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:

42.37% (male 5,598,403; female 5,371,054)

15-64 years:

54.86% (male 7,362,961; female 6,839,914)

65 years and over:

2.77% (male 378,741; female 337,724) (2000 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:

1.12 male(s)/female

total population:

1.06 male(s)/female (2000 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

• Harakat-i-Islami (Islamic Movement) [Mohammed Asif MOHSENI];
• Harakat-Inqilab-i-Islami (Islamic Revolutionary Movement) [Mohammad Nabi MOHAMMADI];
• Hizbi Islami-Gulbuddin (Islamic Party) [Gulbuddin HIKMATYAR faction];
• Hizbi Islami-Khalis (Islamic Party) [Yunis KHALIS faction];
• Hizbi Wahdat-Akbari faction (Islamic Unity Party) [Mohammad Akbar AKBARI];
• Ittihad-i-Islami Barai Azadi Afghanistan (Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan) [Abdul Rasul SAYYAF];
• Jabha-i-Najat-i-Milli Afghanistan (Afghanistan National Liberation Front) [Sibghatullah MOJADDEDI];
• Mahaz-i-Milli-Islami (National Islamic Front) [Sayed Ahamad GAILANI];
• Taliban (Religious Students Movement) [Mohammad OMAR];
• United Islamic Front for the Salvation 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]

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

• 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

• US provided about $70 million in humanitarian assistance in 1997;
• 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 - 4,700 (January 2000), 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 in 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 (1998 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 largest illicit opium producer, surpassing Burma (potential production in 1999 - 1,670 metric tons; cultivation in 1999 - 51,500 hectares, a 23% increase over 1998);
• 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 [Country Listing] [ The World Factbook Home]