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 5,640,841; female 5,422,460)

15-64 years:

54% (male 7,273,681; female 6,776,750)

65 years and over:

3% (male 374,666; female 336,484) (1999 est.)

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.11 male(s)/female

total population:

1.06 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

noun:

Afghan(s)

adjective:

Afghan

conventional long form:

Islamic State of Afghanistan; note--the self-proclaimed Taliban government refers to the country as Islamic Emirate 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 Afghanistan comprised of Jumbesh-i-Melli Islami (National Islamic other smaller parties are Hizbi Islami-Gulbuddin (Islamic Party) SAYYAF]; Harakat-Inqilab-i-Islami (Islamic Revolutionary Movement) GAILANI];
• Hizbi Wahdat-Akbari faction (Islamic Unity Party)

• 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

• 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

note: the Taliban uses a plain white flag

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

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

• $214.6 million (1995);
• note?US provided $450 million in bilateral assistance (1985-93);
• US continues to contribute to multilateral assistance through the UN programs of food aid, immunization, land mine removal, and a wide range of aid to refugees and displaced persons

• afghanis (Af) per US$1--4,750 (February 1999), 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 was fixed at 50.600 afghanis to the dollar until 1996, when it rose to 2,262.65 per dollar, and finally became fixed again at 3,000.00 per dollar on April 1996

domestic:

• 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

international:

• satellite earth stations--1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region);
• commercial satellite telephone center in Ghazni

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 (1996 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

• world's second-largest illicit opium producer after Burma (cultivation in 1998--41,720 hectares, a 7% increase over 1997; potential production in 1998--1,350 metric tons) and 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