Afghanistan

Government
In June 2002 a multiparty republic replaced an interim government following the fall of the Islamic Taliban government.

Geography
Afghanistan, The country is split east to west by the Hindu Kush mountain range, rising in the east to heights of 7,315 m. Most of the country is covered by high snow-capped mountains and is traversed by deep valleys.

Historical Background
Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist countercoup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, but withdrew 10 years later. The Taliban, a hardline Pakistanisponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country’s civil war and anarchy, seized Kabul in 1996. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. On 7 December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. The Taliban continued to launch attacks and gain strength throughout 2007 and into 2008. U.S. president Barack Obama said defeating the Taliban would be a top priority of his administration

Capital

Kabul

Language

Dari (Persian)

National Holiday

August 19,1919

Religion

Islamic

Literacy Rate

34%. Female literacy is 10%

Area

647,500 km2

Population

15.5 million

Currency

Afghani (AFN)

National Day

August 19,1919

GDP

estimate Total $26.976 billion