimated population of 149,998 people. ...
Food Afghanistan has a wide varying landscape allowing for many different crops. Afghani food is largely based upon cereals like wheat, maize, barley and rice which are the nation's chief crops. Afghanistan is well known for its grapes.[6] Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References: ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat Wheat For the indie rock group, see Wheat (band). ...
This article is about the maize plant. ...
For other uses, see Barley (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Rice (disambiguation). ...
Species Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifolia Vitis rupestris Vitis shuttleworthii Vitis tiliifolia Vitis...
Some Afghani cuisine:
 Palau is a popular dish in Afghanistan. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Popular_Afghani_Dish. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Popular_Afghani_Dish. ...
Aush is an Afghan soup dish made with noodles and different vegetables in a tomato-based broth. ...
A cook making hand-pulled noodles. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with bolawnee. ...
“Aubergine†redirects here. ...
Potatoe is an archaic spelling of the word potato as a variant form, with the most recent usage cited from 1880: She found the parson in his garden. ...
Binomial name Solanumlycopersicum Linnaeus ref. ...
The Chapli Kabab is a dish from Pakistans North West Frontier Province. ...
Gosh feel is an Afghan dessert dish made by frying dough in a gosh/ear shape. ...
Pastry the name given to various kinds of dough made from ingredients such as flour, butter and eggs, that are rolled out thinly and used as the base for baked goods. ...
Halva (modern English spelling), halava (Sanskrit transliteration), halvah (Hebrew transliteration), halawi (Arabic transliteration), helva (Turkish transliteration) or halwa (alternate Hindi transliteration) is a confection made from semolina. ...
Afghanistani kadu bouranee is a pumpkin dish made by frying pumpkin with different spices. ...
Pumpkins A pumpkin is a gourd (Cucurbitaceae), most commonly orange in colour when ripe, that grows from a trailing vine. ...
Kofta is an Afghanistani dish consisting of meatballs made of ground beef or lamb and simmered in a spiced tomato sauce. ...
See MeatballWiki for the article about the wiki about communities. ...
Mantu is a dumpling dish made in Afghanistan. ...
A dumpling may be any of a wide variety of dishes, both sweet and savoury, in several different cuisines. ...
This page is a candidate to be copied to the Wikibooks Cookbook using the Transwiki process. ...
This page is a candidate to be copied to the Wikibooks Cookbook using the Transwiki process. ...
Qabili Palau is a famous Afghani dish. ...
For other uses, see Rice (disambiguation). ...
Ghormeh Sabzi is an Iranian stew and part of Persian cuisine. ...
Rice pudding being served during the traditional Scandinavian Christmas meal, in Denmark Rice pudding (Arroz Doce) in a typical Christmas meal, in Portugal Pulut hitam served in a Malaysian restaurant Rice pudding is a dessert enjoyed by people of different cultures all over the world, originating in Japan. ...
Rice pudding being served during the traditional Scandinavian Christmas meal, in Denmark Rice pudding (Arroz Doce) in a typical Christmas meal, in Portugal Pulut hitam served in a Malaysian restaurant Rice pudding is a dessert enjoyed by people of different cultures all over the world, originating in Japan. ...
Binomial name Cicer arietinum L. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ...
For other uses, see Soup (disambiguation). ...
There are many different spice rubs used in Afghanistan. ...
Clothing Traditional male Afghan clothing usually includes a Pakol (hat), Lungee (turban), and a Chapan (coat). Traditional Afghan clothes vary by province and sometimes ethnicities. However, most traditional Afghan attire for women consists of a long dress with round skirt, not to be mistaken with a "shalwar kameez." Afghan style of dress is completely all its own. The pants are loose; however, at the ends they are clasped close to the ankles. Many combinations of colors can be used. Oftentimes, the colors of the flag will be used. The pakol is a traditonal hat worn by men in northwest Afghanistan. ...
A Sikh man wearing a turban The turban (from the Persian , dulband via the Turkish ) is a headdress, of Asian origin, consisting of a long scarf wound round the head or an inner hat. ...
The Afghan chapan is a coat worn over the clothes usually during the cold winter months. ...
Sports Most official Afghan sports are run by the Afghan Sports Federation which promotes soccer, basketball, bullfighting, volleyball, track, bowling and chess. Afghanistan fields 7 players at FIDE with its highest rated being Saifudin Ayyoubi with a rating of 2178. A popular and ancient sport in Afghanistan and other Central Asian nations is Buzkashi. The Afghan Sports Federation is an organization created to help both Afghan men and women compete in all levels of many sports like football/soccer. ...
This article is about the Western board game. ...
The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ...
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. ...
Education Education in Afghanistan has recently been revitalized after the fall of the Taliban. Primary education lasts six years. If the student does well on the entrance exam they are then admitted into Secondary education, which is divided into 7-9 and 10-12. A new structure that allows eight years of primary and four years of secondary education will probably be considered in the near future. The Taliban (Pashto: , also anglicized as Taleban) are a Sunni Muslim Pashtun movement [2] that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by a cooperative military effort between the Northern Alliance, United States, and the United Kingdom. ...
Higher Education Higher education is provided by mainly six universities in Afghanistan, which includes Kabul University, the American University of Afghanistan, the University of Islamic Studies, Balk University, an Agricultural Institute and a Polytechnic, a State Medical Institute and two teacher training institutes. Recently with help from UNESCO over 1,000 women have taken university entrance exam. Kabul University (Persian: دانشگاه کابل) is located in Kabul, Afghanistan. ...
The American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, is a new private university. ...
The University of Islamic Studies is a University in Karachi, Pakistan. ...
The University of Balkh is located in the Mazari Sharif, capital of Balkh province, Afghanistan. ...
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...
Language There are two official languages, spoken in northern areas and major language , which are spoken by a majority of the population, though several other languages are spoken regionally. The term Dari derives from Fârsi-e Darbâri which means Persian of the (royal) courts. It developed at the royal courts of the Samanids (980 AD) in Central Asia and became the major language of Persia. ...
Pashto (‎, IPA: also known as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto ‎, Pashtoe, Pashtu, Pushtu or Pushtoo) is a language spoken by Pashtuns living in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. ...
- Dari, language of the Tajik people, is the mother-tongue of Afghanistan and serves as the lingua franca of the country. It is spoken and understood by the majority of the country's population.
- In the north, Uzbek and Turkmen are spoken in some minor areas. There are over 70 smaller languages spoken throughout the country.
- Bilingualism is common.
Dari (Persian: ) is the official name for the Persian language in Afghanistan, popularly and locally known as Farsi. ...
Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ...
Religion
 The Blue Mosque in Mazari Sharif. The overwhelming majority of Afghans (about 99 percent or more) are Muslims. Approximately 80% of the population is Sunni, while 19% is Shia. There are 15,000 to 30,000 Hindus and Sikhs, mostly in Kabul and Kandahar. An important figure in Muslim life in Afghanistan is the mullah (a male religious leader or teacher). Any male muslim that can recite the Quran (the sacred scripture of Islam) from memory can be a mullah.[7] 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...
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. ...
This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
A Sikh man wearing a turban The adherents of Sikhism are called Sikhs. ...
Mullah (Persian: ملا) is a title given to some Islamic clergy, coming from the Arabic word mawla, meaning both vicar and guardian. ...
The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...
For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...
Mullah (Persian: ملا) is a title given to some Islamic clergy, coming from the Arabic word mawla, meaning both vicar and guardian. ...
Housing Afghan houses are traditionally made of a series of rooms located around a private rectangular courtyard where women and children play, cook and socialize. Married sons share the same house as their parents, although they have separate quarters. Some Afghan houses contain a special room where men socialize with each other. In the cities many Afghans live in apartments. The nomadic population of Afghanistan lives in tents.[8] An apartment (or flat) is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. ...
Communities of nomadic people move from place to place, rather than settling down in one location. ...
Holidays Holidays in Afghanistan are celebrated according to the lunar calendar while other secular holidays are celebrated based on the solar calendar. A lunar calendar is a calendar in many cultures that is oriented at the moon phase. ...
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun (or equivalently the apparent position of the sun moving on the celestial sphere). ...
National National festivals include: Persepolis all nations stair case. ...
The Iranian peoples (See[1] for local names) are a collection of ethnic groups defined by their usage of Iranian languages and their descent from ancient Iranian peoples. ...
The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. ...
is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Afghan Independence Day is celebrated in Afghanistan on 19 August to commemorate the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919. ...
The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...
is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Religious For more information see:Islamic Holidays In Islam there are two major annual holidays: Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid is the arabic word for holidays. ...
Afghanistan's religious holidays are nearly the same as Islamic holidays. Some of the most important include Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Ashura, and Mawlid. [9] Religious minorities of Afghanistan, such as the Hindus and Sikhs, celebrate holidays unique to their respective religion.[10] In Islam there are two major annual holidays: Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid is the arabic word for holidays. ...
Eid ul-Fitr or Id-Ul-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الÙطر ‘Īdu l-Fiá¹r), often abbreviated as simply Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. ...
Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضØÙ‰ ‘Īd al-’Aá¸á¸¥Ä) is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide as a commemoration of Ibrahims (Abrahams) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah. ...
The Day of Aashurah, sometimes spelled ‘Ashurah or Aashoorah, falls on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar. ...
Milad, Milad an-Nabi or Mawlid un-Nabi (Arabic: ) is the celebration of the birthday of Muhammad. ...
This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ...
A Sikh man wearing a turban The adherents of Sikhism are called Sikhs. ...
Opium and other drugs Afghanistan has become a hotspot for the Russian drug trade. Many believe that the future of Afghanistan depends on crippling the trade.
See also Languages of Afghanistan 35% Persian (Dari dialects) 50% Pashto 8% Uzbek 3% Turkmen 4% Balochi Ethnic groups of Afghanistan 50% Pashtun 27% Tajik 9% Hazara 9% Uzbek 3% Turkmen 4% Baloch The Demographics of Afghanistan are ethnically and linguistically mixed. ...
Since the 1980s, Afghanistan has been involved in near constant violence. ...
In Islam there are two major annual holidays: Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid is the arabic word for holidays. ...
Contemporary version of the Leyla and Majnun story The war rug tradition of Afghanistan, which has its origins in the decade of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979, has continued through subsequent military, political and social conflicts. ...
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 ...
References and footnotes
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