Afghanistan

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

party to :

Desertification, 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

0-14 years:

43% (male 5,201,585; female 5,003,503)

15-64 years:

54% (male 6,680,687; female 6,208,463) 65 years and over : 3% (male 341,301; female 302,546) (July 1997 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:

1.13 male(s)/female

total population:

1.06 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

total population :

46.34 years

male:

46.89 years

female:

45.76 years (1997 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

• Taliban (Religious Students Movement), Mohammad OMAR;
• Supreme Defense Council of Afghanistan [comprised of Jumbesh-i-Melli Islami (National Islamic Movement), Abdul Rashid DOSTAM; Jamiat-i-Islami (Islamic Society), Burhanuddin RABBANI and Ahmad Shah MASOOD; and Hizbi Wahdat-Khalili faction (Islamic Unity Party), Abdul Karim KHALILI];
• other smaller parties are 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-Akbari faction (Islamic Unity Party), Mohammad Akbar AKBARI;
• Harakat-i-Islami (Islamic Movement), Mohammed Asif MOHSENI

• tribal elders represent traditional Pashtun leadership;
• Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Australia, US, and elsewhere have organized politically;
• Peshawar, Pakistan-based groups such as the Coordination Council for National Unity and Understanding in Afghanistan (CUNUA), Ishaq GAILANI;
• Writers Union of Free Afghanistan (WUFA), A. Rasul AMIN;
• Mellat (Social Democratic Party), leader NA

chief of mission :

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Yar Mohammed MOHABBAT

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

total value:

$80 million (1996 est.)

commodities:

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

partners :

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

total value :

$150 million (1996 est.)

commodities:

food and petroleum products; most consumer goods

partners:

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

• afghanis (Af) per US$1 - 17,000 (December 1996), 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

domestic :

very limited telephone and telegraph service

international:

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

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:

2,793 km

unpaved:

18,207 km (1995 est.)

• NA;
• note - the military does not exist on a national basis;
• 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 groups

• some support from RABBANI and MASOOD to anti-government Islamic fighters in Tajikistan's civil war;
• support to Islamic militants worldwide by some factions;
• question over which group should hold Afghanistan's seat at the UN