Helmand Ghowr Ghazni 2000 Faryab primarily Uzbek and Turkmen 1999 2001 Farah 2001 primarily Balochi and Pashai Bamian 137 Province Balkh 744 Baghlan Nowshak 7485 Dari 1206 Badghis Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others Amu Darya 258 2430 Badakhshan 1993 2001 936 Kabul 15 76 33.0 65.0 15 2001 70 2001 July 2001 1999 2001 4 1998 11 false 913 12 (2000 est.) 50 35 false 914 1523 4 1999 1 false 1524 2437 15 1990 15 false 2438 3047 4 1999 84 2001 2000 6 true 913 1 (2000 est.) 2000 12 true 1524 2437 2 Zabol 2000 19 Vardak 1996 true 2438 3047 4 2001 Takhar 25 Afghanistan was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in 1979. The USSR was forced to withdraw 10 years later by anti-communist mujahidin forces supplied and trained by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others. Fighting subsequently continued among the various mujahidin factions, but the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement has been able to seize most of the country. In addition to the continuing civil strife, the country suffers from enormous poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, and widespread land mines. Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran Asia 647500 647500 0 slightly smaller than Texas 5529 0 arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest 12 0 46 3 39 30000 damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains flooding droughts soil degradation overgrazing deforestation desertification 26813057 3.48 41.42 17.72 11.11 147.02 5.79 Afghan(s) Afghan age 15 and over can read and write 31.5 47.2 15 Islamic State of Afghanistan; note - the self-proclaimed Taliban government refers to the country as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan Afghanestan Republic of Afghanistan 19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs) none a new legal system has not been adopted but all factions tacitly agree they will follow Shari'a (Islamic law) NA; previously males 15-50 years of age three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a gold emblem centered on the three bands; the emblem features a temple-like structure with Islamic inscriptions above and below, encircled by a wreath on the left and right and by a bolder Islamic inscription above, all of which are encircled by two crossed scimitars Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals during two decades of war, including the nearly 10-year Soviet military occupation (which ended 15 February 1989). During that conflict one-third of the population fled the country, with Pakistan and Iran sheltering a combined peak of more than 6 million refugees. In early 2000, 2 million Afghan refugees remained in Pakistan and about 1.4 million in Iran. Gross domestic product has fallen substantially over the past 20 years because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport; severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998-2000. The majority of the population continues to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, and medical care. Inflation remains a serious problem throughout the country. International aid can deal with only a fraction of the humanitarian problem, let alone promote economic development. In 1999-2000, internal civil strife continued, hampering both domestic economic policies and international aid efforts. Numerical data are likely to be either unavailable or unreliable. Afghanistan was by far the largest producer of opium poppies in 2000, and narcotics trafficking is a major source of revenue. 21000000000 800 53 28.5 18.5 10000000 420000000 35.71 64.29 0 0 480600000 0 90000000 150000000 5500000000 afghani (AFA) AFA 21 March - 20 March 29000 very limited telephone and telegraph service in 1997, telecommunications links were established between Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Kabul through satellite and microwave systems satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); commercial satellite telephone center in Ghazni 167000 100000 .af 1 24.6 21000 2793 18207 1200 45 3 22 6645023 3561957 252869 support to Islamic militants worldwide by some factions question over which group should hold Afghanistan's seat at the UN world's largest illicit opium producer, surpassing Burma a major source of hashish increasing number of heroin-processing laboratories being set up in the country major political factions in the country profit from drug trade http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/flags/af-flag.jpg http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/flags/af-lgflag.jpg http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/maps/af-map.jpg Sar-e Pol true 3048 3 38 Samangan 2000 Shir Khan Parvan Kheyrabad Paktika 1999 1996 1.06 Paktia Oruzgan 65 1.12 Nimruz 15 64 1.08 1990 Nangarhar 1996 2001 landlocked 0 14 1.04 Lowgar Laghman 0 0 1.05 Kondoz Konar 1999 Kapisa Kandahar 2000 2001 1999 Kabol 1993 Jowzjan 1999 Herat