Afghanistan

At a glance Land People Economy Achievements and challenges Links with Australia   Afghanistan at a glance Did you know? The Hindu Kush, Killer of Hindus, is so known because of the many earthquakes in the seismically active north-east of the country. Region Asia Population 27.4 million (2008 estimate) Land Geography: Landlocked; rugged mountains and desert Climate: Continental- dry with cold winters and hot summers People Religion: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1% Language: Official: Pashtu and Afghan Persian (Dari); 30 minor languages Economy GDP per person (PPP): $800 (2008est.) GDP by sector: Agriculture: 80%, Industry: 10%, Services: 10% Government Islamic republic Land Physical geography Afghanistan is landlocked and covers an area of 652 100 square kilometres. It shares a border with Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. Nearly 75 per cent of the country is mountainous, with plains in the north and southwest. The Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountain Ranges divide the country from the southeast to the northwest. The Hindu Kush, part of the western extremity of the Himalaya, experiences many earthquakes. The average height of the mountains is about 2 700 metres and the highest peak, Istoro Nal, is 7 455 metres. The major rivers rise in these mountains with the Kabul River flowing east into the Indus River while most others disappear into the desert sands. Climate Afghanistan has clearly defined seasons; it is hot in Summer and cold in Winter. The climate varies sharply between highlands and lowlands. It is sub-polar in the mountainous north-east with dry, cold winter temperatures falling to -26°C in the Hindu Kush. Rainy season is between October and April, with the mountains receiving more than 1 000 millimetres of precipitation annually, mostly as snow. The desert in the south-west receives less than 100 millimetres of rainfall annually and summer temperatures of over 35°C. In Kabul, temperatures range from -8 to 2ºC in Winter and 16 to 33 ºC in Summer and has an average annual rainfall of 240 millimetres. Environment Afghanistan’s ecosystem has severely deteriorated over the last two decades due to war and excess use of nature and its energy. Two thirds of the landscape is mountainous with very little vegetation. Half of the remaining landscape is desert. The Hindu Kush, where most of the country's water falls as snow, is home to many unique plants and animals. There is an ancient underground system of piping the water from the Hindu Kush to the plains for irrigation known as the kereze. The most fertile areas are around Kandahar in the south-west, Jalalabad in the east, the oasis town of Herat in the west, Bamiyan valley in the centre and the river valleys of the north. Only 3 per cent of the land area is forested. People A large proportion of the population live in rural areas. Major cities are the capital, Kabul (up to 2.5 million), Kandahar (est 325,000 Herat (est 349,000), Mazar-e-Sharif (est 131 000), Jalalabad (est 58 000) and Kunduz (est 118, 000). The desert area of the south-west is virtually uninhabited. Approximately five million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan since the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ voluntary repatriation program began in 2002, but there is still 2.7 million Afghan refugees living mostly in Pakistan (1.7 million) and Iran (up to one million). People Culture and ethnicity Afghanistan's ethnically and linguistically mixed population reflects its location in the centre of trade and invasion routes between Europe and Asia. It’s rich cultural heritage goes back more than 5 000 years. Excluding people living in the major cities, most Afghans are divided into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow traditional customs and religious practices. The two main ethnic groups are the Pashtuns (42 %) and the Tajiks (27%) whose languages, Pashtu and Dari, (Afghan Persian) are Afghanistan’s two official languages. Tajik, Uzbek, and Turkmen are spoken widely in the north, Hazari in the central highlands, Baloch in the southwest and many other languages and dialects are spoken by the diverse ethnic groups who live in the high, snow-bound valleys in the northeast. Islam has had a big impact on Afghanistan culture, particularly in the arts, architecture and poetry. Afghan handicrafts include the world-renowned carpets and copper utensils. Afghan music has a unique use of note intervals, pitch, and rhythm closer to western than to Asian music. The Afghanistan flag is the four pan-Arabic colours of black, red, green and white. The central white emblem features a mosque and pulpit with flags on either side, the numerals for the solar year 1298 (1919 in the Gregorian calendar, the year of Afghan independence from the UK) are below; sheaves of wheat are on the left and right, in the upper-centre is an Arabic inscription of the Shahada (Muslim creed) below which are rays of the rising sun over the Takbir (Arabic expression meaning ‘God is great’), and at bottom centre is a scroll bearing the name Afghanistan. Health Years of conflict have meant a decline in the health of all people and life expectancy is 43 years. An estimated one quarter of children die before their fifth birthday –estimated at 135 per 1 000 live births and has been contributed to the effects of widespread malnutrition, diarrhoeal diseases and other childhood diseases. The estimated maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan is the second highest in the world – estimated at 1 600 per 100 000 live births and reflects the poor access and quality of pre-natal health services. Other health issues of concern are goitre and stunting, both related to the lack of iodised salt in Afghanistan and anaemia due to iron deficiencies. Only 40 per cent of Afghans have access to safe water and 34 per cent to adequate sanitation. An estimated 20 per cent of rural households are chronically food insecure and another 18 per cent face seasonal food shortages. The tenuous household food security situation in Afghanistan is further threatened by the prevailing high food prices and impact of drought and poor harvests. In 2006 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recorded 796 mine/Explosive Remnants of War casualties (98 killed and 698 injured), an 18 per cent decrease from 2005 (966 casualties). Religion and beliefs Islamic practices are part of all aspects of life in Afghanistan. Two special religious occasions are observed: Ramadan, and Hajj season, approximately, two months after Ramadan. An estimated 80 per cent of the population is Sunni Muslim and the remainder, mainly the Hazara of central Afghanistan, are predominantly Shi'a Muslim. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, enforced a strict interpretation of Islam upon the whole country. Women were restricted from working outside the home or attending school; they were not to leave their homes without an accompanying male relative and were forced to wear a traditional whole body-covering garment called the burka. Television, western music and alcohol were banned. Despite formal recognition of the rights of women in the constitution, forced marriages, domestic violence and lack of social and political participation continue to hinder progress of women's issues. Food and shelter Afghan food is based on meat from sheep and goat with rice, flavoured with sweet-scented herbs and spices, including coriander, mint and garam masala. Fresh and dried fruits and nuts, flat breads and yoghurt add more flavours and textures. Traditionally, Afghan food is served on large ceramic platters or in clay pots and placed on a cloth spread over an Afghan rug or carpet. Housing ranges from apartment building in cities to the temporary housing of the nomadic kuchi. In cooler country areas beds are low flat benches with a sandhli, heater, below. Economy Wealth and poverty Afghanistan’s human development indicators reveal that the country remains one of the poorest in the world. War and drought have left about half of the rural population in poverty. Over half of Afghanistan’s population live of less than $1 a day. The Afghan economy has maintained impressive levels of economic growth over the past few years, however this growth has failed to reduce extreme poverty and hunger in the country.                                                        Education and work Only 28 per cent of the population in Afghanistan are able to read (32.4% male and 12.6% female) which reflect gender disparities. There has been significant progress made in improving access to and the quality of education. Upto 6 million children have been enrolled in primary and secondary education since 2002: 35 per cent of whom are young girls. In spite of these achievements half of all school aged children and twice as many girls as boys remain out of school. Farmers and nomads comprise about three-quarters of the Afghan population, although only about 12 per cent of the land is arable. Forty per cent of the population are unemployed. Agriculture Only 10-12 per cent of Afghanistan is available for farming but much of this is difficult to cultivate because of landmines, drought and damage to the kareze irrigation system. The main products are wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskin, and lambskin. Industries and products Afghanistan is endowed with a wealth of natural resources, including extensive deposits of natural gas, petrol, coal, copper and precious and semiprecious stones. Unfortunately, the country's continuing conflict, remote and rugged terrain, and inadequate transportation network have made mining these resources difficult. There are small-scale productions of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertiliser, and cement. Trade Major imports include rice, wheat, fuel and cooking oil while exports include fruit and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems. The main trading partners are Pakistan, India and United States. Achievements and challenges In 2004 Afghanistan adopted its first Constitution in three decades laying the political and development foundations for the country. This provides for a democratically elected presidential system of government, with a parliament, within the framework of an Islamic republic. Significant progress has also been achieved in other areas including health, education, infrastructure and financial and macroeconomic management. Access to health services has improved through the implementation of a basic package of health services covering 85 per cent of the country. School enrolments have increased. Approximately 12 000 km of roads have been rehabilitated and commercial banking and telecommunication infrastructure established. Years of fighting have left Afghanistan in ruins and it is heavily dependent on international aid. It faces major natural and social challenges as it rebuilds itself. Damaging earthquakes occur frequently, floods and droughts lead to health and food production concerns and air and water pollution are also challenges. Most Afghan people live in dire poverty and around two thirds of the country is affected by hostilities with ongoing conflict in the South, West and Eastern regions of Afghanistan. Links with Australia Afghan-Australian relations can be traced back to the 1860s when Afghan cameleers came to Australia. For half a century, the cameleers played a crucial role in the exploration and development of the Australian outback, carrying supplies across the continent. The Adelaide to Alice Springs train, the Ghan, is named in their honour. The next wave of Afghan migration to Australia followed the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the early 1980s when mainly educated people fled the unrest. More recently Afghanis fleeing the Taliban regime came to Australia. In 2006 there were 16 750 Afghanistan-born people in Australia. New South Wales had the largest number with 7 540 followed by Victoria (5 250), Western Australia (1 460) and South Australia (1 390). Australian aid supports programs which contribute to building a stable and secure Afghanistan. Main Sources: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html http://hdr.undp.org/ http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/index.html

Aschiana ("The Nest"), a community-based organisation teaches street-working children arts and crafts so they can earn a living