Afghanistan

Index

More Facts & Figures

National name: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan

Current government officials

Languages: Dari Persian, Pashtu (both official), other Turkic and minor languages

Ethnicity/race: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%

Religion: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1%

National Holiday: Independence Day, August 19

Literacy rate: 28.1% (2000 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2009 est.): $29.99 billion; per capita $1,000. Real growth rate: 7.1% (2012 est.). Inflation: 7.7% (2012 est.). Unemployment: 35% (2008 est.). Arable land: 12.13%. Agriculture: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. Labor force: 15 million; agriculture 80%, industry 10%, services 10%. Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones. Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper. Exports: $571 million; note - not including illicit exports or reexports (2012): opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems. Imports: $5.3 billion (2011): capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products. Major trading partners: Pakistan, India, U.S., Germany (2006).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 140,000 (2011); mobile cellular: 13 million (2011). Radio broadcast stations: AM 21, FM 5, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashtu, Afghan Persian (Dari), Urdu, and English) (2006). Television broadcast stations: at least 7 (1 government-run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in 6 of the 34 provinces) (2006). Internet users: 1,000,000 (2011).

Transportation: Highways: total: 42,150 km; (2011). Waterways: 1,200 km; chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to about 500 DWT (2007). Ports and harbors: Kheyrabad, Shir Khan. Airports: 53 (2011).

International disputes: Pakistan, with UN and other international assistance, repatriated 2.3 million Afghan refugees with less than a million still remaining, many at their own choosing; Pakistan has proposed and Afghanistan protests construction of a fence and laying of mines along portions of their border; Coalition and Pakistani forces continue to monitor remote tribal areas to control the border with Afghanistan and stem terrorist and other illegal activities.

Major sources and definitions