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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and South Asia. It is bordered by

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. Islamabad is the n ...

to the east and south,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, historically known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the no ...

to the

west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance lang ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the north, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. It is one of six independent Tur ...

to the northwest,

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem , national_anthem = " State Anthem of the Republic of Uzbekistan" , image_map = ...

to the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''nort ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country located in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital and largest city of the country, with a population of over 1.2 million. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the sout ...

to the northeast, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's second-most populous country after India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion (17% of the world's population), across an area of , m ...

to the northeast and east. Occupying of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is within the jurisdiction of Kabul District and has an estimated population of 5,333,284 people. Located in the eastern half of the country, forming part of the Kabul Province, the ci ...

is the country's capital and largest city. Afghanistan's population is estimated to be between 35 and 50 million. Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the

Middle Paleolithic Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires, the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the

Persians Persians, or Persian people, are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the Iranian plateau that comprise the majority of the population of modern-day Iran.

, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the

Mongols The Mongols; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the lar ...

, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires. Because of the various conquests and periods in both the

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, historically known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to t ...

and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: * People or things associated with India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine ** Ethnic groups in South Asia * The ...

cultural spheres, the area was a center for

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism, also called Mazdayasna and Behdin, is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster (). Among the world's oldes ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya (transl. "doctrines and disciplines"), is an Indian religion and philosophy based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a '' śramaṇa'' and religious teacher who lived in the 6t ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions ( ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of '' dharma'', a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righte ...

, and later

Islam } Islam is an Abrahamic religion based on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. The monotheistic religion has an estimated 2 billion worldwide adherents, called Muslims. Islam is the world's second-largest religious population af ...

. The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Empire in the 18th century under Ahmad Shah Durrani, although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state. Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the most populous country in the world and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded b ...

, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926; this monarchy lasted almost half a century. Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars. This period of instability began in 1973 when King Zahir Shah was overthrown by his cousin Mohammad Daoud Khan, ending the monarchy and resulting in the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan. Daoud Khan became the

President of Afghanistan President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainmentFilm and television *''Præsidenten'' ...

, ruling as an autocrat. In 1978 the conflict became a violent one when a communist revolution overthrew and assassinated Daoud Khan, establishing the socialist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. The ''mujahideen'' won against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War, leading to the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989. The ensuing civil war overthrew the socialist republic and established the Islamic State of Afghanistan through the Peshawar Accord, which could not remain in force and resulted in a second civil war between ''mujahideen'' factions in 1992. The

Taliban The Taliban, officially known as the Islamic Movement of Taliban, also referring to itself by the name of the government it operates, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the ruling government and religious organization of Afghanistan, ...

controlled most of the country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after capturing Kabul, ending the 2001–2021 war. The Taliban government is widely unrecognized by the international community due to reported violations of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly regarding the treatment of women by the Taliban. Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, including

lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali meta ...

, iron,

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny blue whitish appearance when surface oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of th ...

, and copper. It is the third largest producer of both saffron and cashmere. The country is a member of the

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Prot ...

and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Due to the effects of war in recent decades, the country has dealt with high levels of terrorism,

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic least developed countries with its economic output per capita among the lowest of any country.

Etymology

Some scholars suggest that the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the surf ...

name ''Afghān'' is derived from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in Indian subcontinent after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwes ...

word '' Aśvakan'', which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush. ''Aśvakan'' literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "

cavalry Cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, op ...

men" (from '' aśva'', the Sanskrit and

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and was originally spoken during the Avestan period ( BCE) by the Iranians living in eastern Greater Iran ...

words for "horse"). Historically, the ethnonym ''Afghān'' was used to refer to ethnic

Pashtuns Pashtuns are an Iranian ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically referred to as Afghans even into the 1970s, although the constitution of 1923 began the use of ...

. The Arabic and Persian form of the name, ''Afġān'', was first attested in the 10th-century geography book '' Hudud al-'Alam''. The last part of the name, "'' -stan''", is a Persian suffix meaning "place of". Therefore, "Afghanistan" translates to "land of the Afghans", or "land of the Pashtuns" in a historical sense. According to the third edition of the '' Encyclopaedia of Islam'': The term "Afghanistan" was officially used in 1855, when the British recognized Dost Mohammad Khan as king of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwe ...

History

Prehistory and antiquity

Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities in the area were among the earliest in the world. An important site of early historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to

Egypt Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Palestine and Israel to the ...

in the historical value of its archaeological sites. Artifacts typical of the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic ( ), or Old Stone Age, is a period in human prehistory distinguished by the original development of stone tools. It represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology, extending from the earliest known use o ...

, Mesolithic,

Neolithic The Neolithic (from Greek 'new' and 'stone'), or New Stone Age, is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Asia, Europe and Africa ( to c. 2,000 BC). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set o ...

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metallo ...

, and Iron Ages have been found in Afghanistan. Urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak (near Kandahar in the south of the country) was a center of the Helmand culture. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilization stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. After 2000 BCE successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan; among them were many Indo-European-speaking

Indo-Iranians The Indo-Iranian peoples, or Indo-Iranic peoples, also known as Ā́rya or Aryans from their self-designation, are a group of speakers of Indo-European languages who brought the offshoot Indo-Iranian languages to parts of Eurasia in waves f ...

. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, and toward Europe via the area north of the Caspian Sea. The region at the time was referred to as

Ariana In the Greco-Roman world, Ariana was a geographical term referring to a general area of land between Central Asia and the Indus River. Situated far to the east in the Achaemenid Empire, it covered a number of satrapies spanning what is toda ...

. By the middle of the 6th century BCE, the Achaemenids overthrew the Medes and incorporated Arachosia, Aria, and Bactria within its eastern boundaries. An inscription on the tombstone of Darius I of Persia mentions the Kabul Valley in a list of the 29 countries that he had conquered. The region of Arachosia, around Kandahar in modern-day southern Afghanistan, used to be primarily Zoroastrian and played a key role in the transfer of the Avesta to Persia and is thus considered by some to be the "second homeland of Zoroastrianism". Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces arrived in Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating Darius III of Persia a year earlier in the Battle of Gaugamela. Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of the Seleucid Empire controlled the region until 305 BCE, when they gave much of it to the Maurya Empire as part of an alliance treaty. The Mauryans controlled the area south of the Hindu Kush until they were overthrown in about 185 BCE. Their decline began 60 years after Ashoka's rule ended, leading to the Hellenistic reconquest by the Greco-Bactrians. Much of it soon broke away and became part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. They were defeated and expelled by the Indo-Scythians in the late 2nd century BCE. The Silk Road appeared during the first century BCE, and Afghanistan flourished with trade, with routes to China, India, Persia, and north to the cities of

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. The Bukhara region has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time ...

Samarkand Samarkand is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. Samarkand is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, that in ...

, and Khiva in present-day Uzbekistan. Goods and ideas were exchanged at this center point, such as Chinese silk, Persian silver and Roman gold, while the region of present Afghanistan was mining and trading lapis lazuli stones mainly from the Badakhshan region. During the first century BCE, the

Parthian Empire Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery ski ...

subjugated the region but lost it to their Indo-Parthian vassals. In the mid-to-late first century CE the vast Kushan Empire, centered in Afghanistan, became great patrons of Buddhist culture, making

flourish throughout the region. The Kushans were overthrown by the Sassanids in the 3rd century CE, though the Indo-Sassanids continued to rule at least parts of the region. They were followed by the Kidarites who, in turn, was replaced by the Hephthalites. They were replaced by the Turk Shahi in the 7th century. The Buddhist Turk Shahi of Kabul was replaced by a Hindu dynasty before the Saffarids conquered the area in 870; this Hindu dynasty was called Hindu Shahi. Much of the northeastern and southern areas of the country remained dominated by

Buddhist Buddhists, also known as ''Bauddha'', are people who adhere to Buddhism, an Indian religious and philosophical tradition founded by the Buddha in the 6th or 5th century BCE in the Indian subcontinent. Buddhist identity may be religious, cu ...

culture.

Medieval period

Arab Arabs () are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Before the spread of Arabic language in the wake of the Arab conquests, "A ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who are adherents of Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or '' Allah ...

s brought Islam to

Herat Herat, also written as Harat or Hirat, and historically known as Haraiva, Horeiva and Hires, is a city in western Afghanistan, serving as the capital and largest city of Herat Province. It has long been the third-largest city of Afghanistan ...

and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before the arrival of Islam, the region used to be home to various beliefs and cults, often resulting in

Syncretism Syncretism () is the combining or merging of various distinct beliefs or schools of thought, particularly religious ones. For instance, features and components of one religion are incorporated and absorbed into another. It can include assimil ...

between the dominant religions such as

, Buddhism or Greco-Buddhism, Ancient Iranian religions,

, Christianity, and Judaism. An exemplification of the syncretism in the region would be that people were patrons of Buddhism but still worshipped local Iranian gods such as Ahura Mazda, Lady Nana, Anahita or Mihr (Mithra) and portrayed Greek gods as protectors of Buddha. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids extended their Islamic influence south of the Hindu Kush. The Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century. By the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni had defeated the remaining Hindu rulers and effectively Islamized the wider region, with the exception of Kafiristan. Mahmud made Ghazni into an important city and patronized intellectuals such as the historian al-Biruni and the poet Ferdowsi. The Ghaznavid dynasty was overthrown by the Ghurids in 1186, whose architectural achievements included the remote Minaret of Jam. The Ghurids controlled Afghanistan for less than a century before being conquered by the Khwarazmian dynasty in 1215. In 1219 CE, Genghis Khan and his Mongol army overran the region. His troops are said to have annihilated the Khwarazmian cities of Herat and Balkh as well as Bamyan. The destruction caused by the Mongols forced many locals to return to an agrarian rural society. Mongol rule continued with the Ilkhanate in the northwest while the Khalji dynasty administered the Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush until the invasion of

Timur Timur (1320s17/18 February 1405), also known as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror, first ruler of the Timurid dynasty, and the founder of the Timurid Empire, which ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. He was u ...

(aka Tamerlane), who established the Timurid Empire in 1370. Under the rule of Shah Rukh, the city of Herat served as the focal point of the Timurid Renaissance, whose glory matched

Florence Florence () is the capital and most populous city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and, as of 2026, with a population of 361,625, the 8th most populous city in the country. It is also the capital of the eponymous metropolitan province, wh ...

of the Italian Renaissance as the center of a cultural rebirth. In the early 16th century

Babur Babur (, ; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother, respectively. He was al ...

arrived from Ferghana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty. Babur would go on to conquer the Afghan Lodi dynasty who had ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the First Battle of Panipat. Between the 16th and 18th century, the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara, Iranian Safavids, and Indian Mughals ruled parts of the territory. During the medieval period, the northwestern area of Afghanistan was referred to by the regional name Khorasan, which was commonly used up to the 19th century among natives to describe their country.

Hotak dynasty

In 1709, Mirwais Hotak, a local Ghilzai tribal leader, successfully rebelled against the Safavids. He defeated Gurgin Khan, the Georgian governor of Kandahar under the Safavids, and established his own kingdom. Mirwais died in 1715, and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz, who was soon killed by Mirwais's son

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given nameMahmood * Mahmood Ali (192 ...

for possibly planning to sign a peace with the Safavids. Mahmud led the Afghan army in 1722 to the Persian capital of Isfahan, and captured the city after the Battle of Gulnabad and proclaimed himself King of Persia. The Afghan dynasty was ousted from Persia by Nader Shah after the 1729 Battle of Damghan. In 1738, Nader Shah and his forces captured Kandahar in the siege of Kandahar, the last Hotak stronghold, from Shah Hussain Hotak. Soon after, the Persian and Afghan forces invaded India, Nader Shah had plundered Delhi, alongside his 16-year-old commander, Ahmad Shah Durrani who had assisted him on these campaigns. Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747.

Durrani Empire

Ahmad Shah had launched two campaigns into Khorasan, 1750–1751 and 1754–1755.

Barakzai dynasty and British wars

By the early 19th century, the Afghan empire was under threat from the

Persians Persians, or Persian people, are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the Iranian plateau that comprise the majority of the population of modern-day Iran.

in the west and the Sikh Empire in the east. Fateh Khan, leader of the Barakzai tribe, installed many of his brothers in positions of power throughout the empire. Fateh Khan was brutally murdered in 1818 by Mahmud Shah. As a result, the brothers of Fateh Khan and the Barakzai tribe rebelled, and a civil war brewed. During this turbulent period, Afghanistan fractured into many states, including the Principality of Qandahar, Emirate of Herat, Khanate of Qunduz, Maimana Khanate, and numerous other warring polities. The most prominent state was the Emirate of Kabul, ruled by Dost Mohammad Khan. Akbar Khan and the Afghan army failed to capture the Jamrud Fort from the Sikh Khalsa Army, but killed Sikh commander Hari Singh Nalwa, thus ending the Afghan-Sikh Wars. In 1893, Abdur Rahman signed an agreement in which the ethnic Pashtun and

Baloch Baloch, also spelled Baloch, Beluch, and in other ways, may refer to: Ethnic groups * Baloch people, an ethnic group of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan * Baluch, a small itinerant community of Afghanistan, also known as BalochFilms * ''Baloch'' ...

territories were divided by the Durand Line, which forms the modern-day border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Hazara dominated Hazaristan and pagan Kafiristan remained politically independent until being conquered by Abdur Rahman Khan in 1891–1896. He was known as the "Iron Amir" for his features and his ruthless methods against tribes. He died in 1901, succeeded by his son, Habibullah Khan. During the First World War, when Afghanistan was neutral, Habibullah Khan was met by officials of the Central Powers in the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition. They called on Afghanistan to declare full independence from the United Kingdom, join them and attack British India, as part of the Hindu–German Conspiracy. The effort to bring Afghanistan into the Central Powers failed, but it sparked discontent among the population about maintaining neutrality with the British. Habibullah was assassinated in February 1919, and Amanullah Khan eventually assumed power. A staunch supporter of the 1915–1916 expeditions, Amanullah Khan invaded British India, beginning the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and entering British India via the

Khyber Pass Khyber may refer to: Places * Khyber Pass, a mountain pass that links Afghanistan and Pakistan * Khyber District, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan * Khaybar, an oasis in Saudi Arabia * Khybe ...

. Following the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi on 19 August 1919,

Emir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title h ...

Amanullah Khan declared the Emirate of Afghanistan a

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler o ...

and fully independent state. He moved to end his country's traditional isolation by establishing diplomatic relations with the international community, particularly with the Soviet Union and the Weimar Republic. He proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan on 9 June 1926, forming the Kingdom of Afghanistan. He introduced several reforms intended to modernize his nation. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarzi, an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan's 1923 constitution, which implemented compulsory elementary education.

Slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regard to their labour. It is an economic phenomenon and its history resides in economic history. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of wor ...

was abolished in 1923. King Amanullah's wife, Queen Soraya, was an important figure during this period in the fight for women's education and against their oppression. Some of the reforms, such as the abolition of the traditional burqa for women and the opening of co-educational schools, alienated many tribal and religious leaders, leading to the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929). King Amanullah abdicated in January 1929, and soon after Kabul fell to Saqqawist forces led by Habibullah Kalakani. Mohammad Nadir Shah, Amanullah's cousin, defeated and killed Kalakani in October 1929, and was declared King Nadir Shah. He abandoned the reforms of King Amanullah in favor of a more gradual approach to modernization, but was assassinated in 1933 by

Abdul Khaliq Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word ''Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, meaning "the"). It ...

. Mohammed Zahir Shah succeeded to the throne and reigned as king from 1933 to 1973. During the tribal revolts of 1944–1947, King Zahir's reign was challenged by Zadran, Safi, Mangal, and Wazir tribesmen led by Mazrak Zadran, Salemai, and Faqir of Ipi, among others – many of whom were Amanullah loyalists. Afghanistan joined the League of Nations in 1934. In the 1930s, the country experienced significant development of roads, infrastructure, the founding of a national bank, and increased education. Road links in the north played a large part in a growing cotton and textile industry. The country built close relationships with the Axis powers, with Nazi Germany having the largest share in Afghan development at the time. Until 1946, King Zahir ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post of prime minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. Another uncle, Shah Mahmud Khan, became prime minister in 1946 and experimented with allowing greater political freedom. He was replaced in 1953 by Mohammed Daoud Khan, a Pashtun nationalist who sought the creation of a Pashtunistan, leading to highly tense relations with Pakistan. Daoud Khan pressed for social modernization reforms and sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Afterward, the 1964 constitution was formed, and the first non-royal prime minister was sworn in. Zahir Shah, like his father Nadir Shah, had a policy of maintaining national independence while pursuing gradual modernization, creating nationalist feeling, and improving relations with the United Kingdom. Afghanistan was neither a participant in

World War II The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plur ...

nor aligned with either power bloc in the Cold War. However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union and the United States vied for influence by building Afghanistan's main highways, airports, and other vital infrastructure. On a per capita basis, Afghanistan received more Soviet development aid than any other country. In 1973, while the King was in Italy, Daoud Khan launched a bloodless coup and became the first president of Afghanistan, abolishing the monarchy.

Democratic Republic and Soviet War

In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in a bloody coup d'état against then-President Mohammed Daoud Khan, in what is called the Saur Revolution. The PDPA declared the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, with its first leader named as People's Democratic Party General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki. This would trigger a series of events that would dramatically turn Afghanistan from a peaceful (albeit poor and secluded) country to a hotbed of conflict and terrorism. The PDPA initiated various social, symbolic, and land distribution reforms that provoked strong opposition, while also brutally oppressing political dissidents. This caused unrest and quickly expanded into a state of civil war by 1979, waged by guerrilla '' mujahideen'' (and smaller Maoist guerrillas) against regime forces countrywide. It quickly turned into a proxy war as the Pakistani government provided these rebels with covert training centers, the United States supported them through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Soviet Union sent thousands of military advisers to support the PDPA regime. Meanwhile, there was increasingly hostile friction between the competing factions of the PDPA – the dominant Khalq and the more moderate Parcham. In October 1979, PDPA General Secretary Taraki was assassinated in an internal coup orchestrated by then-prime minister Hafizullah Amin, who became the new general secretary of the PDPA. The situation in the country deteriorated under Amin, and thousands of people went missing. Displeased with Amin's government, the Soviet Army invaded the country in December 1979, heading for Kabul and killing Amin. A Soviet-organized regime, led by Parcham's Babrak Karmal but inclusive of both factions (Parcham and Khalq), filled the vacuum. Soviet troops in more substantial numbers were deployed to stabilize Afghanistan under Karmal, marking the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War. Lasting nine years, the war caused the deaths of between 562,000 and 2 million Afghans, and displaced about 6 million people who subsequently fled Afghanistan, mainly to Pakistan and Iran. Heavy air bombardment destroyed many countryside villages, millions of landmines were planted, and some cities such as Herat and Kandahar were also damaged from bombardment. After the Soviet withdrawal, another civil war ensued until the communist regime under PDPA leader Mohammad Najibullah collapsed in 1992. The Soviet–Afghan War had drastic social effects on Afghanistan. The militarization of society led to heavily armed police, private bodyguards, openly armed civil defense groups, and the like becoming the norm in Afghanistan for decades thereafter. The traditional power structure had shifted from the clergy, community elders, intelligentsia, and military in favor of powerful warlords.

Post–Cold War conflict

Another civil war broke out after the creation of a dysfunctional coalition

government A government is the system or group of people governing a country and its administrative divisions which is generally called as a state and as such the term is a metonym for it in governmental topics. In the case of its broad associa ...

between leaders of various ''mujahideen'' factions. Amid a state of anarchy and factional infighting, various ''mujahideen'' factions committed widespread rape, murder, and extortion, while Kabul was heavily bombarded and partially destroyed by the fighting. Several failed reconciliations and alliances occurred between different leaders. The

emerged in September 1994 as a movement and militia of students (''talib'') from Islamic madrassas (schools) in Pakistan, who soon had military support from Pakistan. Taking control of Kandahar city that year, they conquered more territories until finally driving out the government of Rabbani from Kabul in 1996, where they established an emirate. The Taliban were condemned internationally for the harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic sharia law, which resulted in the brutal treatment of many Afghans, especially women. During their rule, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to starving civilians, and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes. After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Ahmad Shah Massoud and

Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word ''Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, meaning "the"). It ...

formed the Northern Alliance, later joined by others, to resist the Taliban. Dostum's forces were defeated by the Taliban during the Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1997 and 1998; Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, began sending thousands of Pakistani militants to help the Taliban defeat the Northern Alliance. By 2000, the Northern Alliance only controlled 10% of the territory, cornered in the northeast. On 9 September 2001, Massoud was assassinated by two Arab suicide attackers in Panjshir Valley. Around 400,000 Afghans died in internal conflicts between 1990 and 2001.

US invasion and the Islamic Republic

In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the

September 11 attacks September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern Hemisphere, the ...

, who was a "guest" of the Taliban and was operating his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. The majority of Afghans supported the American invasion. During the initial invasion, US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps, and later, in cooperation with the Northern Alliance, the Taliban regime came to an end. In December 2001, after the Taliban government was overthrown, the Afghan Interim Administration under Hamid Karzai was formed. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the

United Nations Security Council United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainmentFilms * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fil ...

to assist the Karzai administration and provide basic security. By this time, after two decades of war as well as an acute

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to: war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenome ...

at the time, Afghanistan had one of the highest

infant In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (, literally 'unspeaking') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of other organisms. A newborn is ...

and child mortality rates in the world, the lowest life expectancy, much of the population suffered from hunger and malnutrition, and infrastructure was in ruins. Many foreign donors started providing aid and assistance to rebuild the war-torn country. As coalition troops entered Afghanistan to help the rebuilding process, the Taliban began an insurgency to regain control. Afghanistan remained one of the poorest countries in the world because of a lack of foreign investment, government corruption, and the Taliban insurgency. The Afghan government was able to establish some democratic structures, adopting a constitution in 2004 with the name Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Attempts were made, often with the support of foreign donor countries, to improve the country's economy, healthcare, education, transport, and agriculture. ISAF forces also began to train the Afghan National Security Forces. Following 2002, nearly five million Afghans were repatriated. The number of NATO troops present in Afghanistan peaked at 140,000 in 2011, dropping to approximately 16,000 in 2018. In September 2014, Ashraf Ghani became president after the 2014 Afghan presidential election, in which, for the first time in Afghanistan's history, power was democratically transferred. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations and transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. The NATO-led Operation Resolute Support was formed the same day as a successor to ISAF. Thousands of NATO troops remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces and continue their fight against the Taliban. A report titled ''Body Count'' concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians had been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict. On 19 February 2020, the United States–Taliban deal was made in Qatar. The deal was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF); following the signing of the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul.

Second Taliban era

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on 14 April 2021 that the alliance had agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May. Soon after NATO troops began withdrawing, the Taliban launched an offensive against the Afghan government and quickly advanced in front of collapsing Afghan government forces. The Taliban captured the capital city of Kabul on 15 August 2021, after regaining control over a vast majority of Afghanistan. Several foreign diplomats and Afghan government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani, were evacuated from the country, with many Afghan civilians attempting to flee along with them. On 17 August, first vice president Amrullah Saleh proclaimed himself caretaker president and announced the formation of an anti-Taliban front with a reported 6,000+ troops in the Panjshir Valley, along with Ahmad Massoud. However, by 6 September, the Taliban had taken control of most of Panjshir Province, with resistance fighters retreating to the mountains. Clashes in the valley ceased in mid-September. According to the Costs of War Project, 176,000 people were killed in the conflict, including 46,319 civilians, between 2001 and 2021. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, at least 212,191 people were killed in the conflict. Though the state of war in the country ended in 2021, armed conflict persists in some regions amid fighting between the Taliban and the local branch of the Islamic State, as well as an anti-Taliban Republican insurgency. The Taliban government is led by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and acting prime minister Hasan Akhund, who took office on 7 September 2021. Akhund is one of the four founders of the Taliban and was a deputy prime minister of the previous emirate; his appointment was seen as a compromise between moderates and hardliners. A new, all-male cabinet was formed, which included Abdul Hakim Haqqani as minister of justice. On 20 September 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres received a letter from acting minister of foreign affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi to formally claim Afghanistan's seat as a member state for their official spokesman in

Doha Doha (; ) is the capital and largest city, and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's populatio ...

, Suhail Shaheen. The United Nations did not recognize the previous Taliban government and chose to work with the then government-in-exile instead. Western nations suspended most of their humanitarian aid to Afghanistan following the Taliban's August 2021 takeover of the country; the World Bank and

International Monetary Fund International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: MusicAlbums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (Saint E ...

also halted their payments. More than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage in October 2021. Human Rights Watch reported on 11 November 2021 that Afghanistan was facing widespread

due to an economic and banking crisis. The Taliban initially significantly tackled corruption, improving on the corruption perceptions index from 174th to 150th out of 180 countries from 2021 to 2022, but dropping to 162nd in 2023. The Taliban have also reportedly reduced bribery and extortion in public service areas. At the same time, the human rights situation in the country has deteriorated. Following the 2001 invasion, more than 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan; however, in 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remained refugees, primarily in Iran and Pakistan, and another 4 million were internally displaced. In October 2023, the Pakistani government ordered the expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan. Iran also decided to deport

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan * Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanis ...

nationals back to Afghanistan. Taliban authorities condemned the deportations of Afghans as an "inhuman act". Afghanistan faced a humanitarian crisis in late 2023. On 10 November 2024, Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Taliban representatives would attend the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, marking the first time the country participated since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. Afghanistan had been barred from previous summits due to the lack of global recognition of the Taliban regime. In May 2025, Iran ordered the mass deportation of an estimated 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees. The 2025–2026 hunger crisis in Afghanistan is one of the world's most severe, with over 17 million people—one-third of the population—requiring urgent food assistance. Driven by persistent drought, economic collapse, and massive refugee returns, the crisis has left over 4.9 million children and women needing malnutrition treatment.

Geography

Afghanistan is located in Southern-Central Asia. The region centered in Afghanistan is considered the "crossroads of Asia", and the country has had the nickname Heart of Asia. The renowned

Urdu Urdu (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in South Asia. It is the national language and '' lingua franca'' of Pakistan. It is also an official Eighth Schedule language in India, the status and cultural heritage of which are ...

poet Allama Iqbal once wrote about the country: At over , Afghanistan is the world's 41st largest country. It is slightly bigger than France and smaller than Myanmar, and about the size of Texas in the United States. There is no coastline, as Afghanistan is landlocked. Afghanistan shares its longest land border (the Durand Line) with Pakistan to the east and south, followed by borders with Tajikistan to the northeast, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the north-west, Uzbekistan to the north, and China to the far northeast; India claims a border with Afghanistan through Pakistani-administered

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has sinc ...

. Clockwise from south-west, Afghanistan shares borders with the Sistan and Baluchestan Province, South Khorasan Province, and Razavi Khorasan Province of Iran; Ahal Region, Mary Region, and Lebap Region of Turkmenistan; Surxondaryo Region of Uzbekistan; Khatlon Region and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan; Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China; and the Gilgit-Baltistan territory, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Balochistan province of Pakistan. The geography in Afghanistan is varied, but is mostly mountainous and rugged, with some unusual mountain ridges accompanied by plateaus and river basins. It is dominated by the Hindu Kush range, the western extension of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, in Chinese. or Himalaya, is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More tha ...

that stretches to eastern

Tibet Tibet () is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau. It is the homeland of the Tibetans. Other ethnic groups also reside on the plateau, including Mongols, the Lhoba, Monpa, Qiang, Sherpa, and s ...

via the Pamir Mountains and Karakoram Mountains in Afghanistan's far north-east. Most of the highest points are in the east, consisting of fertile mountain valleys, often considered part of the " Roof of the World". The Hindu Kush ends at the west-central highlands, creating plains in the north and southwest, namely the Turkestan Plains and the Sistan Basin; these two regions consist of rolling grasslands and semi-deserts, as well as hot, windy deserts, respectively. Forests exist in the corridor between the provinces of Nuristan and Paktika (see East Afghan montane conifer forests), and

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: Arctic, Alpine, and Antarctic. Tundra vegetation is ...

in the northeast. The country's highest point is Noshaq, at above sea level. The lowest point is located in Jowzjan Province along the Amu River bank, at above sea level. Despite having numerous rivers and reservoirs, large parts of the country are dry. The endorheic Sistan Basin is one of the world's driest regions. The Amu Darya rises in the north of the Hindu Kush, while the nearby Hari River flows west towards

, and the Arghandab River flows from the central region southwards. To the south and west of the Hindu Kush flow a number of streams that are tributaries of the Indus River, such as the Helmand River. The Kabul River flows in an easterly direction to the Indus, ending at the Indian Ocean. Afghanistan receives heavy snow during the winter in the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains, and the melting snow in the spring season enters the rivers, lakes, and streams. However, two-thirds of the country's water flows into the neighboring countries of Iran, Pakistan, and

. As reported in 2010, the state needs more than US$2 billion to rehabilitate its irrigation systems so that the water is properly managed. In Afghanistan, forest cover accounts for approximately 2% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,208,440 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, which remained unchanged since 1990. Of the naturally regenerating forest, 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity), and around 0% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership. The northeastern Hindu Kush mountain range, located in and around the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, is situated in a geologically active area where earthquakes occur almost every year. They can be deadly and destructive, causing

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips, rockfalls, mudslides, mudslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope f ...

s in some parts or avalanches during the winter. In June 2022, a destructive 5.9 earthquake struck near the border with Pakistan, killing at least 1,150 people and sparking fears of a major humanitarian crisis. On 7 October 2023, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Herat, killing over 1,400 people.

Climate

Afghanistan has a continental climate with harsh winters in the central highlands, the glaciated northeast (around Nuristan), and the Wakhan Corridor, where the average temperature in January is below and can reach , and hot summers in the low-lying areas of the Sistan Basin of the southwest, the Jalalabad basin in the east, and the Turkestan plains along the Amu River in the north, where temperatures average over in July and can go over . The country is generally arid in the summers, with most rainfall falling between December and April. The lower areas of northern and western Afghanistan are the driest, with precipitation more common in the east. Although proximate to India, Afghanistan is mostly outside the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscillat ...

zone, except the Nuristan Province, which occasionally receives summer monsoon rain. Although Afghanistan has contributed minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions, it is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and least prepared to cope with its impacts. Climate change in Afghanistan is causing more frequent and severe droughts. Severe drought conditions affect 25 of the country's 34 provinces, impacting over half the population. These droughts cause

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by ...

, reduce

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food usually consists of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substa ...

and water security, disrupt agriculture, and cause internal displacement. Extreme rainfall over short periods is also more likely, increasing the risk of

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, ci ...

s and

s. Due to rising temperatures, almost 14% of Afghanistan's glacier coverage was lost between 1990 and 2015, increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods. By 2050, climate change could displace an additional 5 million people within Afghanistan.

Biodiversity

Several types of mammals exist throughout Afghanistan. Snow leopards and brown bears live in the high elevation alpine tundra regions. The Marco Polo sheep exclusively live in the Wakhan Corridor region of north-east Afghanistan. Foxes, wolves,

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 14 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, both freshwater and marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, ...

s, deer, wild sheep, lynx and other big cats populate the mountain forest region of the east. In the semi-desert northern plains, wildlife include a variety of birds, hedgehogs, gophers, and large carnivores such as jackals and hyenas. Gazelles, wild pigs and jackals populate the steppe plains of the south and west, while mongoose and cheetahs exist in the semi-desert south. Marmots and ibex also live in the high mountains of Afghanistan, and pheasants exist in some parts of the country. The Afghan hound is a native breed of dog known for its fast speed and its long hair; it is relatively known in the west. Endemic fauna of Afghanistan includes the Afghan flying squirrel, Afghan snowfinch, '' Paradactylodon'' (or the " Paghman mountain salamander"), '' Stigmella kasyi'', '' Vulcaniella kabulensis'', Afghan leopard gecko, '' Wheeleria parviflorellus'', among others. Endemic flora include '' Iris afghanica''. Afghanistan has a wide variety of birds despite its relatively arid climate – an estimated 460 species of which 235 breed within. The forest region of Afghanistan has vegetation such as pine trees, spruce trees, fir trees and larches, whereas the steppe grassland regions consist of broadleaf trees, short grass, perennial plants and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activit ...

s. The colder high elevation regions are composed of hardy grasses and small flowering plants. Several regions are designated protected areas; there are three national parks: Band-e Amir, Wakhan and Nuristan. Afghanistan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.85/10, ranking it 15th globally out of 172 countries.

Government and politics

Following the effective collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan during the 2021 Taliban offensive, the Taliban declared the country an Islamic Emirate. A new caretaker government was announced on 7 September. , only the Russian Federation has recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as the '' de jure'' government of Afghanistan. In the V-Dem Democracy Indices, Afghanistan ranks amongst the lowest as a "closed autocracy," ranking at 176th and 177th out of 179 countries in electoral democracy and liberal democracy indices respectively. Afghanistan operates on a centralised unitary form of government. A traditional instrument of governance in Afghanistan is the '' loya jirga'' (grand assembly), a Pashtun consultative meeting that was mainly organized for choosing a new head of state, adopting a new constitution, or to settle national or regional issue such as war. Loya jirgas have been held since at least 1747, with the most recent one occurring from June to July 2022.

Development of Taliban government

On 17 August 2021, the leader of the Taliban-affiliated Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin party, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, met with both Hamid Karzai, the former

, and Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and former Chief Executive, in

, Qatar, with the aim of forming a national unity government. President Ashraf Ghani, having fled the country during the Taliban advance to either Tajikistan or

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, emerged in the United Arab Emirates and said that he supported such negotiations and was in talks to return to Afghanistan. Many figures within the Taliban generally agreed that continuation of the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan may, if correctly applied, be workable as the basis for the new religious state as their objections to the former government were political, and not religious. Hours after the final flight of American troops left Kabul on 30 August, a Taliban official interviewed said that a new government would likely be announced as early as Friday 3 September after Jumu'ah. It was added that Hibatullah Akhundzada would be officially named

, with cabinet ministers being revealed at the Arg in an official ceremony. Abdul Ghani Baradar would be named head of government as Prime Minister, while other important positions would go to Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob. Beneath the supreme leader, day-to-day governance will be entrusted to the cabinet. In a report by CNN-News18, sources said the new government was going to be governed similarly to Iran with Hibatullah Akhundzada as supreme leader similar to the role of Saayid Ali Khamenei, and would be based out of Kandahar. Baradar or Yaqoob would be head of government as Prime minister. The government's ministries and agencies will be under a cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister. The Supreme Leader would preside over an executive body known as the Supreme Council with anywhere from 11 to 72 members. Abdul Hakim Haqqani is likely to be promoted to Chief justice. According to the report, the new government will take place within the framework of an amended 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan. Government formation was delayed due to concerns about forming a broad-based government acceptable to the international community. It was later added however that the Taliban's Rahbari Shura, the group's leadership council was divided between the hardline Haqqani Network and moderate Abdul Ghani Baradar over appointments needed to form an "inclusive" government. Reports claimed that this culminated in a skirmish which led to Baradar being injured and treated in Pakistan, however this was denied by Baradar himself. As of early September 2021 the Taliban were planning the cabinet to be men-only. Journalists and other human rights activists, mostly women, protested in Herat and Kabul, calling for women to be included. The acting Cabinet announced on 7 September was men-only, and the Ministry of Women's Affairs was abolished. As of July 2025, only

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world, spanning eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries. With a population of over 140 million, ...

has recognized the Taliban government as the legitimate authorities of Afghanistan. The U.N has stated that recognition was impossible so long as restrictions on female education and employment remained. On 16 September 2024, the Taliban suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, as reported by the United Nations, posing a significant risk to global polio eradication efforts. In a decree by Hibatullah Akhundzada on 15 August 2025, the description of the government as interim was dropped, with all ministers remaining in their posts, but on a permanent rather than acting basis.

Administrative divisions

Afghanistan is administratively divided into 34 provinces ('' wilayat''). Each province has a governor and a capital. The country is further divided into nearly 400 provincial

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisio ...

, each of which normally covers a city or several villages. Each district is represented by a district governor. The provincial governors are now appointed by the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, and the district governors are selected by the provincial governors. The provincial governors are representatives of the central government in Kabul and are responsible for all administrative and formal issues within their provinces. There are also provincial councils that are elected through direct and general elections for four years. The functions of provincial councils are to take part in provincial development planning and to participate in the monitoring and appraisal of other provincial governance institutions. According to article 140 of the constitution and the presidential decree on electoral law, mayors of cities should be elected through free and direct elections for a four-year term. In practice however, mayors are appointed by the government. The 34 provinces in alphabetical order are: # Badakhshan # Badghis # Baghlan # Balkh # Bamyan # Daykundi # Farah # Faryab # Ghazni # Ghor # Helmand #

# Jowzjan #

# Kandahar # Kapisa # Khost # Kunar # Kunduz # Laghman # Logar # Nangarhar # Nimruz # Nuristan # Oruzgan # Paktia # Paktika # Panjshir # Parwan # Samangan # Sar-e Pol # Takhar # Wardak # Zabul

Foreign relations

Afghanistan became a member of the United Nations in 1946. Historically, Afghanistan had strong relations with Germany, one of the first countries to recognize Afghanistan's independence in 1919; the Soviet Union, which provided much aid and military training for Afghanistan's forces and includes the signing of a Treaty of Friendship in 1921 and 1978; and India, with which a friendship treaty was signed in 1950. Relations with Pakistan have often been tense for various reasons such as the Durand Line border issue and alleged Pakistani involvement in Afghan insurgent groups. The present Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is currently partially recognized, but has had notable unofficial ties with China, Pakistan, and Qatar. Under the previous Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, it enjoyed cordial relations with a number of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states (thirty in Europe and two in North America). Founded in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was established with the signi ...

and allied nations, particularly the United States,

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, Australia, and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and ...

. In 2012, the United States and the then-republic in Afghanistan signed their Strategic Partnership Agreement in which Afghanistan became a major non-NATO ally. Such qualification was rescinded by US President Joe Biden in July 2022.

Military

The Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan captured a large amount of weapons, hardware, vehicles, aerocrafts, and equipment from the Afghan National Security Forces following the 2021 Taliban offensive and the Fall of Kabul. The total value of the captured equipment has been estimated at US$83 billion.

Human rights

Homosexuality is taboo in Afghan society; according to the Penal Code, homosexual intimacy is punished by up to a year in prison. Under Sharia law offenders can be punished by death. However, an ancient tradition involving male homosexual acts between children and older men (typically wealthy warlords or elite people) called '' bacha bazi'' persists albeit punishable by the death penalty under Taliban law. Religious minorities such as Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians have reportedly faced persecution. Since May 2022, all women in Afghanistan have been required by law to wear full-body coverings when in public (either a burqa or an abaya paired with a niqāb, which leaves only the eyes uncovered). First Deputy Leader Sirajuddin Haqqani claimed the decree is only advisory and no form of hijab is compulsory in Afghanistan, though this contradicts the reality. It has been speculated that there is a genuine internal policy division over women's rights between hardliners, including leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, and pragmatists, though they publicly present a united front. Another decree was issued shortly after the first, requiring female TV presenters to cover their faces during broadcasts. Since the Taliban takeover, suicides among women have become more common, and the country could now be one of the few where the rate of suicide among women surpasses that among men. In May 2022, the Taliban dissolved Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission along with four other government departments, citing the country's budget deficit. In January 2025, the

International Criminal Court International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: MusicAlbums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (Saint E ...

issued two warrants against the Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and the Chief judge, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, for committing crimes against humanity with the oppression and persecution of Afghan women and girls, and deprived of their freedom of movement, the rights to control their bodies, to education, and to a private and family life, while the alleged resistance and opposition were brutally suppressed with murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, since 2021. ICC member states are obliged to arrest wanted persons if they are on their territory.

Economy

Afghanistan's nominal GDP was $20.1 billion in 2020, or $81 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP). Its GDP per capita is $2,459 (PPP) and $611 by nominal. Despite having $1 trillion or more in mineral deposits, it remains one of the world's least developed countries. Its economic output per capita is among the lowest of any country . Afghanistan's rough physical geography and its landlocked status has been cited as reasons why the country has always been among the least developed in the modern era – a factor where progress is also slowed by contemporary conflict and political instability. The country imports over $7 billion worth of goods but exports only $784 million, mainly fruits and nuts. It has $2.8 billion in external debt. The service sector contributed the most to the GDP (55.9%) followed by agriculture (23%) and industry (21.1%). Da Afghanistan Bank serves as the central bank of the nation and the Afghani (AFN) is the national currency, with an exchange rate of about 75 Afghanis to 1 US dollar. A number of local and foreign banks operate in the country, including the Afghanistan International Bank, New Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, Pashtany Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and the First Micro Finance Bank. In 2010, one of the main drivers for the economic recovery was the return of over 5 million expatriates, who brought with them entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. Many Afghans got involved in construction, which was one of the largest industries in the country at the time. Some of the major national construction projects include the $35 billion New Kabul City next to the capital, the Aino Mena project in Kandahar, and the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Town near Jalalabad. Similar development projects have also begun in

, Mazar-e-Sharif, and other cities. An estimated 400,000 people enter the labor market each year. Several small companies and factories began operating in different parts of the country, which not only provide revenues to the government but also create new jobs. Improvements to the business environment have resulted in more than $1.5 billion in telecom investment and created more than 100,000 jobs since 2003. Afghan rugs are becoming popular again, allowing many carpet dealers around the country to hire more workers; in 2016–17 it was the fourth most exported group of items. Afghanistan is a member of WTO, SAARC,

ECO The word eco may refer to ecology or economics upright=1.5, Euro coins Economics () is a social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, and OIC. It holds an observer status in SCO. In 2018, a majority of imports come from either Iran, China, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, while 84% of exports are to Pakistan and India. Since the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021, the United States has frozen about $9 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, blocking the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars held in US bank accounts. The GDP of Afghanistan is estimated to have dropped by 20% following the Taliban return to power. Following this, after months of free-fall, the Afghan economy began stabilizing, as a result of the Taliban's restrictions on smuggled imports, limits on banking transactions, and UN aid. In 2023, the Afghan economy began seeing signs of revival. This has also been followed by stable exchange rates, low inflation, stable revenue collection, and the rise of trade in exports. In the third quarter of 2023, the Afghani rose to be the best performing currency in the world, climbing over 9% against the US dollar.

Agriculture

Agricultural production is the backbone of Afghanistan's economy and has traditionally dominated the economy, employing about 40% of the workforce as of 2018. The country is known for producing pomegranates, grapes, apricots, melons, and several other fresh and dry fruits. Afghanistan also became the world's top producer of cannabis in 2010. In March 2023, however, cannabis production was banned by a decree from Hibatullah Akhundzada. Saffron, the most expensive spice, grows in Afghanistan, particularly Herat Province. In recent years, there has been an uptick in saffron production, which authorities and farmers are using to try to replace poppy cultivation. Between 2012 and 2019, the saffron cultivated and produced in Afghanistan was consecutively ranked the world's best by the International Taste and Quality Institute. Production hit record high in 2019 (19,469 kg of saffron), and one kilogram is sold domestically between $634 and $1147. The availability of cheap diesel-powered water pumps imported from China and Pakistan, and in the 2010s, of cheap solar power to pump water, resulted in expansion of agriculture and population in the southwestern deserts of Afghanistan in Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces in the 2010s. Wells have gradually been deepened, but water resources are limited. Opium is the major crop, but as of 2022, was under attack by the new Taliban government which, to suppress opium production, was systematically suppressing water pumping. In a 2023 report, poppy cultivation in southern Afghanistan was reduced by over 80% as a result of Taliban campaigns to stop its use toward opium. This included a 99% reduction of opium growth in the Helmand Province. In November 2023, a U.N report showed that in the entirety of Afghanistan, poppy cultivation dropped by over 95%, removing it from its place as being the world's largest opium producer.

Mining

The country's natural resources include: coal, copper, iron ore,

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium radioa ...

, rare earth elements, chromite, gold,

, talc, barite,

sulfur Sulfur, formerly sulphur, is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with the chemical formula S8. El ...

, lead, marble, precious and semi-precious stones, natural gas, and petroleum. In 2010, US and Afghan government officials estimated that untapped mineral deposits located in 2007 by the US Geological Survey are worth at least . Michael E. O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution estimated that if Afghanistan generates about $10 billion per year from its mineral deposits, its gross national product would double and provide long-term funding for critical needs. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated in 2006 that northern Afghanistan has an average of crude oil, of natural gas, and of natural gas liquids. In 2011, Afghanistan signed an oil exploration contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for the development of three oil fields along the Amu Darya river in the north. The country has significant amounts of

, copper, gold, coal, iron ore, and other minerals. The Khanashin carbonatite in Helmand Province contains of rare earth elements. In 2007, a 30-year lease was granted for the Aynak copper mine to the China Metallurgical Group for $3 billion, making it the biggest foreign investment and private business venture in Afghanistan's history. The state-run Steel Authority of India won the mining rights to develop the huge Hajigak iron ore deposit in central Afghanistan. Government officials estimate that 30% of the country's untapped mineral deposits are worth at least . One official asserted that "this will become the backbone of the Afghan economy" and a Pentagon memo stated that Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium". The lithium reserves of 21 Mio. tons could amount to the ones of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. Its geography primarily consists of an Andean region to the west and tropical lowlands to the east and north. The country has ...

, which is currently viewed as the country with the largest lithium reserves. Other larger deposits are the ones of bauxite and

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free eleme ...

. Access to biocapacity in Afghanistan is lower than world average. In 2016, Afghanistan had 0.43 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Afghanistan used 0.73 global hectares of biocapacity per person—their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use just under double as much biocapacity as Afghanistan contains. As a result, Afghanistan is running a biocapacity deficit. In September 2023, the

signed mining contracts worth , with extractions based on gold, iron, lead, and zinc in the provinces of Herat, Ghor, Logar, and Takhar.

Energy

According to the World Bank, 98% of the rural population have access to electricity in 2018, up from 28% in 2008. Overall the figure stands at 98.7%. As of 2016, Afghanistan produces 1,400 megawatts of power, but still imports the majority of electricity via transmission lines from Iran and the Central Asian states. The majority of electricity production is via hydropower, helped by the amount of rivers and streams that flow from the mountains. However electricity is not always reliable and blackouts happen, including in Kabul. In recent years an increasing number of

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biomass Biomass is material produced by the growth of microorganisms, plants or animals. Beyond this general definition, there are differences in how the term is used and applied depending on industry or subject-matter norms. For example, it may be m ...

and wind power plants have been constructed. Currently under development are the CASA-1000 project which will transmit electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. Power is managed by the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS, Afghanistan Electricity Company). Important dams include the Kajaki Dam, Dahla Dam, and the Sardeh Band Dam.

Tourism

Tourism is a small industry in Afghanistan due to security issues. Nevertheless, some 20,000 foreign tourists visit the country annually as of 2016. In particular an important region for domestic and international tourism is the picturesque Bamyan Valley, which includes lakes, canyons and historical sites, helped by the fact it is in a safe area away from insurgent activity. Smaller numbers visit and trek in regions such as the Wakhan Valley, which is also one of the world's most remote communities. From the late 1960s onwards, Afghanistan was a popular stop on the famous hippie trail, attracting many Europeans and Americans. Coming from Iran, the trail traveled through various Afghan provinces and cities including

, Kandahar and

before crossing to northern Pakistan, northern India, and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of Chi ...

. Tourism peaked in 1977, the year before the start of political instability and armed conflict. The city of Ghazni has significant history and historical sites, and together with Bamyan city have in recent years been voted Islamic Cultural Capital and South Asia Cultural Capital respectively. The cities of

, Kandahar, Balkh, and Zaranj are also very historic. The Minaret of Jam in the Hari River valley is a

UNESCO World Heritage Site The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. A cloak reputedly worn by Islam's prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( CE8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, military, and political leader, and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was the final prophet of God who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teach ...

is kept in the Shrine of the Cloak in Kandahar, a city founded by Alexander the Great and the first capital of Afghanistan. The citadel of Alexander in the western city of Herat has been renovated in recent years and is a popular attraction. In the north of the country is the Shrine of Ali, believed by many to be the location where

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib ...

was buried. The National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul hosts a large number of Buddhist, Bactrian Greek and early Islamic antiquities; the museum suffered greatly by civil war but has been slowly restoring since the early 2000s. Unexpectedly, tourism has seen improvement in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. Active efforts by the Taliban encouraged tourism to increase from 691 tourists in 2021, to 2,300 in 2022, to 5,200 in 2023, with some estimates of between 7,000 and 10,000. This is, however, threatened by the Islamic State – Khorasan Province, who took responsibility for attacks on tourists, such as the 2024 Bamyan shooting.

Communication

Telecommunication services in Afghanistan are provided by Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, MTN Group, and Roshan. The country uses its own space

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, sci ...

called Afghansat 1, which provides services to millions of phone, internet, and television subscribers. By 2001 following years of civil war, telecommunications was virtually a non-existent sector, but by 2016 it had grown to a $2 billion industry, with 22 million mobile phone subscribers and 5 million internet users. The sector employs at least 120,000 people nationwide.

Transportation

Due to Afghanistan's geography, transport between various parts of the country has historically been difficult. The backbone of Afghanistan's road network is Highway 1, often called the "Ring Road", which extends for and connects five major cities: Kabul, Ghazni, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif, with spurs to Kunduz and Jalalabad and various border crossings, while skirting around the mountains of the Hindu Kush. The Ring Road is crucially important for domestic and international trade and the economy. A key portion of the Ring Road is the Salang Tunnel, completed in 1964, which facilitates travel through the Hindu Kush mountain range and connects northern and southern Afghanistan. It is the only land route that connects Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Several mountain passes allow travel between the Hindu Kush in other areas. Serious traffic accidents are common on Afghan roads and highways, particularly on the Kabul–Kandahar and the Kabul–Jalalabad Road. Traveling by bus in Afghanistan remains dangerous due to militant activities. Air transport in Afghanistan is provided by the national carrier,

Ariana Afghan Airlines In the Greco-Roman world, Ariana was a geographical term referring to a general area of land between Central Asia and the Indus River. Situated far to the east in the Achaemenid Empire, it covered a number of satrapies spanning what is today the ...

, and by the private company Kam Air. Airlines from a number of countries also provide flights in and out of the country. These include Air India, Emirates, Gulf Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. The country has four international airports: Kabul International Airport (formerly Hamid Karzai International Airport), Kandahar International Airport, Herat International Airport, and Mazar-e Sharif International Airport. Including domestic airports, there are 43. Bagram Air Base is a major military airfield. The country has three rail links: one, a line from

Mazar-i-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharif or Mazar-e-Sharif is a city in northern Afghanistan, serving as the capital and largest city of Balkh Province. It has 12 city districts ('' nahias'') and an estimated population of 568,013 people. Hafiz Abdul Rahman Himat is t ...

to the Uzbekistan border; a long line from Toraghundi to the

border (where it continues as part of Turkmen Railways); and a short link from Aqina across the Turkmen border to Kerki, which is planned to be extended further across Afghanistan. These lines are used for freight only and there is no passenger service. A rail line between Khaf, Iran and

, western Afghanistan, intended for both freight and passengers, was under construction as of 2019. About of the line will lie on the Afghan side. Private vehicle ownership has increased substantially since the early 2000s. Taxis are yellow and consist of both cars and

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Often called a tuk tuk, it is usually a three-wheeled vehicle, powered by an engine. They use a variety of fuels, with the most common being petrol, compressed natur ...

s. In rural Afghanistan, villagers often use donkeys, mules or horses to transport or carry goods. Camels are primarily used by the Kochi nomads. Bicycles are popular throughout Afghanistan.

Demographics

Population

The population of Afghanistan was estimated at 35.7million as of 2024 by the Afghanistan National Statistics and Information Authority, whereas the UN estimates over 42.0million. In 1979 the total population was reported to be about 15.5million. About 25.3% are urbanite, 70.4% live in rural areas, and the remaining 4.3% are nomadic. An additional 3million or so Afghans are temporarily housed in neighboring

and

, most of whom were born and raised in those two countries. As of 2013, Afghanistan was the largest refugee-producing country in the world, a title held for 32 years. The current population growth rate is 2.37%, one of the highest in the world outside of Africa. This population is expected to reach 82 million by 2050 if current population trends continue. The population of Afghanistan increased steadily until the 1980s, when civil war caused millions to flee to other countries such as Pakistan. Millions have since returned and the war conditions contribute to the country having the highest fertility rate outside Africa. Afghanistan's healthcare has recovered since the turn of the century, causing falls in infant mortality and increases in life expectancy, although it has the lowest life expectance of any country outside Africa. This (along with other factors such as returning refugees) caused rapid population growth in the 2000s that has only recently started to slow down. The Gini coefficient in 2008 was 27.8.

Fertility rate

Afghanistan 2024

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has been estimated at 4.4. In 2022 it was 4.5, about twice the world average rate. The rate has fallen since the early 1980s.

Urbanization

As estimated by the CIA World Factbook, 26% of the population was urbanized as of 2020. This is one of the lowest figures in the world; in Asia it is only higher than

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and

Sri Lanka Sri, SRI, or variations thereof, may refer to: Sri Sri or similar may refer to: * Dewi Sri, ancient Javanese and Balinese goddess * Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth * Shree ragam, a Carnatic musical scale * Shri (musician), Shrikanth Srira ...

. Urbanization has increased rapidly, particularly in the capital

, due to returning refugees from Pakistan and Iran after 2001, internally displaced people, and rural migrants. Urbanization in Afghanistan is different from typical urbanization in that it is centered on just a few cities. Kabul is the largest city, with a population of 5 million. The other large cities are located generally in the "ring" around the Central Highlands, namely Kandahar in the south,

in the west,

, Kunduz in the north, and Jalalabad in the east.

Ethnicity and languages

Afghans are divided into several ethnolinguistic groups. According to research data by several institutions in 2019, the

are the largest ethnic group, comprising 42%, followed by Tajiks, comprising 27% of the country's population. The other two major ethnic groups are the Hazaras and Uzbeks, each at 9%. A further 10 other ethnic groups are recognized and each are represented in the Afghan National Anthem. Dari and Pashto are the official languages of Afghanistan; bilingualism is very common. Dari, which is also referred to as Eastern Persian as it is a variety of and mutually intelligible with Persian language, Persian (and very often called 'Farsi' by some Afghans like in

), functions as the lingua franca in Kabul as well as in much of the northern and northwestern parts of the country. Native speakers of Dari, of any ethnicity, are sometimes called Farsiwans. Pashto is the native tongue of the

, although many of them are also fluent in Dari while some non-Pashtuns are fluent in Pashto. Despite the Pashtuns having been dominant in Afghan politics for centuries, Dari remained the preferred language for government and bureaucracy. According to The World Factbook, CIA World Factbook, Dari Persian is spoken by 78% (First language, L1 + Second language, L2) and functions as the lingua franca, while Pashto is spoken by 50%, Uzbek language, Uzbek 10%, English 5%, Turkmen language, Turkmen 2%,

2%, Pashayi languages, Pashayi 1%, Nuristani languages, Nuristani 1%, Arabic 1%, and Balochi language, Balochi 1% (2021 est). Data represent the most widely spoken languages; shares sum to more than 100% because there is much bilingualism in the country and because respondents were allowed to select more than one language. There are a number of smaller regional languages, including Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, Pashayi, and Nuristani. When it comes to foreign languages among the populace, many are able to speak or understand Hindustani language, Hindustani (

-Hindi), partly due to returning Afghans in Pakistan, Afghan refugees from

and the popularity of Bollywood films respectively. English is also understood by some of the population, and has been gaining popularity as of the 2000s. Some Afghans retain some ability in Russian, which was Russian occupation of Afghanistan, taught in public schools during the 1980s.

Religion

The CIA estimated in 2009 that 99.7% of the Afghan population was Muslim and most are thought to adhere to the Sunni Hanafi school. According to Pew Research Center, as much as 90% are of the Sunni denomination, 7% Shia and 3% Non-denominational Muslim, non-denominational. Conversion away from Islam is persecuted, limiting religious freedom. Afghan Sikhism in Afghanistan, Sikhs and Hinduism in Afghanistan, Hindus are also found in certain major cities (namely Kabul, Jalalabad, Ghazni, Kandahar) accompanied by gurdwaras and mandirs. According to Deutsche Welle in September 2021, 250 remain in the country after 67 were evacuated to India. There was a small History of the Jews in Afghanistan, Jewish community in Afghanistan, living mainly in Herat and Kabul. Over the years, this small community was forced to leave due to decades of warfare and religious persecution. By the end of the twentieth century, nearly the entire community had emigrated to Israel and the United States, with one known exception, Herat-born Zablon Simintov. He remained for years, being the caretaker of the only remaining Afghan synagogue. He left the country for the US after the second Taliban takeover. A woman who left shortly after him has since been identified as the likely last Jew in Afghanistan. Afghan Christians, who number 500–8,000, practice their faith secretly due to intense societal opposition, and there are no public churches.

Education

Education in Afghanistan is overseen by the Ministry of Education (Afghanistan), Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education (Afghanistan), Ministry of Higher Education. There are over 16,000 schools in the country and roughly 9 million students. Of this, about 60% are males and 40% females. However, the new regime has thus far forbidden female teachers and female students from returning to secondary schools. Over 174,000 students are enrolled in different List of universities in Afghanistan, universities around the country. About 21% of these are females. Former Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak had stated that construction of 8,000 schools is required for the remaining children who are deprived of formal learning. As of 2018 the literacy rate of the population age 15 and older is 43.02% (males 55.48% and females 29.81%). The top universities in Afghanistan are the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) followed by Kabul University (KU), both of which are located in Kabul. The National Military Academy of Afghanistan, modeled after the United States Military Academy at West Point, was a four-year military development institution dedicated to graduating officers for the Afghan Armed Forces. The Afghan Defense University was constructed near Qargha in Kabul. Major universities outside of Kabul include Kandahar University in the south, Herat University in the northwest, Balkh University and Kunduz University in the north, Nangarhar University and Khost University in the east. After the Taliban regained power in 2021, it became unclear to what extent female education would continue in the country. In March 2022, after they had been closed for some time, it was announced that secondary education would be reopened shortly. However, shortly before reopening, the order was rescinded and schools for older girls remained closed. Despite the ban, six provinces, Balkh, Kunduz, Jowzjan, Sar-e Pol Province, Sar-I-Pul, Faryab, and the Daykundi Province, Day Kundi, still allow girls' schools from grade 6 and up. In December 2023, investigations were being held by the United Nations on the claim that Afghan girls of all ages were allowed to study at religious schools. As of November 2024, some parts of the country allow women to attend religious schools to pursue dentistry, nursing, and other subjects.

Health

According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the List of countries by Human Development Index, 15th least developed country in the world. The average List of countries by life expectancy, life expectancy is estimated to be around 60 years. The country's maternal mortality rate is 396 deaths/100,000 live births and its infant mortality rate is 66 to 112.8 deaths in every 1,000 live births. The Ministry of Public Health (Afghanistan), Ministry of Public Health plans to cut the infant mortality rate to 400 for every 100,000 live births before 2020. The country has more than 3,000 midwifery, midwives, with an additional 300 to 400 being trained each year. There are over 100 hospitals in Afghanistan, with the most advanced treatments being available in Kabul. The French Medical Institute for Children and Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul are the leading children's hospitals in the country. Some of the other leading hospitals in Kabul include the Jamhuriat Hospital and Jinnah Hospital (Kabul), Jinnah Hospital. In spite of all this, many Afghans travel to Pakistan and India for advanced treatment. It was reported in 2006 that nearly 60% of the Afghan population lives within a two-hour walk of the nearest health facility. The disability rate is also high in Afghanistan due to the decades of war. It was reported recently that about 80,000 people are missing limbs. Non-governmental charities such as Save the Children and Mahboba's Promise assist orphans in association with governmental structures.

Culture

Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between the regions of Afghanistan, each with distinctive cultures partly as a result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Family is the mainstay of Afghan society and families are often headed by a patriarch. In the southern and eastern region, the people live according to the Pashtun culture by following Pashtunwali (the Pashtun way). Key tenets of Pashtunwali include Melmastia, hospitality, the provision of Nanawatai, sanctuary to those seeking refuge, and revenge for the shedding of blood. The Pashtuns are largely connected to the culture of Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau. The remaining Afghans are culturally Persianization, Persian and Turkic peoples, Turkic. Some non-Pashtuns who live in proximity with Pashtuns have adopted Pashtunwali in a process called Pashtunization, while some Pashtuns have been Persianized. Those who have lived in Pakistan and Iran over the last 30 years have been further influenced by the cultures of those neighboring nations. The Afghan people are known to be strongly religious. Afghans, particularly Pashtuns, are noted for their tribal solidarity and high regard for personal honor. There are various ethnic groups in Afghanistan, Afghan tribes, and an estimated 2–3 million Kochi people, nomads. Afghan culture is deeply Islamic culture, Islamic, but pre-Islamic practices persist. Child marriage in Afghanistan, Child marriage is prevalent; in 2017, Human Rights Watch described the legal age for marriage of girls as being 16, or 15 with the consent of the father or a judge. The most preferred marriage in Afghan society is to one's parallel cousin, and the groom is often expected to pay a bride price. In the villages, families typically occupy mudbrick houses, or compounds with mudbrick or stone walled houses. Villages typically have a headman (''malik''), a master for water distribution (''mirab'') and a religious teacher (''mullah''). Men would typically work on the fields, joined by women during harvest. About 15% of the population are nomadic, locally called ''Kochi people, kochis''. When nomads pass villages they often buy supplies such as tea, wheat and kerosene from the villagers; villagers buy wool and milk from the nomads. Afghan clothing for both men and women typically consists of various forms of shalwar kameez, especially ''perahan tunban'' and ''khet partug''. Women would normally wear a ''chador'' for head covering; some women, typically from highly conservative communities, wear the '' burqa'', a full body covering. These were worn by some women of the Pashtun community well before Islam came to the region, but the

enforced this dress on women when they were in power. Another popular dress is the ''chapan'' which acts as a coat. The ''Karakul (hat), karakul'' is a hat made from the fur of a specific regional breed of sheep. It was favored by former kings of Afghanistan and became known to much of the world in the 21st century when it was constantly worn by President Hamid Karzai. The ''pakol'' is another traditional hat originating from the far east of the country; it was popularly worn by the guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. The ''Mazari hat'' originates from northern Afghanistan.

Architecture

The nation has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. Afghanistan contains many remnants from all ages, including Ancient Greece, Greek and

stupas, monasteries, monuments, temples, and Islamic minarets. Among the most well known are the Great Mosque of Herat, the Blue Mosque (Mazar-i-Sharif), Blue Mosque, the Minaret of Jam, the Chil Zena, the Qala-i Bost in Lashkargah, the ancient Greek city of Ai-Khanoum. However, many of its historic monuments have been damaged in modern times due to the civil wars. The two famous Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. As there was no colonialism in the modern era in Afghanistan, European-style architecture is rare but does exist: the Victory Arch at Paghman and the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul were built in this style in the 1920s. Afghan architecture also ranges Indo-Islamic architecture, deep into India such as the city of Agra, and the tomb of Sher Shah Suri, an Sur Empire, Afghan Emperor of India.

Art and ceramics

Carpet weaving is an ancient practice in Afghanistan, and many of these are still Handicraft, handmade by tribal and nomadic people today. Carpets have been produced in the region for thousands of years and traditionally done by women. Some crafters express their feelings through the designs of rugs; for example after the outbreak of the Soviet–Afghan War, "war rugs", a variant of Afghan rugs, were created with designs representing pain and misery caused by the conflict. Every province has its own specific characteristics in making rugs. In some of the Turkic-populated areas in the north-west, bride and wedding ceremony prices are driven by the bride's weaving skills. Pottery has been crafted in Afghanistan for millennia. The village of Istalif, north of Kabul, is in particular a major center, known for its unique turquoise and green pottery, and their methods of crafting have remained the same for centuries. Much of '' lapis lazuli'' stones were earthed in modern-day Afghanistan which were used in Chinese porcelain as cobalt blue, later used in ancient Mesopotamia and Turkey. The lands of Afghanistan have a long history of art, with the world's earliest known usage of oil painting found in cave murals in the country. A notable art style that developed in Afghanistan and eastern Pakistan is Gandhara Art, produced by a fusion of Greco-Roman art and Buddhist art between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. Later eras saw increased use of the Persian miniature style, with Kamaleddin Behzad of

being one of the most notable miniature artists of the Timurid dynasty, Timurid and early Safavid periods. Since the 1900s, the nation began to use Western techniques in art. Abdul Ghafoor Breshna was a prominent Afghan painter and sketch artist from Kabul during the 20th century.

Literature

Classic Persian literature, Persian and Pashto poetry are a cherished part of Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in the region, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. One of the poetic styles is called Landay (poetry), landay. A popular theme in Afghan folklore and mythology are Dev (mythology), Divs, monstrous creatures. Thursdays are traditionally "poetry night" in the city of

when men, women and children gather and recite both ancient and modern poems. Three mystical authors are considered true national glories (although claimed with equal ardor by Iran), namely: Khwaja Abdullah Ansari of Herat, a great mystic and Sufi saint in the 11th century, Sanai of Ghazni, author of mystical poems in the 12th century, and, finally, Rumi of Balkh, in the 13th century, considered the greatest mystical poet of the Muslim world. The Afghan Pashto literature, although quantitatively remarkable and in great growth in the last century, has always had an essentially local meaning and importance, feeling the influence of both Persian literature and the contiguous literatures of India. Both main literatures, from the second half of the nineteenth century, have shown themselves to be sensitive to genres, movements and stylistic features imported from Europe. Khushal Khan Khattak of the 17th century is considered the national poet. Other notable poets include Rabi'a Balkhi, Jami, Rahman Baba, Khalilullah Khalili, and Parween Pazhwak.

Music

Afghan classical music has close historical links with Indian classical music and use the same Hindustani terminology and theories like raga. Genres of this style of music include ghazal (poetic music) and instruments such as the Indian tabla, sitar and harmonium, and local instruments like zerbaghali, as well as dayereh and tanbur which are also known in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. The Rubab (instrument), rubab is the country's national instrument and precurses the Indian sarod instrument. Some of the famous artists of classical music include Ustad Sarahang and Abdul Rahim Sarban, Sarban. Pop music developed in the 1950s through Radio Kabul and was influential in social change. During this time female artists also started appearing, at first Mermon Parwin. Perhaps the most famous artist of this genre was Ahmad Zahir, who synthesized many genres and continues to be renowned for his voice and rich lyrics long after his death in 1979. Other notable masters of traditional or popular Afghan music include Nashenas, Ubaidullah Jan, Mahwash, Ahmad Wali, Farhad Darya, and Naghma (singer), Naghma. Attan is the national dance of Afghanistan, a group dance popularly performed by Afghans of all backgrounds. The dance is considered part of Afghan identity.

Media and entertainment

Afghanistan has around 350 List of radio stations in Afghanistan, radio stations and over 200 television stations. Radio Television Afghanistan, originating from 1925, is the state public broadcaster. Television programs began airing in the 1970s and today there are many private television channels such as TOLO (TV channel), TOLO and Shamshad TV. The first Afghan newspaper was published in 1873, and there are hundreds of print outlets today. By the 1920s, Radio Kabul was broadcasting local radio services. Voice of America, BBC World Service, BBC, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcast in both of Afghanistan's official languages on radio. Press restrictions have been gradually relaxed and private media diversified since 2002, after more than two decades of tight controls. Afghans have long been accustomed to watching Indian Bollywood films and listening to its filmi songs. It has been claimed that Afghanistan is among the biggest markets for the Hindi film industry. The stereotypes of Afghans in India (''Kabuliwala'' or ''Pathani'') have also been represented in some Bollywood films by actors. Many Bollywood film stars have roots in Afghanistan, including Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Feroz Khan (Indian actor), Feroz Khan, Kader Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Zarine Khan, Celina Jaitly, and a number of others. Several Bollywood films have been shot inside Afghanistan, including ''Dharmatma'', ''Khuda Gawah'', ''Escape from Taliban'', and ''Kabul Express''.

Cuisine

Afghan cuisine is largely based upon the nation's chief crops, such as wheat, maize, barley and rice. Accompanying these staples are native fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and whey. Kabuli palaw is the national dish of Afghanistan. The nation's culinary specialties reflect its ethnic and geographic diversity. Afghanistan is known for its high-quality Pomegranate production in Afghanistan, pomegranates, grapes, and sweet melons. Tea is a favorite drink among Afghans. A typical Afghan diet consists of naan, yogurt, rice, and meat.

Holidays and festivals

Afghanistan's official New Year starts with Nowruz (natively known as "''Nawroz''"), an ancient tradition that started as a Zoroastrian celebration in present-day Iran, and with which it shares the annual celebration along with several other countries. It occurs every year at the March equinox, vernal equinox. Nauruz in Afghanistan, In Afghanistan, Nowruz is typically celebrated with music and dance, as well as holding buzkashi tournaments. Yaldā, another nationally celebrated ancient tradition, commemorates the ancient goddess Mithra and marks the longest night of the year on the eve of the winter solstice (; usually falling on 20 or 21 December), during which families gather together to recite poetry and eat fruit. As a predominantly Muslim country, Islamic events and festivals such as Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Ashura are widely celebrated annually in Afghanistan. The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi is celebrated by the Sikh community and the Hindu festival Diwali by the Hindu community. Afghan Independence Day, National Independence Day is celebrated on 19 August to mark the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 and the country's full independence. Several international celebrations are also officially held in Afghanistan, such as International Workers' Day, and International Women's Day. Some regional festivals include the Nowruz#Afghanistan, Red Flower Festival (during Nowruz) in

, and the Damboora Festival in Bamyan Province.

Sports

Sport in Afghanistan is managed by the Afghan Sports Federation. Cricket and association football are the two most popular sports in the country. The Afghan Sports Federation promotes cricket, association football, basketball, volleyball, golf, team handball, handball, boxing, taekwondo, Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting, bodybuilding, track and field, ice skating, skating, bowling, snooker, chess, and other sports. The Afghanistan national basketball team won the first team sports title at the 2010 South Asian Games. In 2012, the country's Afghanistan national 3x3 team, 3x3 basketball team won the gold medal at the 3-on-3 basketball at the 2012 Asian Beach Games, 2012 Asian Beach Games. In 2013, Afghanistan's Afghanistan national football team, football team followed as it won the SAFF Championship. The Afghan national cricket team, which was formed in 2001, won the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup. It won the ACC Twenty20 Cup in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. The team played in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, 2015, 2019 Cricket World Cup, 2019, and 2023 Cricket World Cups. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is the official governing body of the sport and is based in Kabul. The Alokozay Kabul International Cricket Ground serves as the nation's main cricket stadium. There are several other stadiums throughout the country, including the Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium near Jalalabad. Domestically, cricket is played between teams from different provinces. The Afghanistan national football team has been competing in international Association football, football since 1941. The national team plays its home games at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, while football in Afghanistan is governed by the Afghanistan Football Federation. The national team has never competed or qualified for the FIFA World Cup but won an international football trophy in 2013. The country also has a national team in the sport of futsal, a 5-a-side variation of football. The traditional and the national sport of Afghanistan is buzkashi, particularly popular in the north. It is similar to polo, played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. The Afghan Hound (a type of running dog) originated in Afghanistan and was used in wolf hunting with dogs, wolf hunting.

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

General and cited sources

External links

Key Development Forecasts for Afghanistan
from International Futures

Government

Presidential Palace (Arg)
– Official website of the Presidential Palace of Afghanistan
Administrative Affairs
– Official website of the Administrative Affairs office of the president of Afghanistan
Prime Minister
– official website of the prime minister of Afghanistan
Supreme Court
– official website of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan
Statistics and Information
– official website of National Statistics and Information Authority

History

About Afghanistan
– at the Afghanistan Embassy in Cairo

Maps

* * {{Authority control Afghanistan, 1709 establishments in Asia Countries in Central Asia Countries in Asia Emirates Iranian plateau Islamic states Landlocked countries Least developed countries Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Member states of the United Nations Countries and territories where Pashto is an official language Countries and territories where Persian is an official language Countries in South Asia States and territories established in 1709 Theocracies Totalitarian states

Etymology

History

Prehistory and antiquity

Medieval period

Hotak dynasty

Durrani Empire

Barakzai dynasty and British wars

Democratic Republic and Soviet War

Post–Cold War conflict

US invasion and the Islamic Republic

Second Taliban era

Geography

Climate

Biodiversity

Government and politics

Development of Taliban government

Administrative divisions

Foreign relations

Military

Human rights

Economy

Agriculture

Mining

Energy

Tourism

Communication

Transportation

Demographics

Population

Fertility rate

Urbanization

Ethnicity and languages

Religion

Education

Health

Culture

Architecture

Art and ceramics

Literature

Music

Media and entertainment

Cuisine

Holidays and festivals

Sports

See also

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

General and cited sources

Further reading

External links

Government

History

Maps