Capital: Kabul Official languages: Persian (Dari), Pashto Location: Middle East, Asia Government Islamic republic President Hamid Karzai Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud Vice President Karim Khalili |
Flag Description: three equal vertical bands of black (hoist), red, and green, with a gold emblem centered on the red band; the emblem features a temple-like structure encircled by a wreath on the left and right and by a bold Islamic inscription above |
Background Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. Subsequently, a series of civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution and a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. On 7 December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. The National Assembly was inaugurated on 19 December 2005. |
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L'etandard Sanglant (The Bloody Flag) cultural, political, social, and cross-cultural commentary written by students free speech, human rights, political freedom, social equality, student rights, nonviolence |
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Afghanistan |
Administrative divisions: 34 provinces (velayat, singular - velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamian, Daykondi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khowst, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Nurestan, Oruzgan, Paktia, Paktika, Panjshir, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak, Zabol |
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Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc,
iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones |
Diplomatic representation in the US: Ambassador Said Tayeb JAWAD chancery: 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-6410 FAX: [1] (202) 483-6488 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York Diplomatic representation from the US: Ambassador William B. WOOD embassy: The Great Masood Road, Kabul mailing address: U.S. Embassy Kabul, APO, AE 09806 telephone: [00 93] (20) 230-0436 FAX: [00 93] (20) 230-1364 |
Agriculture - products: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper |
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES |
From Wikipedia: Khaled Hosseini (born March 4, 1965) is an American novelist originally from Afghanistan. His 2003
debut novel, The Kite Runner, was a bestseller. His second, A Thousand Splendid
Suns, was released in 2007. Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, where
his father worked for the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry and his mother was
a teacher at a girls high school. |
Newspapers Payam-e Mojahed Kabul Press -- English Hewad - government-sponsored daily Anis - government-sponsored daily |
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Afghan Girs in Tradition Dress |