Facts about Afghanistan

Afghanistan is located upon the geologic Iranian plateau.

The post-Taliban Afghanistan government enacted counter-narcotics policies and programs.

Afghanistani folk instruments include the ghaychak, dutar, rubab, zerbaghali, flute, and cymbals.

Excavation of prehistoric sites suggests that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago.

The Arab Abbasids conquered the northwest section of Afghanistan by the ninth century and administered that region as part of Khorasan.

The most famous galleries in the city include the renowned High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Institute for the Arts, and the Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art.

Between 110,000 to 150,000 Soviet troops, assisted by another 100,000 pro-communist Afghan troops, were in Afghanistan.

The key challenge facing Afghanistan today is to build a genuine, indigenous national unity transcending tribal loyalties.

Afgh?nist?n, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Pashto language: ? ????????? ?????? ???????, or Persian language: ?????? ?????? ?????????), is a landlocked country located in the heart of Asia.

Forty years of stability, the longest in Afghanistan’s history, occurred between 1933 and 1973, under the rule of Mohammed Zahir Shah.

Afghanistan may possess up to 36 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 3.6 billion barrels of petroleum, and up to 1.33 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.

By the early 1700s, Afghanistan was controlled by several ruling groups: Uzbeks to the north, Safavids to the west and the remaining larger area by the Mughals or self-ruled by local Afghan tribes.

Afghanistan's art was originally almost entirely done by men, but recently in theater arts women have begun to take center stage.

The National Assembly—the first freely elected legislature in Afghanistan since 1973—sat in December 2005, and was noteworthy for the inclusion of women as voters, candidates, and elected members.

In 2003, Khaled Hosseini published “The Kiterunner” which, though fiction, captured much of the history, politics, and culture experienced in Afghanistan from the 1930s to present day.

Important passes include the Unai Pass across the Sanglakh Range, and the Kotal-e Salang, connecting Kabul with central and northern Afghanistan.

Politics in Afghanistan has consisted of power struggles, bloody coups, and unstable transfers of power.

The Baluch are another Iranian ethnic group that numbers around 200,000, mostly residing in southern Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's poetry is primarily written in Persian and—to a lesser degree—in Pashto.

The famous Khyber Pass is in eastern Afghanistan.

The strong Sunni Ghaznavid Empire prevented the eastward spread of Shiism from Iran, thereby ensuring that most Muslims in Afghanistan and South Asia remained Sunnis.

The chaos and corruption that dominated post-Soviet Afghanistan helped the rise of the Taliban, who were mostly Pashtuns from the Helmand province and Kandahar region.

Zoroastrianism might have originated in what is now Afghanistan between 1800 to 800 B.C.E.

Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries.

The Pashtuns (also known as Pakhtun or Pathan) are independent people that reside mainly in southern and eastern Afghanistan and in western Pakistan.

Current agricultural practices in Afghanistan combine cultivation and animal husbandry.

During the nineteenth century, Afghanistan struggled successfully against the colonial powers and served as a buffer state between Russia and British India.

Afghanistan is known for making beautiful and unique rugs.

The National Assembly of Afghanistan was elected in 2005.

By 1751, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his Afghan army conquered the entire present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, along with Delhi in India.

By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had invaded Afghanistan and conquered the surrounding regions.

K?bul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with population of about three million people.

Kabul University reopened to both male and female students, and in 2006, the American University of Afghanistan opened, accepting students from Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

Opium is easy to produce and transport, and Afghanistan has been the world's largest producer of opium for the past decade.

When Soviet troops withdrew in 1989, Afghanistan's natural gas fields were capped to prevent sabotage.

Likely an offshoot of the Kurds, they reached Afghanistan sometime between 1300 and 1000 B.C.E.

Ninety-nine percent of Afghanistan's population adheres to Islam.

The busy Pakistan border crossing at Wesh connects Kandahar and Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, to Quetta, Pakistan.

The 1970s were the golden age of Afghanistan's music industry.

During the period of British intervention, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line, leading to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India—and later the new state of Pakistan.

The term Afghan, historically synonymous with Pashtun, is used to describe a person from the country of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic state at a nexus where numerous Eurasian civilizations have interacted, traded, migrated through, and often fought.

After a necking duel, a giraffe can land a powerful blow with his head occasionally knocking a male opponent to the ground.

The periods of Ghaznavids of Ghazni and Timurids of Herat are considered as some of the most brilliant eras of Afghanistan's history.

Afghan hounds (a type of running dog) also originated from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has a dry, continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters.

Once Soviet forces left Afghanistan in 1989, however, neglect by the United States and its allies in rebuilding the war-devastated country led to internal factional strife, with the Taliban eventually gaining control.

At 249,984 square miles (647,500 square kilometers), Afghanistan is the world's 41st-largest country (after Myanmar).

Afghanistan has rapidly increased in communication technology, and has embarked on wireless companies, internet, radio stations, and television channels.

Afghanistan remains subject to occasionally violent political jockeying and continues to grapple with the Taliban insurgency.

Daoud Khan and his entire family were murdered in 1978, when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan launched a coup known as the Great Saur Revolution and took over the government.

Kabul International Airport is a hub to Ariana Afghan Airlines, which is the national airlines carrier of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is an ethnically and linguistically mixed country, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest Asia.

In 2003, it was estimated that 30 percent of Afghanistan's 7,000 schools had been very seriously damaged during more than two decades of civil war.

Women usually sing and dance with dayra, a type of drum common in Afghanistan.

The classical musical form of Afghanistan is called klasik, which includes both instrumental and vocal ragas, as well as Tarana and Ghazals.

The Uzbeks are the main Turkic people found in Afghanistan and are found in the northern regions.

Afghanistan also still faces the threat of attacks from a few remaining al-Qaeda, and instability, particularly in the north, caused by the remaining few semi-independent warlords.

The people of Afghanistan are prominent horsemen, as the national ancient sport is Buzkashi, similar to polo, but in which a goat carcass is used instead of a ball.