Afghanistan or Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a country landlocked on all sides with no coastline. It is situated in southwest Asia on the Iranian Plateau surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountains. It is the 41st largest country in the world covering an area of 647,500 square kilometers.
The capital city of Afghanistan is Kabul. The names of important cities of the country are Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif. It celebrates its Independence Day on 19th August. The country attained its independence from UK domination on 19th August, 1919.
The country's geographic coordinates are 34°00'N, 66°00'E. It is bordered by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, Pakistan in the south ,Iran in the west and the People's Republic of China in the east. The four main rivers in the country are Amu Darya, Hari Rud,the Kabul and Helmand River. Afghanistan has the typical arid to semiarid climate of the Russian Steppes characterized by hot summers and severe winters.
The population of Afghanistan is 31,056,997 by the latest July,2006 estimate.The major part of the population consist of 88% Sunni Muslims ,11% Shia Muslims and the remaining 1% includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, Hindu, Baha'i and Christian.
The
Afghanistan population consist of many ethnic groups-42% Pashtun, 27%Tajik, 9% Hazara,9% Uzbek, 4% Aimak, 3% Turkmen, 2% Baloch and the remaining 4% consisting of Pashai, Nuristani, Brahui, Hindkowans, Hindustani.
Afghanistan Interesting Fact include-:
It is among the poorest and underdeveloped countries in the world.
Presently,the Afghanistan government is headed by President Hamid Karzai who was elected in the 2004 elections held for the first time ever in the country. The elected Parliament consists of former Mujahideen officials, communists, reformers and Islamic fundamentalists. 28% of the elected delegates consists of women which is actually 3% greater than the constitution guaranteed minimum 25% making Afghanistan, the country popular under the Taliban regime for female oppression, one of the leading countries to give more representation to women.
In 1999 an
Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 was hijacked by Pakistani Terrorists which was enroute from Kathmundu, Nepal to Delhi. The plane was forcibly made to land on Kandahar in Taliban ruled Afghanistan.They demanded from the Indian government the freedom of Kashmiri militants who were imprisioned in Indian jail as ransom. After negotiating between the Taliban Government and the terrorists the then External affairs Minister of India, Jaswant Singh flew to Kandahar with the militants and then the plane with the passengers was allowed to leave for Delhi.
Afghanistan Ethnic Groups Map |
Kabul Location and Orientation |
Kabul History |
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