Ir. Charity No: CHY10477
     
 
Home About SAFE Projects Agriculture Literacy & Education Afghan Women Facts On Afghanistan Contact SAFE
PLEASE DONATE NOW
Ir. Charity No: CHY10477

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION:

  • Afghanistan is located in Central Asia, bordering Iran on the west, China on the northeast, and Pakistan on the east and south.

  • Afghanistan's northern neighbours are Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Northern Afghanistan is linked ethnically to Central Asia.

  • Afghanistan sits uneasily between the Arab world, Iran, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

  • Politically, economically, ethnically and culturally, it has strong links with each of these but retains its own identity as a rugged remote mountainous desert, interspersed by lush river valleys and oases.

To download a map of Afghanistan in PDF format click on the link below.

Left-click to open the file in a new window.
Right-click and choose 'save as...' to save the file to a location on your computer.

  Download Map:

Adobe Acrobat Reader (download here) is required to view this file.

 RECENT HISTORY:

  • Contrary to general opinion, female literacy in Afghanistan was never high. Before the 1979 Soviet invasion, only 1% of women graduated from high school. It is thought that everything was perfect before the advent of the Taliban, but education was generally only for the privileged and elite.

  • Modern women, as well as having contended with laws passed by the Taliban, have still to contend with age-old prejudices. Their lives have shown only marginal improvement and further progress is continually threatened by those same ethnic and principally male dominated age-old prejudices.

  •  In the rural countryside, where approx. 90% of Afghan women live, life remains much the same, and these same women are unable to read or write at a functional level!

  • Afghans suffer from one of the lowest life expectancies in the world, lack of adequate healthcare facilities, an educational system that was almost non-existent (but very slowly recovering since 2002), and recovery from the destruction of almost the entire infrastructure of the country.

  • Due to a prolonged drought, the worst in living memory, now happily over, farmers suffered repeated crop failure and the loss of most of their livestock. Unfortunately devastating rainfall producing flash floods and landslides often follows drought.

  • Many do not have the resources to rebuild their livestock herds. Others include those without land and individuals who got heavily into debt during the drought. Unfortunately a successful poppy crop can alleviate many debt situations!

  •  Education, in all its shapes, for the whole society, is a dire need. However, it must be done in a proper way. There must be the necessary consultation, guidance, and support to emerging Educational Departments in the provinces and particularly to those in authority in Kabul. There must also be a necessary respect for Islam and the regional and ethnic cultures and customs within the country.

 

Sensitivity, understanding, and genuine long-term commitment must be the watchwords for those countries and agencies wishing to help. Above all they must avoid paternalism, patronising attitudes, ignorance and arrogance.

 

But, it is important not to rush. Afghans need to digest all inputs. It is their country and it is they who will re-build it, albeit with obligatory assistance from the West. 

The path ahead will not be easy and will be strewn with difficulties. May Allah hold the people of Afghanistan in the palm of his hand.

MINERALS

Afghanistan boasts a long tectonic history and one of the most complex geologies in the world. Historically, mining in Afghanistan has focused on the production of precious stones.

Lapis Lazuli, Afghanistan’s most famous stone, bejewelled the clothing and ornaments of the Egyptian Pharaohs. More recent explorations have resulted in the discovery of significant resources of copper, iron, gold, halite, talc, and mica and marble.

 

Some facts on Afghanistan:

Afghanistan has long been one of the very poorest countries in the world, being placed among the bottom three countries in the world on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. It thus has among the highest levels of infant and maternal mortality and of illiteracy, and one of the lowest levels of life expectancy. 

Capital:

Kabul
Population:

Approx. 30 million
Life Expectancy (in years):

Men: 46yrs.     Women: 44yrs. (Approx.)
EDUCATION AND LITERACY RATES:

Overall: 26.4%, women 15% and less (10% in rural)
Fertility:

6-7 children/woman
Maternal Mortality Rates & Maternal Morbidity:

1,700 out of 100,000 mothers.

Afghanistan has the highest maternal morbidity (sickness/disease) rate in the world.
Under five Mortality:

Av. of 257 out of 1,000, 25.7%, of children die before reaching the age of 5 years.
Mortality at birth:

a.      165-200 out of 1,000 infants die at birth

b.     20% die before their first birthday!
a. % of population who receive treatment for common diseases:
b. Child Malnutrition:

a.     26%

 

b.     50% of all Afghan children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
% of mothers who receive maternal HEALTHcare:

10%
% of deliveries that are attended by trained health personnel:

a.    9%:

b.    There is a great need for properly trained and equipped Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in rural areas, who can also educate rural communities in sanitation and basic health education.
Diseases:

Tuberculosis (a main killer), Polio, Measles, Malaria, Eye Diseases- e.g. Leishmaniasis, (caused by a parasite transmitted by insect bites and leads to disfiguring facial injuries and long-term disability), Acute Respiratory Tract Infection, &  Diarrhoea.

Approximately 85, 000 children die of diarrhoea every year.
Drinking Water:

A mere 12% of the population has access to adequate drinking water!
Health Services:

Access to decent health services is put at approx. 40-45% of the population.
Doctors & Surgeons:

There is only one doctor for every 50, 000 people in Afghanistan.

(Fully trained: the true figure is likely to be nearer 1:100,000!)

There is an extremely acute shortage of trained surgeons.
Mines, Uxo, & Mine Injuries:

a.     There are an estimated 10 million live mines still buried in Afghanistan!

b.     Children are particularly vulnerable to becoming land mine casualties as they fetch water; collect firewood, herd animals or even walk to school.

c.     Mines triggered by foot pressure seldom harm just legs. Debris being driven into exposed tissue by the blast. The further the debris is pushed, the higher the surgeons must amputate!
Widows:

a.      There are an estimated 700, 000 war widows in Afghanistan.

b.     Currently between 1% and 5% of all households appear to have no adult male above the age of 15.

c.      Children of such households are often the primary wage earners.

d.     There are approx. 50, 000 children working on the streets of Kabul.

 

GENERAL:

AREA:

652,225 sq km                      251,824 sq miles

PROVINCES:

34 provinces

POPULATION:

28+ Million, (no recent census)

Approx. 85% of population is rural.

MAIN CITIES:

Kabul (Capital), Kandahar, Farah, Herat, Mazur-I-Sharif, Jalalabad.

CURRENCY:

The Afghani Exchange rates: (New Afghani - Oct. ’02): 1$US=42.9 Afs

LANGUAGES:

Dari (Farsi/Persian), Pashto,  Also Uzbeki, Tajik and Turkmeni.

RELIGION:

MUSLIM: (Sunni 80%, S’hia 18%, Ismaili & others 1%) - Figures approx.

PUSHTOON - mainly Sunni,

HAZARI - Mainly S’hia. (Central highlands)

MAIN ETHNIC GROUPS:

PUSHTOON, HAZARA, TAJIK, UZBEK, TURKOMEN, KUCHIS (PUSHTOON)

  • The dominant ethnic groups, the Pushtuns, occupy much of southern and eastern Pakistan and derive significant support from fellow Pushtuns in the North-West Frontier Province of Afghanistan.

  • Tajiks, in north-eastern Afghanistan share the western edge of the Himalayan massif with Tajikistan, with peaks rising to 7,470 metres.

  • The Hazaras, the legendary descendants of Genghis Khan’s troops occupy the Hazarajat in central Afghanistan.

TIME DIFFERENCE:

GMT + 4hrs 30 mins. (Pakistan +5 hrs GMT)

TEMPERATURES:

-200C and lower, to 450C+

ARABLE LAND:

12-12.5%

IRRIGATED LAND:

Approx. 23, 860 sq. kms.

ECONOMY:

  • The economy has been largely based on subsistence agriculture, Wheat (irrigated) and Lal Mai (rain-fed wheat), augmented by Barley, Alfalfa, Rice and Corn.

  • dried fruits: Afghanistan produced the finest in the world: - (Now rarely exported abroad) Apricots, Figs, Raisins, Mulberry.

  • Fruit: Melons, Apples, Cherries, Plums, Grapes.

  • Nuts: Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios, Chelgoza (Pine nuts) – (Now rarely exported abroad)

  • Vegetables: A wide range of vegetables, including potatoes.

  • Cotton - (Northern areas).

  • Hides/Skins, Wool (sheep, goat, camel, karakul), Carpets.

People living in the more high altitude areas depend heavily on livestock for their survival.

MINERALS:

  • Iron ore, Lead, Manganese, Gypsum, Barites.

  • Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Emeralds, Rubies, & Semi-precious stones,

  • Natural Gas, Coal (limited), Oil (limited)

 

Provinces of Afghanistan: 34

Badakshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daikondi, Farah, Faryab Ghazni, Ghor, Herat, Helmand, Jawzian, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapista, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Patika, Pakyta, Panshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sari Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Zabul.

 

[Previously numbering 32, 2 new provinces have been created-Daikondi and Sari Pul]