Afghanistan PhotoGallery: Go>>
AfghanistanProfile
Excerpted from the U.S.
CIA World
Factbook
Background: Afghanistan was invaded and
occupied by the Soviet Union in 1979. The USSR was forced to withdraw
ten years later by anti-communist mujahidin forces supplied
and trained by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and
others.
Fighting subsequently continued among the various
mujahidin factions, but the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban
movement has been able to seize most of the country.
In addition to the continuing civil strife, the country suffers from enormous poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, and widespread land mines.
Area: 250,000 square miles (647,500 square kilometers)—slightly smaller than Texas
Border countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Climate: arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
Natural hazards: damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
Population: 26,813,057 (July 2001 estimate)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.2 percent; 15-64 years: 55.01 percent; 65 years and over: 2.79 percent
|
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES
|
