Afghanistan’s facts
General Facts and Statistics
Area: 647,500 sq. km. (249,935 sq. mi.)
Capital: Kabul, 2,000,000 (approx.)
Population: 29,863,000 (2005 est.)
Natural Resources:
Natural gas, petroleum, coal, cooper, chromite, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
Land Use: Arable land 12% Permanent pastures 46% Forests and woodland 3% other 39%.
Literacy Rate: 28.7 per cent (According to UN Afghanistan Human Development Report of 2005)
THE NATIONAL FLAG
The Afghan flag is made of three equal parts, with black, red and green colours placed side by side from left to right. According to article 19 of the Afghanistan constitution, black symbolizes invasion and the bleak era of Afghanistan, red represents sacrifices for achieving independence while green symbolizes victory and prosperity.
The national emblem located in the centre of the flag is, flanked by two smaller flags. the phrases “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet” and “Allah is Great” are written beneath a rising sun are placed in the center of the flag. The word “Afghanistan” and the year 1298 (dating back to 1919 A.D. when the reformist King Amanullah promulgated modern laws) is located in the lower part of the emblem and is encircled with two branches of wheat.
THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
The National Anthem was adopted and officially announced in May 2006. According to article 20 of the Constitution of Afghanistan, “The national anthem of Afghanistan shall be in Pashto with the mention of “God is Greatest” as well as the names of the ethnicities of Afghanistan. The lyrics were written by Abdul Bari Jahani and the music was written by German-Afghan composer Babrak Wassa.
National Anthem without lyrics
Afghan Government
The executive branch of the Afghan government consists of a powerful and popularly elected President and two Vice Presidents. A National Assembly consisting of two Houses, the House of People (Wolesi Jirga) with 249 seats and the House of Elders (Meshrano Jirga) with 102 seats form the Legislative Branch. There is an independent Judiciary branch consisting of the Supreme Court (Stera Mahkama), High Courts and Appeal Courts. The President appoints the nine members of the Supreme Court with the approval of the Wolesi Jirga.
President Hamid Karzai became the first democratically elected President of Afghanistan on December 7, 2004. Previously, he had been Chairman of the Transitional Administration and Interim President from 2002.
LOYA JIRGA (GRAND ASSEMBLY)
Loya Jirga is a national council of notables, tribal chiefs, religious leaders, which may be called to assemble in order to address a major issue, problem or reform considered important to the nation. Originally called upon by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, it was time-honoured tradition to gather members of all ethnic groups to support the establishment of modern Afghanistan. Uniquely Afghan in nature, is a consensus-building mechanism based on the Pashtun institution of Jirga, which in tribal structure refers to the council of elders, tribal leaders, lineages, clans, qaums or heads of families.
During Amir Abdul Rahman Khan’s rule (1880-1901), the Loya Jirga included certain Sardars(princes), important khans (rural elites) and religious leaders. That tradition was maintained until the Communist coup in 1978.
In June of 2002, after the Taliban was driven from power, the new Interim Administration was chosen by a Loya Jirga, comprised of about 1,500 delegates from around the country who gathered in Kabul. Each of Afghanistan’s 362 districts had at least one seat, with a further seat allotted for every 22,000 people. 160 seats were also given to women. No group was excluded, except for those alleged to have committed acts of terrorism or suspected of crimes. In January of 2004, a second Loya Jirga ratified the newly-drafted Constitution of Afghanistan. The Taliban was not represented, though groups sharing some their views participated.
Major Religious, Ethnic, And Linguistic Groups:
Afghanistan has been a mosaic of people for centuries with diverse cultures, religions and languages. Afghanistan’s ethnically and linguistically rich and mixed population reflects its location at the crossroads of Central, South and Southwest Asia. Communities with separate religions, languages, and ethnic backgrounds have lived side by side for generations. Afghanistan still remains a country of dynamic diversity. The main ethnic groups are Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch, Nuristani, and Kizilbash. Pashto and Dari are Afghanistan’s official languages. Afghanistan’s Constitution stipulates that all other languages are “official” in the areas in which they are spoken by a majority of the population. Dari is spoken by more than one-third of the population and Pashto is spoken throughout Kabul and eastern and southern Afghanistan. Many Afghans are multi-lingual. Tajik and Turkic languages are spoken widely in the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 70 other languages and numerous dialects.
Afghanistan is an Islamic country. It is estimated that 80% of the population is Sunni. The remainder of the population is predominantly Shi’a; however, a minority of Hindus and Sikhs also reside in Afghanistan.
Women in Afghanistan
Prior to the Soviet occupation and Taliban takeover, existed a liberal country with a progressive outlook on women’s rights. Afghan women made up 50 percent of government workers, 70 percent of schoolteachers and 40 percent of doctors in Kabul. However, the effects of war and the Taliban regime quickly effaced the rights of women in public life and relegated them to solely the domestic domain.
In 2001, with the overthrow of the Taliban, Afghan women were able to enjoy some of the freedom that had been previously removed from them. The education and health sectors have provided greater access to women and advanced their social development in an emergent state.
With the fall of the Taliban, women have re-entered schools and universities. Girls composed a third of the nearly six million children who returned to school this year. Women have also started serving as teachers and faculty members again, and are fulfilling political positions and participating in the national elections.
The health sector is working hard to improve the lives of Afghan women, and, free from the prohibitions of the Taliban, male physicians are now allowed to examine and treat female patients.
Afghan women previously suffered through war, poverty, famine and violence, but with the help of the Government of Afghanistan and the International community, they are re-emerging with even stronger voices for change.
GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and seasonally harsh climate have presented a challenge to habitants and conquering armies for centuries. Afghanistan extends from the imposing Pamir Mountains in the northeast Wakhan Corridor, through branches of smaller mountain ranges, down to the south-western plateau where the fertile regions of Kandahar merge with the deserts of Farah and Seistan. More than 49 percent of the total land area lies above 2,000 meters. There are a number of smaller mountain ranges spanning Afghanistan but the longest ranges of mountains are found in the north-eastern section of the 600 km Hindu Kush mountain range.
Afghanistan is completely landlocked: bordered by Iran in the west (925 kilometers, Central Asian States of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and northeast (2,380 kilometers), China at the easternmost top of the Wakhan Corridor (96 kilometers) and Pakistan in the east and south (2,432 kilometers).