Brief Introduction to Afghanistan
¡¾ Area ¡¿ 647,500 square kilometers.
Population: About 41.13 million (United Nations, 2023). Pashtuns make up 40 percent, Tajiks 25 percent, and more than 20 ethnic minorities, including Hazaras, Uzbeks and Turkmen. Pashto and Dari are the official languages, while other languages include Uzbek, Baluchi and Turkish. Sunni Muslims make up 86 percent, Shia Muslims 13 percent and others 1 percent.
[Capital] Kabul, population 5.38 million (Afghanistan Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022). The climate is mild, with four distinct seasons and an average annual temperature of about 13 ° C.
[Important festivals] Afghan New Year: March 21; Afghan Independence Day: 19 August; Eid al-Fitr: The date varies from year to year, depending on the Islamic calendar; Eid al-Adha: The dates vary each year, depending on the Islamic calendar.
Geography A landlocked country of west-central Asia. It borders Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, Iran to the west, Pakistan to the south and east, and a narrow strip of land protruding from the northeast to China. It is a continental climate, dry and rainless throughout the year, cold in winter and hot in summer, and the average annual rainfall is only about 240 mm.
The Kingdom of Afghanistan was founded in 1747 and was once powerful. After the 19th century, its national strength declined, and it became a competitive field between Britain and Tsarist Russia. It gained independence from British colonial rule in 1919 and is celebrated on August 19. In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. In February 1989, Soviet troops withdrew. Later, due to various factions of the anti-Soviet armed struggle for power, Afghanistan fell into civil war. In 1994, the Afghan Taliban emerged, captured Kabul in September 1996, and established power. In October 1997, it changed its name to "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" and implemented Islamic rule in Afghanistan. After the September 11 attacks, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan collapsed under the US military attack. Under the auspices of the United Nations, Afghanistan has launched the Bonn Process of post-war reconstruction. In December 2001, an interim government was established. In June 2002, a transitional government was established. In October 2004, Karzai was elected as the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. In August 2009, Afghanistan held the second presidential election, Karzai won and took office in November of the same year. Afghanistan held a presidential election in 2014. In September, Ghani was sworn in as president of Afghanistan and Abdullah was appointed chief executive officer. In March 2020, Ghani returned to the presidency. In April 2021, the United States announced its complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the United States Allies and NATO countries announced their withdrawal at the same time, triggering a rapid evolution of the situation in Afghanistan. On 15 August, the Taliban invaded Kabul and President Ghani resigned. 30, the United States announced the completion of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. On September 7, the Afghan Taliban formed an interim government.
[Administrative divisions] The country is divided into 34 provinces with counties, districts, townships and villages under the provinces. Name of Province: Kabul, Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, Balkh, Jozjan, Faryab, Badghis, Herat, Ghor, Salpur, Samangan, Baglan, Bamiyan, Parwan, Wardak, Kapisa, Laghman, Nurstan, Kunar, Nangarhar, Logar, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Farah, Nimruz, Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Panjshir, Dekundi.
[Economy] Afghanistan is a least developed country. After more than 40 years of war, the infrastructure of transportation, communication, industry, education and agriculture has been severely damaged, economic development has been difficult, and more than 6 million people have become refugees. Key economic data for 2021 are as follows:
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) : $14.79 billion
GDP growth rate: -20.7%.
GDP per capita: $368.8
(Source: World Bank)
Currency name: Afghani (abbreviated as "ANI").
Exchange rate: 1 USD ≈88 ANI.
[Resources] Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources, but not fully exploited. At present, the proven resources mainly include natural gas, coal, salt, chromium, iron, copper, mica and emeralds. The Aynak copper mine, located south of the capital Kabul, has total proven ore reserves of about 700 million tons and a total of 11.33 million tons of copper. It's estimated to be the third largest copper belt in the world. Albania may also have the fifth-largest iron deposits in the world, with about 73 million tons of coal reserves.
Most of Afghanistan's rivers are landlocked, draining into deserts and lakes. The main rivers are Amu Darya, Kabul, Helmand and Hariru.
Due to years of war, the industrial base is very weak. It is mainly light industry and handicraft industry, mainly textile, fertilizer, cement, leather, carpet, sugar and agricultural products processing. In recent years, due to the prosperity of the construction industry in large cities such as Kabul, it has led to the relative development of building materials industries such as brick making and wood processing. In addition, flour processing, hand-woven carpet industry has also developed.
Agriculture and animal husbandry are the main pillars of Afghanistan's national economy. The farming and animal husbandry population accounts for 80% of the country's total population. Arable land accounts for less than 10% of the country's total land area. The main crops include wheat, cotton, sugar beets, dried fruits and various fruits. The main livestock products are fat-tailed sheep, cattle and goats. Afghanistan is the center of the Golden Crescent, the world's largest drug source, producing more than 6,400 tons of opium in 2018. When Atta came to power, he forced drug addicts to quit and banned opium poppy cultivation. According to the UN report, opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 95% to 10,800 hectares in 2023 from 233,000 hectares in the same period last year, and opium production fell from 6,200 tons to 333 tons.
[Transportation] Afghanistan is a landlocked country with no access to the sea. There are railway links to Iran and Tajikistan. Transportation is mainly by road and air. Parts of the Amu Darya and Kunduz rivers on the northern borders with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are navigable.
Roads: There are about 44,000 kilometers of roads throughout Afghanistan (2018), mainly including Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat to Kandahar, Kabul Ring Highway, Tokham to Kabul and other roads.
Air transport: There are 43 airports in the country, of which four airports including Kabul Airport are international airports.
¡¾ Foreign trade ¡¿ The main export commodities are natural gas, carpets, fresh and dry fruits, wool, cotton and so on. The main imported commodities are various foodstuffs, motor vehicles, petroleum products and textiles. The main export objects are India, Pakistan, China, Turkey, UAE, etc., and the main importing countries are Iran, China, Pakistan, UAE, etc.
Since 2001, with the help of the United Nations and the international community, China has made great efforts to restore basic livelihood facilities and increase the training of medical personnel. There are more than 500 hospitals and 2,400 health centers in Afghanistan.
Education in Afghanistan has been severely damaged by the war. With the strong assistance of the international community, Afghanistan has made great progress in education in recent years. There are more than 16,000 primary education schools and about 160 institutions of higher learning in Afghanistan. Kabul University is the country's top university, and Herat University is the educational center of western Afghanistan.
[Press and publication] There are more than 1,000 kinds of newspapers and periodicals, the main newspapers are "Kabul Times" (official newspaper), "Kabul Weekly", "Fatherland", "Anis" and so on. Radio Afghanistan was established in 1925 and broadcasts in nine languages. Afghan Television was established in 1978 and broadcasts in Farsi and Pashto. After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, media freedom was restored.
Afghanistan attaches great importance to developing foreign relations. Before 2021, successive Afghan governments focused their diplomacy on seeking assistance and actively developed relations with the United States, Germany, Japan and the European Union. After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, they actively sought recognition from the international community and paid particular attention to developing relations with neighboring countries.
Afghanistan hopes to actively participate in regional cooperation, leverage its geographical advantages and become a regional trade and transportation hub. In 2002, Afghanistan and six neighbouring countries, including China, jointly signed the Kabul Declaration on Good Neighbourliness and Friendship, the Kabul Declaration on Encouraging Closer Trade, Transit and Investment Cooperation among the Signatory Governments of the Kabul Declaration on Good Neighbourliness and Friendship and the Kabul Declaration on Drug Control.
In October 2005, Afghanistan became a member of the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation Organization, established a contact group with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in November, and became a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in the same month. In June 2012, it became an observer state of the SCO.