Afghanistan

• 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

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; flooding

international agreements:

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

0-14 years:

43% (male 4,972,469; female 4,784,900)

15-64 years:

54% (male 6,377,231; female 5,916,954)

65 years and over:

3% (male 325,808; female 286,774) (July 1996 est.)

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.08 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.14 male(s)/female

all ages:

1.06 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

noun:

Afghan(s)

adjective:

Afghan

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

• 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 two new provinces of Nurestan (Nuristan) and Khowst

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

chief of state:

• President Burhanuddin RABBANI (interim president July-December 1992, president since 2 January 1993) was elected to a two-year term (later amended by multi-party agreement to 18 months) by a national shura (council);
• election last held 31 December 1992 (next to be held NA);
• results - percent of vote NA;
• Vice President Mohammad NABI MOHAMMADI (since NA) was appointed by the president;
• note - in June 1994 failure to agree on a transfer mechanism resulted in RABBANI's extending his term to 28 December 1994;
• following the expiration of the term and while negotiations on the formation of a new government go on, RABBANI continues in office

head of government:

• Prime Minister Ahmad Shah AHMADZAI (since NA) was appointed by President RABBANI as de facto prime minister, but does not have any real authority;
• First Deputy Prime Minister Qutbuddin HELAL (since 17 March 1993) and Deputy Prime Minister Arsala RAHMANI (since 17 March 1993)

cabinet:

• Council of Ministers;
• note - term of present government expired 28 December 1994;
• factional fighting since 1 January 1994 has kept government officers from actually occupying ministries and discharging government responsibilities;
• the government's authority to remove cabinet members, including the prime minister, following the expiration of their term is questionable

• 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-Khalili faction (Islamic Unity Party), Abdul Karim KHALILI;
• Hizbi Wahdat-Akbari faction (Islamic Unity Party), Mohammad Akbar AKBARI;
• Harakat-i-Islami (Islamic Movement), Mohammed Asif MOHSENI;
• Jumbesh-i-Milli Islami (National Islamic Movement), Abdul Rashid DOSTAM;
• Taliban (Religious Students Movement), Mohammad OMAR

note: the former ruling Watan Party has been disbanded

• the former resistance commanders are the major power brokers in the countryside and their shuras (councils) are now administering most cities outside Kabul;
• tribal elders and religious students are trying to wrest control from them;
• ulema (religious scholars);
• tribal elders;
• religious students (talib)

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Abdul RAHIM

chancery:

2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 234-3770, 3771

• 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

revenues:

$NA

expenditures:

$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

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

• an illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade;
• world's second-largest opium producer after Burma (1,250 metric tons in 1995) and a major source of hashish

• afghanis (Af) per US$1 - 7,000 (January 1995), 1,900 (January 1994), 1,019 (March 1993), 850 (1991);
• note - these rates reflect the free market exchange rates rather than the official exchange rate, which is a fixed rate of 50.600 afghanis to the dollar

total:

24.6 km

broad gauge:

• 9.6 km 1.524-m gauge from Gushgy (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi;
• 15 km 1,524-m gauge from Termiz (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya

total:

21,000 km

paved:

2,800 km

unpaved:

18,200 km (1984 est.)

domestic:

very limited telephone and telegraph service; 1 public telephone in Kabul

international:

satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region)

• NA;
• note - the military still does not 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 still exist but are factionalized among the various mujahedin and former regime leaders

males age 15-49:

5,549,602

males fit for military service:

2,976,741

males reach military age (22) annually:

220,532 (1996 est.)