Afganistan

Population:
29, 863, 000. (38th)

Geography
Is a land-locked and mountainous country in central Asia, with plains in the north and
southwest. The highest point is Nowshak, at 7485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level. Large parts
of the country are dry, and fr esh water supplies are limited. Afghanistan has a continental
climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The country is frequently subject to minor
earthquakes, mainly in the northeast of Hindu Kush mountain areas.

Two major river systems:

Mo Chhu and the Drangme Chhu.

Main rivers:
Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, and Manas

Economy
Afghanistan is an extremely impoverished country, one of the world's poorest and least
developed nations. Two-thirds of the population lives on less than US 2 dollars a day. The
economy has suffered greatly from the recent political and military unrest since the 1979
Soviet invasion and subsequent conflicts, while severe drought added to the nation's
difficulties in 1998-2001. As much as one-third of Afghanistan's GDP comes from growing
poppy and illicit drugs including opium and its two derivatives, morphine and heroin, as
well as hashish production.

One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 4 million
refugees from neighbouring countries and the West, who brought with them fresh energy,
entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up
businesses. What is also helping is the estimated US 2-3 billion dollars in international
assistance every year, the partial recovery of the agricultural sector, and the reestablishment
of market institutions. Private developments are also beginning to get underway. In 2006, a
Dubai-based Afghan family opened a $25 million Coca Cola bottling plant in
Afghanistan.[35]

While the country's current account deficit is largely financed with the donor money, only a
small portion – about 15% – is provided directly to the government budget. The rest is
provided to non-budgetary expenditure and donor-designated projects through the United
Nations system and non-governmental organizations

Languages.
Persian (officially known as Dari) 50% and Pashto 35%, both are Indo-European languages
from the Iranian languages sub-family. Pashto and Dari (also known as Farsi) are the
official languages of the country. Others include Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and
Turkmen) 9%, as well as 30 minor languages 4% (primarily Balochi, Nuristani, Pashai,
Brahui, Hindko, Punjabi, Hindi/Urdu, etc.). Bilingualism is common.
Government
Islamic Republic

Religion:
Religiously, Afghans are over 99% Muslims: approximately 74-89% Sunni and 9-25%
Shi'a[40][11][42] (estimates vary). There are about 30,000 to 150,000 Hindus and Sikhs living in
different cities but mostly in Jalalabad, Kabul, and Kandahar.[43][44] Also, there was a small
Jewish community in Afghanistan (See Bukharan Jews) who fled the country after the 1979
Soviet invasion, and only one individual, Zablon Simintov, remains today.

Districts:
Afghanistan is administratively divided into thirty-four provinces (welayats), which are
further subdivided into districts.
Badakhshan
Badghis
Baghlan
Balkh
Bamyan
Daykundi
Farah
Faryab
Ghazni
Ghowr
Helmand
Herat
Jowzjan
Kabul
Kandahar
Kapisa
Khost
Konar
Kunduz
Laghman
Lowgar
Nangarhar
Nimruz
Nurestan
Oruzgan
Paktia
Paktika
Panjshir
Parvan
Samangan
The only city in Afghanistan with over one million residents is its capital, Kabul. The other
major cities in the country are, in order of population size, Kandahar, Herat, Mazari Sharif,
Jalalabad, Ghazni and Kunduz

Bibliography:

“Wikipedia”. 08 Jan 07. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afganistan#Geography