Afghanistan

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
  • د افغانستان اسلامي امارت (Pashto)
    Də Afġānistān Islāmī Imārat
  • امارت اسلامی افغانستان (Dari)
    Imārat-i Islāmī-yi Afğānistān
Motto: لا إله إلا الله، محمد رسول الله
Lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh, Muhammadun rasūlu llāh
"There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God." (Shahadah)
Anthem: دا د باتورانو کور
"Dā Də Bātorāno Kor"
"This Is the Home of the Brave"[2]
StatusUN member state under an unrecognized government
Capital
and largest city
Kabul
34°31′N 69°11′E / 34.517°N 69.183°E / 34.517; 69.183[3]
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2019 unofficial estimates)[a][5][6][7][8]
Religion
(2015)
Demonym(s)Afghan[b][11][12]
GovernmentUnitary totalitarian[13] provisional theocratic Islamic emirate[14]
Hibatullah Akhundzada
Hasan Akhund (acting)
Abdul Hakim Haqqani
LegislatureNone[c]
Formation
17091738
1747–1823
• Emirate
1823–1839
1839–1842
1842–1926
27 May 1863
26 May 1879
19 August 1919
• Kingdom
9 June 1926
• Republic
17 July 1973
27–28 April 1978
28 April 1992
27 September 1996
26 January 2004
15 August 2021
Area
• Total
652,867[19] km2 (252,073 sq mi) (40th)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2023 estimate
Neutral increase 39,232,003[20] (37th)
• Density
48.08/km2 (124.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)2020 estimate
• Total
$81.007 billion[21]
• Per capita
$2,459[21]
GDP (nominal)2020 estimate
• Total
$20.136 billion[21]
• Per capita
$611[21]
HDI (2021)Decrease 0.478[22][23]
low (180th)
CurrencyAfghani (افغانى) (AFN)
Time zoneUTC+4:30
Lunar Calendar[24]
(Afghanistan Time)
DST is not observed[25]
ISO 3166 codeAF
Internet TLD.af

Afghanistan,[d] officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,[e] is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia,[26] it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south,[f] Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital. According to the World Population review, as of 2021, Afghanistan's population is 40.2 million.[6] The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020.[28]

Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires,[29] the land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, amongst others, rose to form major empires.[30] The various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres[31][32] made the area a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam.[33] The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century,[34] although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state.[35] Dost Mohammad died in 1863, days after his last campaign to unite Afghanistan, and Afghanistan was consequently thrown back into civil war. During this time, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War. However, the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory and the successful establishment of British political influence. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in June 1926 under Amanullah Khan. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established.

Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars. The conflict began in 1978 when a communist revolution established a socialist state, and subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. Mujahideen fought against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War and continued fighting amongst themselves following the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989. The Islamic fundamentalist Taliban controlled most of the country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after capturing Kabul and overthrowing the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, ending the 2001–2021 war.[36] In September 2021 the Taliban re-established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.[37] The Taliban government remains internationally unrecognized.[38]

Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, including lithium, iron, zinc, and copper. It is the second largest producer of cannabis resin,[39] and third largest of both saffron[40] and cashmere.[41] The country is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Due to the effects of war in recent decades, the country has dealt with high levels of terrorism, poverty, and child malnutrition. Afghanistan remains among the world's least developed countries, ranking 180th in the Human Development Index. Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) is $81 billion by purchasing power parity and $20.1 billion by nominal values. Per capita, its GDP is amongst the lowest of any country as of 2020.

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (19 June 2013). "The Taliban's Qatar Office: Are Prospects for Peace Already Doomed?". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. ^ Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Geonames.org (CC BY)
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Population Matters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Afghanistan's ethnic mosaic". The Times of India. 23 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Population 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Distribution of Afghan population by ethnic group 2020". 20 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Afghan Ethnic Groups: A Brief Investigation". 14 August 2011.
  9. ^ Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Reference.com (Retrieved 13 November 2007).
  10. ^ Dictionary.com. WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. Reference.com (Retrieved 13 November 2007). Archived 28 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Constitution of Afghanistan". 2004. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  12. ^ Afghan | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. the Cambridge English Dictionary. ISBN 9781107660151.
  13. ^ *Sakhi, Nilofar (December 2022). "The Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan and Security Paradox". Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs. 9 (3): 383–401. doi:10.1177/23477970221130882. S2CID 253945821. Afghanistan is now controlled by a militant group that operates out of a totalitarian ideology.
  14. ^
  15. ^ T. S. Tirumurti (26 May 2022). "Letter dated 25 May 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) addressed to the President of the Security Council" (PDF). United Nations Security Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  16. ^ Kraemer, Thomas (27 November 2022). "Afghanistan dispatch: Taliban leaders issue new orders on law-making process, enforcement of court orders from previous government". JURIST. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  17. ^ Dawi, Akmal (28 March 2023). "Unseen Taliban Leader Wields Godlike Powers in Afghanistan". Voice of America. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  18. ^ Oxford Analytica (10 March 2023). "Senior Afghan Taliban figures move to curb leader". Expert Briefings. Emerald Expert Briefings. doi:10.1108/OXAN-DB276639. [Akhundzada] has not convened the Taliban's Leadership Council (a 'politburo' of top leaders and commanders) for several months. Instead, he relies on the narrower Kandahar Council of Clerics for legal advice.
  19. ^ Central Statistics Office Afghanistan
  20. ^ "Afghanistan". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 24 September 2022. (Archived 2022 edition)
  21. ^ a b c d "Afghanistan". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  22. ^ Human Development Report 2021/2022: Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2022. p. 284. ISBN 9789211264517. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  23. ^ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Taliban Changes Solar Year to Hijri Lunar Calendar". Hasht-e Subh Daily. 26 March 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Half Hour and 45-Minute Time Zones". timeanddate.com.
  26. ^ "Securing Stability in Afghanistan, the 'Heart of Asia'". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  27. ^ "Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Border Management)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  28. ^ د هېواد د وګړو اټکل برآورد نفوس کشور1399 [Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2020–21] (PDF) (Report) (in Arabic and English). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  29. ^ Pillalamarri, Akhilesh. "Why Is Afghanistan the 'Graveyard of Empires'?". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  30. ^ Griffin, Luke (14 January 2002). "The Pre-Islamic Period". Afghanistan Country Study. Illinois Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 3 November 2001. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  31. ^ Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; York, Michael (2012). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge. p. 200. ISBN 9781135189792.
  32. ^ "The remarkable rugs of war, Drill Hall Gallery". The Australian. 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. ^ "Professing Faith: Religious traditions in Afghanistan are diverse". 16 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Afghanistan: the land that forgot time". The Guardian. 26 October 2001.
  35. ^ "DŌST MOḤAMMAD KHAN". Encyclopaedia Iranica. 1995. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  36. ^ Watkins, Andrew H. (November 2021). Cruickshank, Paul; Hummel, Kristina (eds.). "An Assessment of Taliban Rule at Three Months" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 14 (9). West Point, New York: Combating Terrorism Center: 1–14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  37. ^ "Who Will Run the Taliban Government?". crisisgroup.org. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  38. ^ "The Taliban: Unrecognized and unrepentant". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  39. ^ "Morocco seizes over 840 kg of cannabis – Xinhua | English.news.cn". xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  40. ^ "Afghanistan's Saffron on Media | AfGOV". mail.gov.af. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  41. ^ "Taliban Takeover Puts Afghanistan's Cashmere, Silk Industries at Risk". The Business of Fashion. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2022.


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