Afghanistan

Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, but withdrew 10 years later under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels.

A civil war between mujahedin factions erupted following the 1992 fall of the Communist regime. The Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy, seized Kabul in 1996 and most of the country outside of opposition Northern Alliance strongholds by 1998. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. In late 2001, a conference in Bonn, Germany, established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution and a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. On 7 December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. The National Assembly was inaugurated on 19 December 2005.

• note - includes only political parties approved by the Ministry of Justice: Afghan Millat [Anwarul Haq AHADI];
• De Afghanistan De Solay Ghorzang Gond [Shahnawaz TANAI];
• De Afghanistan De Solay Mili Islami Gond [Shah Mahmood Polal ZAI];
• Harakat-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Asif MOHSINEE];
• Hezb-e-Aarman-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Iihaj Saraj-u-din ZAFAREE];
• Hezb-e-Aazadee Afghanistan [Abdul MALIK];
• Hezb-e-Adalat-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Kabeer MARZBAN];
• Hezb-e-Afghanistan-e-Wahid [Mohammad Wasil RAHEEMEE];
• Hezb-e-Afghan Watan Islami Gond;
• Hezb-e-Congra-e-Mili Afghanistan [Latif PEDRAM];
• Hezb-e-Falah-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad ZAREEF];
• Hezb-e-Hambastagee Mili Jawanan-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad Jamil KARZAI];
• Hezb-e-Hamnbatagee-e-Afghanistan [Abdul Khaleq NEMAT];
• Hezb-e-Harakat-e-Mili Wahdat-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad Nadir AATASH];
• Hezb-e-Harak-e-Islami Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Ilhaj Said Hssain ANWARY];
• Hezb-e-Ifazat Az Uqoq-e-Bashar Wa Inkishaf-e-Afghanistan [Baryalai NASRATEE];
• Hezb-e-Istiqlal-e-Afghanistan [Dr. Gh. Farooq NIJZRABEE];
• Hezb-e-Jamhoree Khwahan [Sibghatullah SANJAR];
• Hezb-e-Kar Wa Tawsiha-e-Afghanistan [Zulfiar OMID];
• Hezb-e-Libral-e-Aazadee Khwa-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Ajmal SOHAIL];
• Hezb-e-Mili Afghanistan [Abdul Rasheed AARYAN];
• Hezb-e-Mili Wahdat-e-Aqwam-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Shah KHOGYANEE];
• Hezb-e-Nuhzhat-e-Mili Afghanistan [Ahmad Wali MASOUD];
• Hezb-e-Paiwand-e-Mili Afghanistan [Said Mansoor NADIRI];
• Hezb-e-Rastakhaiz-e-Islami Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Said ZAHIR];
• Hezb-e-Refah-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Mia Gul WASEEQ];
• Hezb-e-Risalat-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Noor Aqa ROEEN];
• Hezb-e-Sahadat-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad Zubair PAIROZ];
• Hezb-e-Sahadat-e-Mili Wa Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Usman SALIGZADA];
• Hezb-e-Sulh-e-Mili Islami Aqwam-e-Afghanistan [Abdul Qahir SHARYATEE];
• Hezb-e-Sulh Wa Wahdat-e-Mili Afghanistan [Abdul Qadir IMAMEE];
• Hezb-e-Tafahum-e-Wa Democracy Afghanistan [Ahamad SHAHEEN];
• Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Karim KHALILI];
• Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Ustad Mohammad MOHAQQEQ];
• Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Afghanistan [Abdul Rasheed JALILI];
• Jamahat-ul-Dahwat ilal Qurhan-wa-Sunat-ul-Afghanistan [Mawlawee Samiullah NAJEEBEE];
• Jombesh-e Milli [Abdul Rashid DOSTAM];
• Mahaz-e-Mili Islami Afghanistan [Said Ahmad GAILANEE];
• Majmah-e-Mili Fahaleen-e-Sulh-e-Afghanistan [Shams ul Haq Noor SHAMS];
• Nuhzat-e-Aazadee Wa Democracy Afghanistan [Abdul Raqeeb Jawid KUHISTANEE];
• Nuhzat-e-Hambastagee Mili Afghanistan [Peer Said Ishaq GAILANEE];
• Sazman-e-Islami Afghanistan-e-Jawan [Siad Jawad HUSSAINEE];
• Tahreek Wahdat-e-Mili [Sultan Mahmood DHAZI] (30 Sep 2004)

Afghanistan's economic outlook has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 because of the infusion of over $8 billion in international assistance, recovery of the agricultural sector and growth of the service sector, and the reestablishment of market institutions.

Real GDP growth is estimated to have slowed in the last fiscal year primarily because adverse weather conditions cut agricultural production, but is expected to rebound over 2005-06 because of foreign donor reconstruction and service sector growth. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan remains extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, farming, and trade with neighboring countries.

It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan's living standards from its current status, among the lowest in the world. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs, but the Afghan government and international donors remain committed to improving access to these basic necessities by prioritizing infrastructure development, education, housing development, jobs programs, and economic reform over the next year.

Growing political stability and continued international commitment to Afghan reconstruction create an optimistic outlook for continuing improvements in the Afghan economy in 2006. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade may account for one-third of GDP and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy challenges.

Other long-term challenges include: boosting the supply of skilled labor, reducing vulnerability to severe natural disasters, expanding health services, and rebuilding a war torn infrastructure.