Poland, 02-954 Warsaw
1, Goplańska Street
phone: +48 22 8855410
fax: +48 22 8856500
email:
warsaw@afghanembassy.com.pl
office hours: 9-16
visa section: 10-12, 13-15
Country Profile
A south-western country, Afghanistan bridges south and central Asia, and connects the Middle East with the Far East. It has an area of some 251,825 square miles (647,500 square kilometers) and is completely landlocked, with the nearest coast lying along the Arabian Sea, about 300 miles to the south. Its longest border, of 1,125 miles (1,810 kilometers) is with Pakistan, to the east and south. The 510-mile (821km) border in the west separates Afghanistan from Iran, and there is a 200-mile border with the part of Jammu and Kashmir claimed by Pakistan. The combined length of Afghanistan's northern borders with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan is 1,050 miles. The shortest border - of 50 miles - is with the Uighur-inhabited Sinkiang region of the People's Republic of China, at the end of the long, narrow Wakhan Corridor in the extreme northeast. The capital of Afghanistan is its largest city, Kabul, which is located in the east-central part of the country at an altitude of about 5,900 feet (l,800 meters). The city is connected by road to most Afghan provinces and neighbouring countries. The boundaries of Afghanistan were established in the late 19th century in the context of rivalry between the British Empire and the Czarist Russia. Modern Afghanistan became a pawn in struggles over political ideology and commercial influence. In the late 20th century Afghanistan suffered ruinous effects of prolonged foreign interference and attempts at occupation. The Soviet invasion (December 27, 1979) lasted ten years and the Red Army pulled out of Afghanistan on February 15, 1989. Marking the first military defeat of the Red Army since its founding and subsequently the demise of the former Soviet Union, unfortunately the free world abandoned Afghanistan at the end of the Cold War. Thrust into the regional games of hegemony, the Taliban rose to power (1994-2001). On September the 9 th, legendary Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated by two al-Qaeda terrorists posing as journalists and on September the 11 th, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were targeted by Osama bin Laden's men. The campaign against terror brought the end of the Taliban as the coalition forces aided by anti-Taliban resistance forces captured Kabul on November 11, 2001.
Geography
| Location: | Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan , east of Iran |
| Geographic coordinates: | 33 00 N, 65 00 E |
| Map references: | Asia |
| Area: | total:647,500 sq km land: 647,500 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Land boundaries: | total:5,529 km border countries: China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km |
| Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims: | none (landlocked) |
| Climate: | arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers |
| Terrain: | mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point:Amu Darya 258 m highest point: Nowshak 7,485 m |
| Natural resources: | natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones |
| Land use: | arable land:12.13% permanent crops: 0.21% other: 87.66% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 27,200 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts |
| Environment - current issues: | limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to:Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation |
| Geography - note: | landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor) |
PEOPLE
| Population: | 31,889,923 (July 2007 est.) | ||||
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 44.6% (male 7,282,600/female 6,940,378) 15-64 years: 53% (male 8,668,170/female 8,227,387) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 374,426/female 396,962) (2007 est.) | ||||
| Median age: | total: 17.6 years male: 17.6 years female: 17.6 years (2007 est.) | ||||
| Population growth rate: | 2.625% (2007 est.) | ||||
| Birth rate: | 46.21 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | ||||
| Death rate: | 19.96 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | ||||
| Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | ||||
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.049 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.054 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.943 male(s)/female total population: 1.049 male(s)/female (2007 est.) | ||||
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 157.43 deaths/1,000 live births male: 161.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 152.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) | ||||
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 43.77 years male: 43.6 years female: 43.96 years (2007 est.) | ||||
| Total fertility rate: | 6.64 children born/woman (2007 est.) | ||||
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.01% (2001 est.) | ||||
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | NA | ||||
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA | ||||
| Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria is a high risk countrywide below 2,000 meters from March through November animal contact disease: rabies note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007) | ||||
| Religions: | Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1% | ||||
| Languages: | Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism | ||||
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 28.1% male: 43.1% female: 12.6% (2000 est.) | ||||
Communications
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 280,000 (2005) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 2.52 million (2006) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: very limited telephone and telegraph service; many Afghans utilize growing cellular phone coverage in major cities domestic: telephone service is improving with the licensing of several wireless telephone service providers in 2005 and 2006; approximately 8 in 100 Afghans own a wireless telephone; telephone main lines remain limited international: country code - 93; five VSAT's installed in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, and Jalalabad provide international and domestic voice and data connectivity (2007) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 21, FM 5, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashtu, Afghan Persian (Dari), Urdu, and English) (2006) |
| Television broadcast stations: | at least 7 (1 government-run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in 6 of the 34 provinces) (2006) |
| Internet country code: | .af |
| Internet hosts: | 21 (2007) |
| Internet users: | 535,000 (2006) |
| Communications - note: | Internet access is growing through Internet cafes as well as public "telekiosks" in Kabul (2005) |
Transportation
| Airports: | 46 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 12 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 34 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2007) |
| Heliports: | 9 (2007) |
| Pipelines: | gas 466 km (2006) |
| Roadways: | total: 34,782 km paved: 8,229 km unpaved: 26,553 km (2004) |
| Waterways: | 1,200 km (chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT) (2007) |
| Ports and terminals: | Kheyrabad, Shir Khan |
Military
| Military branches: | Afghan National Army (includes Afghan Air Force) (2006) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 22 years of age; inductees are contracted into service for a 4-year term (2005) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 22-49: 4,952,812 females age 22-49: 4,663,963 (2005 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | br males age 22-49: 2,662,946 females age 22-49: 2,508,574 (2005 est.) |
| Manpower reaching military service age annually: | males age 18-49: 275,362 females age 22-49: 259,935 (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.9% (2006 est.) |
Trans-national Issues
| Disputes - international: | Pakistan, with UN and other international assistance, repatriated 2.3 million Afghan refugees with less than a million still remaining, many at their own choosing; Pakistan has proposed and Afghanistan protests construction of a fence and laying of mines along portions of their border; Coalition and Pakistani forces continue to monitor remote tribal areas to control the border with Afghanistan and stem terrorist and other illegal activities |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | IDPs: 136,565 (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in south and west due to drought and instability) (2006) |
| Illicit drugs: | world's largest producer of opium; cultivation dropped 48% to 107,400 hectares in 2005; better weather and lack of widespread disease returned opium yields to normal levels, meaning potential opium production declined by only 10% to 4,475 metric tons; if the entire poppy crop were processed, it is estimated that 526 metric tons of heroin could be processed; many narcotics-processing labs throughout the country; drug trade is a source of instability and some antigovernment groups profit from the trade; significant domestic use of opiates; 80-90% of the heroin consumed in Europe comes from Afghan opium; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through informal financial networks; source of hashish |
Source:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/af.html
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