Afghanistan

transitional governmentIndependence 19 August 1919 (from UK)

Afghanistan as the 1994 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 116 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalKabul
LocationSouthern Asia, between Iran and Pakistan
1994

Every edition of Afghanistan

Populationas each edition published it
16.9 million July 1994 est. · 15.86m in 1990
Population growth% a year
2.45% 1994 est. · 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
6.27 children per woman 1994 est. · 6.4 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
155.8 deaths per 1,000 live births 1994 est. · 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

Corrected. The 1994 edition's preface (contact telephone numbers), notes and definitions and appendices were attached by the source parser to the first entry in the file, Afghanistan, between its Communications and Defense Forces sections. All corrections

Geography

Southern Asia, between Iran and Pakistan

22 fields
Coastline
0km
(landlocked)Maritime claims: none; landlocked
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
Irrigated land
26,600sq km
(1989 est.)

Location

Southern Asia, between Iran and Pakistan

Map references

Asia, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

total area

647,500 sq km

land area

647,500 sq km

comparative area

slightly smaller than Texas

International disputes

  • periodic disputes with Iran over Helmand water rights;
  • Iran supports clients in country, private Pakistani and Saudi sources also are active;
  • power struggles among various groups for control of Kabul, regional rivalries among emerging warlords, traditional tribal disputes continue;
  • support to Islamic fighters in Tajikistan's civil war;
  • border dispute with Pakistan (Durand Line);
  • support to Islamic militants worldwide by some factions

Climate

arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Terrain

mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Natural resources

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

arable land

12%

permanent crops

0%

meadows and pastures

46%

forest and woodland

3%

other

39%

current issues

  • soil degradation;
  • overgrazing;
  • deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials);
  • desertification

natural hazards

damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains (one measured 6.8 on the Richter scale in 1991); flooding

international agreements

  • party to - Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban;
  • signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

Note

landlocked

People

21 fields
Population
16,903,400
(July 1994 est.)growth rate: 2.45% (1994 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1994 est.)

Birth
43.46Death
18.94Net migration
0

Religions

Sunni Muslim 84%Shi'a Muslim 15%other 1%
Labor force
4.98million
Literacy
15and over can read and write
age · (1990 est.)

Infant mortality rate

155.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

total population

44.89 years

male

45.53 years

female

44.21 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate

6.27 children born/woman (1994 est.)

noun

Afghan(s)

adjective

Afghan

Ethnic divisions

Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 19%, minor ethnic groups (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

total population

29%

male

44%

female

14%

by occupation

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

Government

Transitional government

56 fields
External debt
$2.3billion
(March 1991 est.)

conventional long form

Islamic State of Afghanistan

conventional short form

Afghanistan

local long form

Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan

local short form

Afghanestan

former

Republic of Afghanistan

Type

transitional government

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)

National holiday

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

Suffrage

undetermined; previously universal, male ages 15-50

chief of state

  • President Burhanuddin RABBANI (Interim President July - December 1992; President since 2 January 1993);
  • First Vice President Mohammad NABI Mohammadi (since NA);
  • First Vice President Mohammad SHAH Fazli (since NA);
  • election last held NA December 1992 (next to be held NA December 1994);
  • results - Burhanuddin RABBANI was elected to a two-year term by a national shura, later amended by multi-party agreement to 18 months.

head of government

  • Prime Minister Gulbuddin HIKMATYAR (since 17 March 1993);
  • First Deputy Prime Minister Qutbuddin HELAL (since 17 March 1993);
  • Deputy Prime Minister Arsala RAHMANI (since 17 March 1993)

cabinet

Council of Ministers

Legislative branch

a unicameral parliament consisting of 205 members was chosen by the shura in January 1993; non-functioning as of June 1993

Judicial branch

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

Political parties and leaders

  • current political organizations include
    • Jamiat-i-Islami (Islamic Society),
    • Burhanuddin RABBANI,
    • Ahmad Shah MASOOD
    ;
  • 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;
  • Hizbi Wahdat (Islamic Unity Party), Abdul Ali MAZARI;
  • Harakat-i-Islami (Islamic Movement), Mohammed Asif MOHSENI;
  • Jumbesh-i-Milli Islami (National Islamic Movement), Rashid DOSTUM

note

the former ruling Watan 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

AsDB, CP, ECO, 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

chief of mission

(vacant); Charge d'Affaires Abdul RAHIM

chancery

2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

(202) 234-3770 or 3771

FAX

(202) 328-3516

US diplomatic representation

none; embassy was closed in January 1989

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black, with the national coat of arms superimposed in the middle of the white band and large Islamic lettering superimposed over the green and white bands

Overview

Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming (wheat especially) and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals during more than 14 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 3 million.

About 1.4 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan and about 2 million in Iran. 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.

revenues

$NA

expenditures

$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Exports

$243 million (f.o.b., 1991)

commodities

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

partners

FSU countries, Pakistan, Iran, Germany, India, UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia

Imports

$737 million (c.i.f., 1991)

commodities

food and petroleum products; most consumer goods

partners

FSU countries, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea, Germany

capacity

480,000 kW

production

1 billion kWh

consumption per capita

60 kWh (1992)

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 cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade;
  • world's second-largest opium producer after Burma (680 metric tons in 1993) and a major source of hashish

recipient

  • $450 million US assistance provided 1985-1993;
  • USAID will stop all programs by mid-1994;
  • the UN provides assistance in the form of food aid, immunization, land mine removal, and a wide range of aid to refugees and displaced persons

Currency

1 afghani (AF) = 100 puls

Exchange rates

  • afghanis (Af) per US$1 - 1,900 (January 1994), 1,019 (March 1993), 850 (1991), 700 (1989-90), 220 (1988-89);
  • note - these rates reflect the free market exchange rates rather than the official exchange rates

Fiscal year

21 March - 20 March

Communications

14 fields

Railroads

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

total

21,000 km

paved

2,800 km

unpaved

gravel 1,650 km; earth 16,550 km (1984)

Inland waterways

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

Pipelines

petroleum products - Uzbekistan to Bagram and Turkmenistan to Shindand; natural gas 180 km

Ports

Shir Khan and Kheyrabad (river ports)

total

42

usable

35

with permanent-surface runways

9

with runways over 3,659 m

0

with runways 2,440-3,659 m

10

with runways 1,220-2,439 m

17

Telecommunications

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

Defense Forces

3 fields

Branches

  • the military still 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 but are factionalized among the various mujahedin and former regime leaders

Manpower availability

  • males age 15-49 4,188,036;
  • fit for military service 2,245,196;
  • reach military age (22) annually 158,335 (1994 est.)

Defense expenditures

the new government has not yet adopted a defense budget

Central Intelligence Agency. “Afghanistan.” The World Factbook 1994. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/afghanistan/1994.

How to cite ← 1993 edition 1995 edition →