Afghanistan
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Geography
Area: 647,500 sq. km. (249,935 sq. mi.); slightly smaller
than Texas.
Cities: Capital--Kabul (1,780,000; 1999/2000 UN est.). Other
cities (1988 UN est.; current figures are probably significantly
higher)--Kandahar (226,000); Herat (177,000); Mazar-e-Sharif
(131,000); Jalalabad (58,000); Konduz (57,000).
Terrain: Landlocked; mostly mountains and desert.
Climate: Dry, with cold winters and hot summers.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Afghan(s).
Population: 28,513,677 (July 2004 est.). More than 3.5 million
Afghans live outside the country, mainly in Pakistan and Iran,
although over two and a half million have returned since the
removal of the Taliban.
Annual population growth rate (2004 est.): 4.92%. This rate
does not take into consideration the recent war and its continuing
impact.
Main ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen,
Aimaq, Baluch, Nuristani, Kizilbash.
Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1%.
Main languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), Pashto.
Education: Approximately 4 million children, of whom some
30% are girls, enrolled in school during 2003. Literacy (2001
est.)--36% (male 51%, female 21%), but real figures may be
lower given breakdown of education system and flight of educated
Afghans.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2004 est.)--165.96 deaths/1,000
live births. Life expectancy (2004 est.)--42.27 yrs. (male);
42.66 yrs. (female).
Government
Type: Islamic Republic.
Independence: August 19, 1919.
Constitution: January 4, 2004.
Branches: Executive—president (chief of state). Legislative—bicameral
National Assembly (House of the People--249 seats, House of
the Elders--102 seats). Judicial—Supreme Court, High
Courts, and Appeals Courts.
Political subdivisions: 34 provinces.
Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.
Economy
GDP (2004 est.): $4.7 billion.
GDP growth (2004 est.): 7.5%.
GDP per capita (2004 est.): $164.83.
Natural resources: Natural gas, oil, coal, copper, chromite,
talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron, salt, precious and
semiprecious stones.
Agriculture (estimated 52% of GDP): Products--wheat, corn,
barley, rice, cotton, fruit, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, and
mutton.
Industry (estimated 26% of GDP): Types--small-scale production
for domestic use of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer,
and cement; hand-woven carpets for export; natural gas, precious
and semiprecious gemstones.
Services (estimated 22% of GDP): Transport, retail, and telecommunications.
Trade (2002-03 est.): Exports--$100 million (does not include
opium): fruits and nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton,
hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems. Major markets--Central
Asian republics, Pakistan, Iran, EU, India. Imports--$2.3
billion: food, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer
goods. Major suppliers--Central Asian republics, Pakistan,
Iran.
Currency: The currency is the afghani, which was reintroduced
as Afghanistan’s new currency in January 2003. At present,
$1 U.S. equals approximately 45 afghanis.
PEOPLE
Afghanistan's ethnically and linguistically mixed population
reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion
routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest
Asia. While population data is somewhat unreliable for Afghanistan,
Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group at 38-44% of the
population, followed by Tajiks (25%), Hazaras (10%), Uzbek
(6-8%), Aimaq, Turkmen, Baluch, and other small groups. Dari
(Afghan Farsi) and Pashto are official languages. Dari is
spoken by more than one-third of the population as a first
language and serves as a lingua franca for most Afghans, though
Pashto is spoken throughout the Pashtun areas of eastern and
southern Afghanistan. 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. An estimated
80% of the population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school
of jurisprudence; the remainder of the population--and primarily
the Hazara ethnic group-- predominantly Shi'a. Despite attempts
during the years of communist rule to secularize Afghan society,
Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam
served as a principal basis for expressing opposition to communism
and the Soviet invasion. Islamic religious tradition and codes,
together with traditional tribal and ethnic practices, have
an important role in personal conduct and dispute settlement.
Afghan society is largely based on kinship groups, which follow
traditional customs and religious practices, though somewhat
less so in urban areas.
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HISTORY
Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia,
has had a turbulent history. In 328 BC, Alexander the Great
entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan, then part
of the Persian Empire, to capture Bactria (present-day Balkh).
Invasions by the Scythians, White Huns, and Turks followed
in succeeding centuries. In AD 642, Arabs invaded the entire
region and introduced Islam.
Arab rule gave way to the Persians, who controlled
the area until conquered by the Turkic Ghaznavids in 998.
Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of
his predecessors and turned Ghazni into a great cultural center
as well as a base for frequent forays into India. Following
Mahmud's short-lived dynasty, various princes attempted to
rule sections of the country until the destructive Mongol
invasion of 1219 led by Genghis Khan.
Following Genghis Khan's death in 1227, a succession
of petty chiefs and princes struggled for supremacy until
late in the 14th century, when one of his descendants, Tamerlane,
incorporated Afghanistan into his own vast Asian empire. Babur,
a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of India's Moghul
dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century, made Kabul the
capital of an Afghan principality.
In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of
what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule.
A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king by a tribal council after
the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan
in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated
chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces
into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west
to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus)
River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.
European Influence
During the 19th century, collision between the expanding British
Empire in the subcontinent and czarist Russia significantly
influenced Afghanistan in what was termed "The Great
Game." British concern over Russian advances in Central
Asia and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan
wars. The first (1839-42) resulted not only in the destruction
of a British army, but is remembered today as an example of
the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The second
Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80) was sparked by Amir Sher Ali's
refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict
brought Amir Abdur Rahman to the Afghan throne. During his
reign (1880-1901), the British and Russians officially established
the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan through
the demarcation of the Durand Line. The British retained effective
control over Kabul's foreign affairs.
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Afghanistan remained neutral during World War
I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and
Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan
king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within
the country, however.
Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor,
was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed
to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control
of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the third
Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in the same year.
During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished
their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty
of Rawalpindi in August 1919. In commemoration of this event,
Afghans celebrate August 19 as their Independence Day.
Reform and Reaction
King Amanullah (1919-29) moved to end his country's traditional
isolation in the years following the third Anglo-Afghan war.
He established diplomatic relations with most major countries
and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey--during which
he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by
Ataturk--introduced several reforms intended to modernize
Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional
Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational
schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders.
Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced
to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led
by Bacha-i-Saqao, a Tajik brigand. Prince Nadir Khan, a cousin
of Amanullah's, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October
of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support,
was declared King Nadir Shah. Four years later, however, he
was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.
Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old
son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973.
In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution
providing for a two-chamber legislature to which the king
appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another
third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial
assemblies. Although Zahir's "experiment in democracy"
produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial
extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included
the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA),
which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967,
the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses)
faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin
and supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham
(Banner) faction led by Babrak Karmal. The split reflected
ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society.
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Zahir's cousin, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, served
as his Prime Minister from 1953 to 1963. During his tenure
as Prime Minister, Daoud solicited military and economic assistance
from both Washington and Moscow and introduced controversial
social policies of a reformist nature. Daoud's alleged support
for the creation of a Pashtun state in the Pakistan-Afghan
border area heightened tensions with Pakistan and eventually
resulted in Daoud's dismissal in March 1963.
Daoud's Republic (1973-78) and the April 1978
Coup
Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal
family and poor economic conditions created by the severe
1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Daoud seized power
in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country,
eventually finding refuge in Italy. Daoud abolished the monarchy,
abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan
a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister.
His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social
reforms met with little success, and the new constitution
promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political
instability.
Seeking to exploit more effectively mounting
popular disaffection, the PDPA reunified with Moscow's support.
On April 27, 1978, the PDPA initiated a bloody coup, which
resulted in the overthrow and murder of Daoud and most of
his family. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the
PDPA, became President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime
Minister of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
Opposition to the Marxist government emerged
almost immediately. During its first 18 months of rule, the
PDPA brutally imposed a Marxist-style "reform" program,
which ran counter to deeply rooted Afghan traditions. Decrees
forcing changes in marriage customs and pushing through an
ill-conceived land reform were particularly misunderstood
by virtually all Afghans. In addition, thousands of members
of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and
the intelligentsia were imprisoned, tortured, or murdered.
Conflicts within the PDPA also surfaced early and resulted
in exiles, purges, imprisonments, and executions.
By the summer of 1978, a revolt began in the
Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and quickly spread
into a countrywide insurgency. In September 1979, Hafizullah
Amin, who had earlier been Prime Minister and Minister of
Defense, seized power from Taraki after a palace shootout.
Over the next 2 months, instability plagued Amin's regime
as he moved against perceived enemies in the PDPA. By December,
party morale was crumbling, and the insurgency was growing.
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The Soviet Invasion
The Soviet Union moved quickly to take advantage of the April
1978 coup. In December 1978, Moscow signed a new bilateral
treaty of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan, and
the Soviet military assistance program increased significantly.
The regime's survival increasingly was dependent upon Soviet
military equipment and advisers as the insurgency spread and
the Afghan army began to collapse.
By October 1979, however, relations between
Afghanistan and the Soviet Union were tense as Hafizullah
Amin refused to take Soviet advice on how to stabilize and
consolidate his government. Faced with a deteriorating security
situation, on December 24, 1979, large numbers of Soviet airborne
forces, joining thousands of Soviet troops already on the
ground, began to land in Kabul under the pretext of a field
exercise. On December 26, these invasion forces killed Hafizullah
Amin and installed Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham
faction, bringing him back from Czechoslovakia and making
him Prime Minister. Massive Soviet ground forces invaded from
the north on December 27.
Following the invasion, the Karmal regime, although
backed by an expeditionary force that grew as large as 120,000
Soviet troops, was unable to establish authority outside Kabul.
As much as 80% of the countryside, including parts of Herat
and Kandahar, eluded effective government control. An overwhelming
majority of Afghans opposed the communist regime, either actively
or passively. Afghan freedom fighters (mujahidin) made it
almost impossible for the regime to maintain a system of local
government outside major urban centers. Poorly armed at first,
in 1984 the mujahidin began receiving substantial assistance
in the form of weapons and training from the U.S. and other
outside powers.
In May 1985, the seven principal Peshawar-based
guerrilla organizations formed an alliance to coordinate their
political and military operations against the Soviet occupation.
Late in 1985, the mujahidin were active in and around Kabul,
launching rocket attacks and conducting operations against
the communist government. The failure of the Soviet Union
to win over a significant number of Afghan collaborators or
to rebuild a viable Afghan army forced it to bear an increasing
responsibility for fighting the resistance and for civilian
administration.
Soviet and popular displeasure with the Karmal
regime led to its demise in May 1986. Karmal was replaced
by Muhammad Najibullah, former chief of the Afghan secret
police (KHAD). Najibullah had established a reputation for
brutal efficiency during his tenure as KHAD chief. As Prime
Minister, Najibullah was ineffective and highly dependent
on Soviet support. Undercut by deep-seated divisions within
the PDPA, regime efforts to broaden its base of support proved
futile.
The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath
By the mid-1980s, the tenacious Afghan resistance movement--aided
by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others--was
exacting a high price from the Soviets, both militarily within
Afghanistan and by souring the U.S.S.R.'s relations with much
of the Western and Islamic world. Informal negotiations for
a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan had been underway since
1982. In 1988, the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan,
with the United States and Soviet Union serving as guarantors,
signed an agreement settling the major differences between
them. The agreement, known as the Geneva accords, included
five major documents, which, among other things, called for
U.S. and Soviet noninterference in the internal affairs of
Pakistan and Afghanistan, the right of refugees to return
to Afghanistan without fear of persecution or harassment,
and, most importantly, a timetable that ensured full Soviet
withdrawal from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989. About 14,500
Soviet and an estimated one million Afghan lives were lost
between 1979 and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
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Significantly, the mujahidin were party neither
to the negotiations nor to the 1988 agreement and, consequently,
refused to accept the terms of the accords. As a result, the
civil war continued after the Soviet withdrawal, which was
completed in February 1989. Najibullah's regime, though failing
to win popular support, territory, or international recognition,
was able to remain in power until 1992 but collapsed after
the defection of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam and his Uzbek militia
in March. However, when the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul
to assume control over the city and the central government,
a new round of internecine fighting began between the various
militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet
occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias'
ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced,
and the civil war continued.
Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders
of the Peshawar-based mujahidin groups established an interim
Islamic Jihad Council in mid-April 1992 to assume power in
Kabul. Moderate leader Prof. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi was to
chair the council for 2 months, after which a 10-member leadership
council composed of mujahidin leaders and presided over by
the head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani,
was to be set up for 4 months. During this 6-month period,
a Loya Jirga, or grand council of Afghan elders and notables,
would convene and designate an interim administration which
would hold power up to a year, pending elections.
But in May 1992, Rabbani prematurely formed
the leadership council, undermining Mojaddedi's fragile authority.
In June, Mojaddedi surrendered power to the Leadership Council,
which then elected Rabbani as President. Nonetheless, heavy
fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces
loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions, particularly
those who supported Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami. After
Rabbani extended his tenure in December 1992, fighting in
the capital flared up in January and February 1993. The Islamabad
Accord, signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as
Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up
agreement, the Jalalabad Accord, called for the militias to
be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993,
Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi'a Hezb-i-Wahdat
militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Masood's
Jamiat forces. Cooperating with Jamiat were militants of Sayyaf's
Ittehad-i-Islami and, periodically, troops loyal to ethnic
Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam. On January 1, 1994, Dostam
switched sides, precipitating large-scale fighting in Kabul
and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian
casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of
displaced persons and refugees. The country sank even further
into anarchy, forces loyal to Rabbani and Masood, both ethnic
Tajiks, controlled Kabul and much of the northeast, while
local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.
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Rise and Fall of the Taliban
The Taliban had risen to power in the mid 90’s in reaction
to the anarchy and warlordism that arose after the withdrawal
of Soviet forces. Many Taliban had been educated in madrassas
in Pakistan and were largely from rural southern Pashtun backgrounds.
In 1994, the Taliban developed enough strength to capture
the city of Kandahar from a local warlord and proceeded to
expand its control throughout Afghanistan, occupying Kabul
in September 1996. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied
about 90% of the country, limiting the opposition largely
to a small mostly Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir
valley.
The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation
of Islam--based upon the rural Pashtun tribal code--on the
entire country and committed massive human rights violations,
particularly directed against women and girls. The Taliban
also committed serious atrocities against minority populations,
particularly the Shi'a Hazara ethnic group, and killed noncombatants
in several well-documented instances. In 2001, as part of
a drive against relics of Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past,
the Taliban destroyed two Buddha statues carved into cliff
faces outside of the city of Bamiyan.
From the mid-1990s the Taliban provided sanctuary
to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national who had fought with the
mujahideen resistance against the Soviets, and provide a base
for his and other terrorist organizations. Bin Laden provided
both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden
and his Al-Qaida group were charged with the bombing of the
U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and in
August 1998 the United States launched a cruise missile attack
against bin Laden's terrorist camp in southeastern Afghanistan.
Bin Laden and Al-Qaida have acknowledged their responsibility
for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United
States.
Following the Taliban's repeated refusal to
expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international
terrorism, the U.S. and its partners in the anti-terrorist
coalition began a military campaign on October 7, 2001, targeting
terrorist facilities and various Taliban military and political
assets within Afghanistan. Under pressure from U.S. military
and anti-Taliban forces, the Taliban disintegrated rapidly,
and Kabul fell on November 13, 2001.
Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met at
a United Nations-sponsored conference in Bonn, Germany in
December 2001 and agreed to restore stability and governance
to Afghanistan--creating an interim government and establishing
a process to move toward a permanent government. Under the
"Bonn Agreement," an Afghan Interim Authority was
formed and took office in Kabul on December 22, 2001 with
Hamid Karzai as Chairman. The Interim Authority held power
for approximately 6 months while preparing for a nationwide
"Loya Jirga" (Grand Council) in mid-June 2002 that
decided on the structure of a Transitional Authority. The
Transitional Authority, headed by President Hamid Karzai,
renamed the government as the Transitional Islamic State of
Afghanistan (TISA). One of the TISA’s primary achievements
was the drafting of a constitution that was ratified by a
Constitutional Loya Jirga on January 4, 2004.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
On October 9, 2004, Afghanistan held its first national democratic
presidential election. More than 8 million Afghans voted,
41% of whom were women. Hamid Karzai was announced as the
official winner on November 3 and inaugurated on December
7 for a five-year term as Afghanistan's first democratically
elected president. On December 23, 2004, President Karzai
announced new cabinet appointments, naming three women as
ministers.
An election was held on September 18, 2005 for
the “Wolesi Jirga” (lower house) of Afghanistan’s
new bicameral National Assembly and for the country’s
34 provincial councils. Turnout for the election was about
53% of the 12.5 million registered voters. The Afghan constitution
provides for indirect election of the National Assembly’s
“Meshrano Jirga” (upper house) by the provincial
councils and by reserved presidential appointments. The first
democratically elected National Assembly since 1969 was inaugurated
on December 19, 2005. Younus Qanooni and Sigbatullah Mojadeddi
were elected Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga and Meshrano Jirga,
respectively.
The government's authority is growing, although
its ability to deliver necessary social services remains largely
dependent on funds from the international donor community.
Between 2001-2005, the United States committed over $9 billion
to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At an international
donors’ conference in Berlin in April 2004, donors pledged
a total of $8.2 billion for Afghan reconstruction over the
three-year period 2004-2007. At the end of January 2006, the
international community gathered in London and renewed its
political and reconstruction support for Afghanistan in the
form of the Afghanistan Compact.
With international community support, including
more than 40 countries participating in Operation Enduring
Freedom and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF), the government’s capacity to secure Afghanistan’s
borders to maintain internal order is increasing. The government
continues to work closely with Coalition Forces in rooting
out remnants of Al-Qaida and the Taliban in the south and
southeast. ISAF is providing security in Kabul, the North,
and the West. An expansion into the South is underway and
should be completed by the end of summer 2006. As of February
2006, some 26,500 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers had
been trained along with some 60,000 police, including border
and highway police.
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
(DDR) has also helped to further establish the authority of
the Afghan central government. Disarmament and demobilization
of 63,000 official military personnel was completed in June
2005. Many of these are still undergoing reintegration. Also
in June 2005, a follow-on program targeting illegal militias,
Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups, was rolled out and is
ongoing.
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Principal Government Officials
President--Hamid Karzai
First Vice President--Ahmad Zia Masood
Second Vice President--Abdul Karim Khalili
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta
Minister of Defense--General Abdul Raheem Wardak
Minister of Interior--Zarar Ahmad Muqbal
Ambassador to the United States--Said Tayib Jawad
Afghanistan maintains an embassy in the United
States at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel:
202-483-6410; email: info@embassyofafghanistan.org).
ECONOMY
In the 1930s, Afghanistan embarked on a modest economic development
program. The government founded banks; introduced paper money;
established a university; expanded primary, secondary, and
technical schools; and sent students abroad for education.
Historically, there has been a dearth of information
and reliable statistics about Afghanistan's economy. The 1979
Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war destroyed much of the
country's limited infrastructure and disrupted normal patterns
of economic activity. Gross domestic product had fallen substantially
because of loss of labor and capital and disruption of trade
and transport. Continuing internal strife hampered both domestic
efforts at reconstruction as well as international aid efforts.
However, Afghanistan’s economy has grown at a fast pace
since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, albeit from a low base.
In 2003, growth was estimated at close to 30%, and the estimated
growth rate for 2004 was 7.5%.
Agriculture
The main source of income in the country is agriculture, and
during its good years, Afghanistan produces enough food and
food products to provide for the people, as well as to create
a surplus for export. The major food crops produced are: corn,
rice, barley, wheat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. In Afghanistan,
industry is also based on agriculture, and pastoral raw materials.
The major industrial crops are: cotton, tobacco, madder, castor
beans, and sugar beets. The Afghan economy continues to be
overwhelmingly agricultural, despite the fact that only 12%
of its total land area is arable and less than 6% currently
is cultivated. Agricultural production is constrained by an
almost total dependence on erratic winter snows and spring
rains for water; irrigation is primitive. Relatively little
use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides.
Overall agricultural production dramatically
declined following severe drought as well as sustained fighting,
instability in rural areas, and deteriorated infrastructure.
The easing of the drought and the end of civil war produced
the largest wheat harvest in 25 years during 2003. Wheat production
was an estimated 58% higher than in 2002. However, the country
still needed to import an estimated one million tons of wheat
to meet its requirements for the 2003 year. Millions of Afghans,
particularly in rural areas, remained dependent on food aid.
Opium has become a source of cash for many Afghans,
especially following the breakdown in central authority after
the Soviet withdrawal, and opium-derived revenues probably
constituted a major source of income for the two main factions
during the civil war in the 1990s. Opium is easy to cultivate
and transport and offers a quick source of income for impoverished
Afghans. Afghanistan was the world's largest producer of raw
opium in 2005. Much of Afghanistan's opium production is refined
into heroin and is either consumed by a growing regional addict
population or exported, primarily to Western Europe.
Trade and Industry
Afghanistan is endowed with natural resources, including extensive
deposits of natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite,
talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, and precious
and semiprecious stones. Unfortunately, ongoing instability
in certain areas of the country, remote and rugged terrain,
and inadequate infrastructure and transportation network have
made mining these resources difficult, and there have been
few serious attempts to further explore or exploit them.
The most important resource has been natural
gas, first tapped in 1967. At their peak during the 1980s,
natural gas sales accounted for $300 million a year in export
revenues (56% of the total). Ninety percent of these exports
went to the Soviet Union to pay for imports and debts. However,
during the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Afghanistan's
natural gas fields were capped to prevent sabotage by the
mujahidin. Restoration of gas production has been hampered
by internal strife and the disruption of traditional trading
relationships following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Trade in smuggled goods into Pakistan once constituted a major
source of revenue for Afghan regimes, including the Taliban,
and still figures as an important element in the Afghan economy,
although efforts are underway to formalize this trade.
Transportation
In the 1960s, the United States helped build a highway connecting
Afghanistan’s two largest cities. It began in Kabul
and wound its way through five of the country’s core
provinces—skirting scores of isolated and otherwise
inaccessible villages; passing through the ancient market
city of Ghazni; descending through Qalat; and eventually reaching
Kandahar, founded by Alexander the Great. More than 35% of
the country’s population lives within 50 kilometers
of this highway, called, appropriately, modern Afghanistan’s
lifeline. In 1978, the Soviet Union invaded. By the time its
forces withdrew more than a decade later, more than 1 million
Afghans had been killed and 5 million had fled. Civil war
followed. The Taliban emerged, controlling all but the remote,
northern regions. Afghanistan was terrorized by this group,
which was dogmatically opposed to progress and democracy.
More than two decades of war had left the Kabul-Kandahar highway
devastated, like much of the country’s infrastructure.
Little could move along the lifeline that had provided so
many Afghans with their means of livelihood and their access
to healthcare, education, markets, and places of worship.
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Reviving the Road: Restoration of the highway has been an
overriding priority of President Hamid Karzai. It is crucial
to extending the influence of the new government. Without
the highway link, Afghanistan’s civil society and economy
would remain moribund and prey to divisive forces. The economic
development that the highway makes possible will help guarantee
the unity and long-term security of the Afghan people. The
restored highway is a visually impressive achievement whose
symbolic importance should not be underestimated. It marks
a palpable transition from the recent past and represents
an important building block for the future. Recently, an official
in Herat likened the ring road to veins and arteries that
nourish and bring life to the "heart" of Kabul and
the body of the country. The highway will not end in Kandahar:
there are plans to complete the circuit, extending it to Herat
and then arcing it back through Mazar-e Sharif to Kabul. The
route is sometimes referred to as the Ring Road.
Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways,
but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistan's
border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has
barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the
Soviets completed a bridge across the Amu Darya. The United
States, in partnership with Norway, has agreed to reconstruct
this bridge, which will stretch more than 650 meters over
the Amu Darya/Pyandzh River between Afghanistan and Tajikistan,
near Pyanji Poyon (Tajikistan) and Shir Khan Bandar (Afghanistan).
The bridge is set for completion in 2007.
Afghanistan’s national airline, Ariana,
operates domestic and international routes, including flights
to New Delhi, Islamabad, Dubai, Moscow, Istanbul, Tehran,
and Frankfurt. A private carrier, Kam Air, commenced domestic
operations in November 2003. Many sections of Afghanistan’s
highway and regional road system are undergoing significant
reconstruction. The U.S. (with assistance from Japan) completed
building a highway linking Kabul to the southern regional
capital, Kandahar. Construction is soon to begin on the next
phase of highway reconstruction between Kandahar and the western
city of Herat. The Asian Development Bank is nearing completion
on a road reconstruction project between Kandahar and Spin
Boldak, located at the southeastern border with Pakistan.
Humanitarian Relief
Many nations have assisted in a great variety of humanitarian
and development projects all across Afghanistan since the
fall of the Taliban in 2001. The United Nations, World Bank,
Asian Development Bank and other international agencies have
also given aid. Schools, clinics, water systems, agriculture,
sanitation, government buildings and roads are being repaired
or built.
De-mining
Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in
the world; mine-related injuries number up to 100 per month,
and an estimated 200,000 Afghans have been disabled by landmine/unexploded
ordinances (UXO) accidents. As of March 2005 the United Nations
Mine Action Program for Afghanistan had approximately 8,000
Afghan personnel, 700 demobilized soldiers, 22 international
staff, and several NGOs deployed in Afghanistan. The goal
of the program is to remove the impact of mines from all high-impact
areas by 2007 and to make Afghanistan mine-free by 2012. Between
January 2003 and March 2005 a total of 2,354,244 mines and
pieces of UXOs were destroyed. Training programs are also
being used to educate the public about the threat and dangers
of land mines. The number of mine victims was reduced from
approximately 150 a month in 2002 to less than 100 a month
in 2004.
Refugees and Internally Displaced People
Afghanistan has had the largest refugee repatriation in the
world in the last 30 years. The return of refugees is guided
by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MORR) and supported
by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
International Organization of Migration (IOM), United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP), the
World Health Organization (WHO) and a number of other national
and international NGOs. Approximately 3.5 million Afghans
remain in neighboring countries. The U.S. provided more than
$350 million to support Afghan refugees, returnees, and other
conflict victims between September 2001 and March 2006.
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Health
In response to a strategy outlined by the Ministry of Health,
the international community is supporting the government in
rebuilding the primary health-care system. Tuberculosis remains
a serious public health problem in Afghanistan. Since this
strategy was outlined, the Afghan Government with support
from the World Health Organization (WHO) has established 162
health facilities in 141 districts across the country. The
treatment success rate in 2002 was 86%. WHO is also assisting
the Ministry of Health and local health authorities to combat
malaria where the disease is widespread. Through this project,
600,000 individuals are receiving full treatment for malaria
every year. In addition 750,000 individuals are protected
from malaria by sleeping under special nets provided under
the project.
Education
There were 45,000 children enrolled in school in 1993, 19%
were girls. The latest official statistics show there are
now 64,000 children in school, one third are girls. In addition
29% of the teachers in the province are women, compared with
15% in 1993. Effort is being made to ensure that teachers
receive salaries on time and increasing the attendance of
girls in school. The total enrolment rate for Afghan children
between 7 and 13 years of age has increased to 54% (67% for
boys and 37% for girls). A number of factors such as distance
to schools, poor facilities and lack of separate schooling
for boys and girls continue to be challenges to higher enrollment.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Before the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan pursued a policy of
neutrality and nonalignment in its foreign relations. After
the December 1979 invasion, Afghanistan's foreign policy mirrored
that of the Soviet Union. Most Western countries, including
the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in
Kabul during the Soviet occupation. Repeated Taliban efforts
to occupy Afghanistan's seat at the UN and Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) were unsuccessful.
The fall of the Taliban in October 2001 opened
a new chapter in Afghanistan’s foreign relations. Afghanistan
is now an active member of the international community, and
has diplomatic relations with countries from around the world.
In December 2002, the six nations that border Afghanistan
signed a ‘Good Neighbor’ Declaration, in which
they pledged to respect Afghanistan’s independence and
territorial integrity.
Pakistan
The 1978 Marxist coup strained relations between Pakistan
and Afghanistan. Pakistan took the lead diplomatically in
the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organization
of the Islamic Conference in opposing the Soviet occupation.
During the war against the Soviet occupation, Pakistan served
as the primary logistical conduit for the Afghan resistance.
Pakistan initially developed close ties to the Taliban regime,
and extended recognition in 1997. Pakistan dramatically altered
its policy after September 11, 2001 by closing its border
and downgrading its ties. Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged
in dialogue to resolve these bilateral issues.
Iran
Afghanistan's relations with Iran have fluctuated over the
years, with periodic disputes over the water rights of the
Helmand River as the main issue of contention. Following the
Soviet invasion, which Iran opposed, relations deteriorated.
Iran supported the cause of the Afghan resistance and provided
financial and military assistance to rebel leaders who pledged
loyalty to the Iranian vision of Islamic revolution. Iran
still provides refuge to Afghan ex-patriots. Following the
emergence of the Taliban and their harsh treatment of Afghanistan's
Shi'a minority, Iran stepped up assistance to the Northern
Alliance. Relations with the Taliban deteriorated further
in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate
in Mazar-e-Sharif and executed Iranian diplomats. Since the
fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan’s relations with Iran
have improved. Iran has been active in Afghan reconstruction
efforts, particularly in the western portion of the country.
Russia
During the reign of the Taliban, Russia became increasingly
disenchanted over Taliban support for Chechen rebels and for
providing a sanctuary for terrorist groups active in Central
Asia and in Russia itself, and therefore provided military
assistance to the Northern Alliance. Since the fall of the
Taliban, the Karzai government has improved relations with
Russia, but Afghanistan’s outstanding foreign debt to
Russia still continues to be a source of contention.
Tajikistan
Afghanistan's relations with Tajikistan have been complicated
by political upheaval and civil war in Tajikistan, which spurred
some 100,000 Tajiks to seek refuge in Afghanistan in late
1992 and early 1993. Also disenchanted by the Taliban's harsh
treatment of Afghanistan's Tajik minority, Tajikistan facilitated
assistance to the Northern Alliance. The Karzai government
has sought to establish closer ties with its northern neighbor
in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits
of increased trade.
UN Efforts
The United Nations was instrumental in obtaining a negotiated
Soviet withdrawal under the terms of the 1988 Geneva Accords.
In the aftermath of the Accords, the United Nations assisted
in the repatriation of refugees and provided humanitarian
aid such as food, health care, educational programs, and support
for mine-clearing operations. From 1990-2001, the UN worked
to promote a peaceful settlement between the Afghan factions
as well as provide humanitarian aid. Since October 2001, the
UN has played a key role in Afghanistan through the UN Assistance
Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), including spearheading efforts
to organize the Afghan presidential elections held in October
2004 and National Assembly elections held in 2005.
U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS
The first extensive American contact with Afghanistan was
made by Josiah Harlan, an adventurer from Pennsylvania who
was an adviser in Afghan politics in the 1830s and reputedly
inspired Rudyard Kipling's story "The Man Who Would be
King." After the establishment of diplomatic relations
in 1934, the U.S. policy of helping developing nations raise
their standard of living was an important factor in maintaining
and improving U.S.-Afghan ties. From 1950 to 1979, U.S. foreign
assistance provided Afghanistan with more than $500 million
in loans, grants, and surplus agricultural commodities to
develop transportation facilities, increase agricultural production,
expand the educational system, stimulate industry, and improve
government administration.
In the 1950s, the U.S. declined Afghanistan's
request for defense cooperation but extended an economic assistance
program focused on the development of Afghanistan's physical
infrastructure--roads, dams, and power plants. Later, U.S.
aid shifted from infrastructure projects to technical assistance
programs to help develop the skills needed to build a modern
economy. The Peace Corps was active in Afghanistan between
1962 and 1979.
After the April 1978 coup, relations deteriorated.
In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph "Spike"
Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst
in on his kidnapers. The U.S. then reduced bilateral assistance
and terminated a small military training program. All remaining
assistance agreements were ended after the December 1979 Soviet
invasion.
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Following the Soviet invasion, the United States
supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a Soviet withdrawal.
U.S. contributions to the refugee program in Pakistan played
a major part in efforts to assist Afghans in need. This cross-border
humanitarian assistance program aimed to increase Afghan self-sufficiency
and help Afghans resist Soviet attempts to drive civilians
out of the rebel-dominated countryside. During the period
of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S. provided about
$3 billion in military and economic assistance to Afghans
and the resistance movement.
The U.S. supports the emergence of a broad-based
government, representative of all Afghans and actively encourages
a UN role in the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
Today, the U.S. is assisting the Afghan people as they rebuild
their country and establish a representative government that
contributes to regional stability, is market friendly, and
respects human rights. In May 2005, President Bush and President
Karzai concluded a strategic partnership agreement committing
both nations to a long-term relationship.
Principal U.S. Official
Ambassador--Ronald Neumann
The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan is at the Great
Masoud Road, Kabul (tel: +93-2-290002/5; fax: +93-2-290153).
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program
provides Consular Information Sheets, Travel Warnings, and
Public Announcements. Consular Information Sheets exist for
all countries and include information on entry requirements,
currency regulations, health conditions, areas of instability,
crime and security, political disturbances, and the addresses
of the U.S. posts in the country. Travel Warnings are issued
when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid
travel to a certain country. Public Announcements are issued
as a means to disseminate information quickly about terrorist
threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas
that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers.
Free copies of this information are available by calling the
Bureau of Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand
system: 202-647-3000. Consular Information Sheets and Travel
Warnings also are available on the Consular Affairs Internet
home page: http://travel.state.gov. Consular Affairs Tips
for Travelers publication series, which contain information
on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are
on the Internet and hard copies can be purchased from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
telephone: 202-512-1800; fax 202-512-2250.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling
abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas Citizens
Services at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies, Sundays
and holidays, call 202-647-4000.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC)
is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT
(1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators
for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m., Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information
with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747)
and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give
the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety
for regions and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information
for International Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280)
is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,
DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.
Information on travel conditions, visa requirements,
currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and other
items of interest to travelers also may be obtained before
your departure from a country's embassy and/or consulates
in the U.S. (for this country, see "Principal Government
Officials" listing in this publication).
U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or
traveling in dangerous areas are encouraged to register their
travel via the State Department’s travel registration
web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov or at the
Consular section of the U.S. embassy upon arrival in a country
by filling out a short form and sending in a copy of their
passports. This may help family members contact you in case
of an emergency.
Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides
timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information,
including Background Notes and daily press briefings along
with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts
and more.
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related
assistance and market information offered by the federal government
and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with
the export process, and more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from the Federal government.
The site includes current and historical trade-related releases,
international market research, trade opportunities, and country
analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.
