Afghanistan

transitionalIndependence 19 August 1919 (from UK)

Afghanistan as the 1992 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 77 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

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CapitalKabul
Area647,500 km2
1992

Every edition of Afghanistan

Populationas each edition published it
16.1 million July 1992 · 15.86m in 1990
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 2.45% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 18.9 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 44.41 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
6.4 children per woman 1992 · 6.4 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
162 deaths per 1,000 live births 1992 · 154 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $200 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 29% in 2004

Geography

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Total area
647,500km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries
5,529km total
China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km

Land area

647,500 km2

Coastline

none - landlocked

Disputes

  • Pashtunistan issue over the North-West Frontier Province with Pakistan;
  • periodic disputes with Iran over Helmand water rights;
  • Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran continue to support clients in country;
  • power struggles among various groups for control of Kabul, regional rivalries among emerging warlords, and traditional tribal disputes continue

Climate

arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Terrain

mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Natural resources

natural gas, crude oil, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones

Land use

  • arable land 12%;
  • permanent crops NEGL%;
  • meadows and pastures 46%;
  • forest and woodland 3%;
  • other 39%;
  • includes irrigated NEGL%

Environment

damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; soil degradation, desertification, overgrazing, deforestation, pollution

Note

landlocked

People

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Per 1,000 population

Birth
44 (1992)Death
20 (1992)Net migration
0
Net migration: (1992); note - there are flows across the border in both directions, but data are fragmentary and unreliable

Religions

Sunni Muslim 84%Shi`a Muslim 15%other 1%
Literacy
29%
(male 44%, female 14%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Population

  • US Bureau of the Census - 16,095,664 (July 1992), growth rate 2.4% (1992) and excludes 3,750,796 refugees in Pakistan and 1,607,281 refugees in Iran;
  • note - another report indicates a July 1990 population of 16,904,904, including 3,271,580 refugees in Pakistan and 1,277,700 refugees in Iran

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992); note - there are flows across the border in both directions, but data are fragmentary and unreliable

Infant mortality rate

162 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth

45 years male, 43 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate

6.4 children born/woman (1992)

Nationality

noun - Afghan(s); adjective - Afghan

Ethnic divisions

Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 19%; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others

Languages

Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%; much bilingualism

Labor force

4,980,000; agriculture and animal husbandry 67.8%, industry 10.2%, construction 6.3%, commerce 5.0%, services and other 10.7%, (1980 est.)

Organized labor

some small government-controlled unions existed under the former regime but probably now have disbanded

Government

Transitional

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Long-form name

Islamic State of Afghanistan

Type

transitional

Capital

Kabul

Administrative divisions

  • 30 provinces (velayat, singular - velayat);
  • Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamian, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol, Kandahar, Kapisa, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Oruzgan, Paktia, Paktika, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak, Zabol;
  • note - there may be a new province of Nurestan (Nuristan)

Independence

19 August 1919 (from UK)

Constitution

the old Communist-era constitution probably will be replaced with an Islamic constitution

National holiday

  • 28 April, Victory of the Muslim Nation;
  • 4 May, Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled;
  • 19 August, Independence Day

Executive branch

  • a 51-member transitional council headed by Sibghatullah MOJADDEDI rules Kabul;
  • this body is to turn over power to a leadership council, which will function as the government and organize elections;
  • Burhanuddin RABBANI will serve as interim President

Legislative branch

previous bicameral legislature has been abolished

Judicial branch

an interim Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been appointed, but a new court system has not yet been organized

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government:
  • Interim President Burhanuddin RABBANI;
  • First Vice President Abdul Wahed SORABI (since 7 January 1991);
  • Prime Minister Fazil Haq KHALIQYAR (since 21 May 1990)

Political parties and leaders

  • the former resistance parties represent the only current political organizations and include Jamiat-i-Islami (Islamic Society), Burhanuddin RABBANI;
  • Hizbi Islami-Gulbuddin (Islamic Party), Gulbuddin Hikmatyar Faction;
  • Hizbi Islami-Khalis (Islamic Party) Yunis Khalis Faction;
  • Ittihad-i-Islami Barai Azadi Afghanistan (Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan), Abdul Rasul SAYYAF;
  • Harakat-Inqilab-i-Islami (Islamic Revolutionary Movement), Mohammad Nabi MOHAMMADI;
  • Jabha-i-Najat-i-Milli Afghanistan (Afghanistan National Liberation Front), Sibghatullah MOJADDEDI;
  • Mahaz-i-Milli-Islami (National Islamic Front), Sayed Ahamad GAILANI;
  • Jonbesh-i-Milli Islami (National Islamic Movement), Ahmad Shah MASOOD and Rashid DOSTAM;
  • Hizbi Wahdat (Islamic Unity Party), and a number of minor resistance parties;
  • the former ruling Watan Party has been disbanded

Suffrage

undetermined; previously universal, male ages 15-50

Elections

the transition government has promised elections in October 1992

Communists

the former ruling Watan (Homeland) Party has been disbanded

Other political or pressure groups

  • the former resistance commanders are the major power brokers in the countryside;
  • shuras (councils) of commanders are now administering most cities outside Kabul;
  • ulema (religious scholars);
  • tribal elders

Member of

  • Has previously been a member of AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO;
  • note - the new government has not yet announced whether it will continue to be a member of these bodies;
  • the former resistance government in exile (Afghan Interim Government) was given membership in the OIC in 1989

Diplomatic representation

  • previous Minister-Counselor, Charge d'Affaires Abdul Ghafur JOUSHAN;
  • Chancery at 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008;
  • telephone (202) 234-3770 or 3771;
  • a new representative has not yet been named
US:
  • Charge d'Affaires (vacant);
  • Embassy at Ansari Wat, Wazir Akbar Khan Mina, Kabul;
  • telephone 62230 through 62235 or 62436;
  • note - US Embassy in Kabul was closed in January 1989

Flag

  • a new flag of unknown description reportedly has been adopted;
  • previous flag consisted of three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green, with the national coat of arms superimposed on the hoist side of the black and red bands;
  • similar to the flag of Malawi, which is shorter and bears a radiant, rising red sun centered in the black band

Economy

Fundamentally, Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly | dependent on farming (wheat especially) and livestock raising (sheep and | goats).

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Inflation, consumer prices
90%
over · (1991 est.)
External debt
$2.3billion
(March 1991 est.)

Overview

Fundamentally, Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming (wheat especially) and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations, however, have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals during more than 13 years of war, including the nearly 10-year Soviet military occupation (which ended 15 February 1989). Over the past decade, one-third of the population fled the country, with Pakistan sheltering more than 3 million refugees and Iran about 1.3 million.

Another 1 million probably moved into and around urban areas within Afghanistan. Although reliable data are unavailable, gross domestic product is lower than 12 years ago because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport.

GDP

exchange rate conversion - $3 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 0% (1989 est.)

Budget

revenues NA; expenditures NA, including capital expenditures of NA

Exports

$236 million (f.o.b., FY91 est.)

commodities:
natural gas 55%, fruits and nuts 24%, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides, and pelts
partners:
mostly former USSR

Imports

$874 million (c.i.f., FY91 est.)

commodities:
food and petroleum products
partners:
mostly former USSR

Industrial production

growth rate 2.3% (FY91 est.); accounts for about 25% of GDP

Electricity

480,000 kW capacity; 1,450 million kWh produced, 90 kWh per capita (1991)

Industries

  • small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement;
  • handwoven carpets;
  • natural gas, oil, coal, copper

Agriculture

largely subsistence farming and nomadic animal husbandry; cash products - wheat, fruits, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, mutton

Illicit drugs

  • an illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade;
  • world's second-largest opium producer (after Burma) and a major source of hashish

Economic aid

  • US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $380 million;
  • Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $510 million;
  • OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $57 million;
  • Communist countries (1970-89), $4.1 billion;
  • net official Western disbursements (1985-89), $270 million

Currency

afghani (plural - afghanis); 1 afghani (Af) = 100 puls

Exchange rates

  • afghanis (Af) per US$1 - 550 (May 1992, free market exchange rate), 900 (free market exchange rate as of November 1991), 850 (1991), 700 (1989-90), 220 (1988-89);
  • note - these rates reflect the bazaar rates rather than the official exchange rates

Fiscal year

21 March - 20 March

Communications

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Airports, 41 total, 37 usable

permanent-surface runways
9runways | over 3,659 m
nonerunways 2,440-3,659 m
10runways 1,220-2,439 m
18

Networkskm

Highways
21,000Railroads
9.6
Highways: (1984); 2,800 km hard surface, 1,650 km bituminous-treated gravel and improved earth, 16,550 km unimproved earth and tracks · Railroads: (single track) 1.524-meter gauge from Kushka (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi and 15.0 km from Termez (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya

Railroads

9.6 km (single track) 1.524-meter gauge from Kushka (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi and 15.0 km from Termez (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya

Highways

21,000 km total (1984); 2,800 km hard surface, 1,650 km bituminous-treated gravel and improved earth, 16,550 km unimproved earth and tracks

Inland waterways

total navigability 1,200 km; chiefly Amu Darya, which handles steamers up to about 500 metric tons

Pipelines

petroleum products - former USSR to Bagram and former USSR to Shindand; natural gas 180 km

Ports

Shir Khan and Kheyrabad (river ports)

Civil air

2 Tu-154, 2 Boeing 727, 4 Yak-40, assorted smaller transports

Telecommunications

  • limited telephone, telegraph, and radiobroadcast services;
  • television introduced in 1980;
  • 31,200 telephones;
  • broadcast stations - 5 AM, no FM, 1 TV;
  • 1 satellite earth station

Defense Forces

5 fields

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Branches

  • the military currently is being reorganized by the new government and does not yet exist on a national scale;
  • some elements of the former Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, Border Guard Forces, National Police Force (Sarandoi), and Tribal Militias remain intact and are supporting the new government;
  • the government has asked all military personnel to return to their stations;
  • a large number of former resistance groups also field irregular military forces;
  • the Ministry of State Security (WAD) has been disbanded

Manpower availability

  • males 15-49, 3,989,232;
  • 2,139,771 fit for military service;
  • 150,572 reach military age (22) annually

Defense expenditures

the new government has not yet adopted a defense budget

Central Intelligence Agency. “Afghanistan.” The World Factbook 1992. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/afghanistan/1992.

How to cite ← 1991 edition 1993 edition →