THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 251,740 square miles (652,000 sq
km) (UN July 2003)
Population: estimated to be 25.1 million
(UN July 2003) with an estimated 2
million refugees in Pakistan and 1.5
million in Iran (both refugee figures
UNDP July 2003)
Capital City: Kabul, population estimated
to be 4 million (Deputy Mayor of Kabul
December 2002). Other main cities are
Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and
Mazar-e Sharif.
People: The population comprises
numerous ethnic groups, the major
ones being Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras,
Uzbeks, Chahar Aimaks and Turkmen.
Language: Dari (related to Farsi) and
Pashto
Religion: Islam, 84% of whom are Sunni
Muslim
Currency: The Afghani
Government: Currently governed by
the Transitional Administration
established at the Loya Jirga in June
2002.
Head of State: Hamid Karzai, President
of the Transitional Authority.
Vice-Presidents: Marshall Mohammad
Qasim Fahim Khan (also Defence
Minister), Hedayat Amin Arsala, Abdul
Karim Khalili, Ustad Niematullah
Shahrani
Foreign Minister: Dr Abdullah Abdullah
Defence Minister: Marshall Mohammad
Qasim Fahim Khan (also a Vice
President)
Interior Minister: Ali Ahmed Jalali
Finance Minister: Dr Ashraf Ghani
Ahmedzai
GEOGRAPHY
Afghanistan is bordered to the west by
Iran, to the north by Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and to the
east and south by China and Pakistan.
Its topography is dominated by a
complex of irregular highlands which
increase in height from the west to the
east (where peaks over 22,965 feet
(7000 metres) are found) and form
part of the Hindu Kush. Almost half of
the country lies at about 2,000 metres
or more above sea level. Afghanistan
constitutes a major watershed with the
Oxus (Amu-Darya) rising on the north
side of the Hindu Kush and flowing into
central Asia, whereas on the south side
several rivers form tributaries of the
Indus. The climate is of an arid steppe
type with dry summers and cold
winters. Water supplies vary widely
within Afghanistan. Although some
areas regularly receive heavy
snowfalls in winter, there has been
widespread drought in recent years.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
At the crossroads of central Asia,
Afghanistan is proud of having
preserved its national identity in the
face of the often intrusive interests of
other regional powers. The foundation
of modern Afghanistan is usually
attributed to Ahmad Shah Abdali
(1747-72) who built an empire in
Afghanistan as Mughal power declined
in northern India and British influence
rose. The Anglo-Russian struggle for
influence in Central Asia, the 'Great
Game', in the nineteenth century
fuelled three British Afghan Wars in
1839-42, 1878-81 and 1919. For much of
the twentieth century successive
Afghan governments worked to
preserve its independence amidst
tumultuous changes: the advances and
retreat of European influence in the
Middle East; the change from Tsarist
to Communist ambition in the north;
and independence for, and partition of,
British India.
After the Second World War (in which
Afghanistan remained neutral), a
liberal, largely urban government
attempted to modernise a rural and
traditional Muslim society. In 1973
Prime Minister Daud overthrew King
Zahir Shah and established a republic.
Daud was overthrown himself in 1978
by the People's Democratic Party of
Afghanistan, who tried to impose a
socialist state. This led to armed
resistance by conservative Islamic
elements, and in 1979 the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan.
Soviet intervention lasted ten years
and sparked a bitter civil war with
anti-Soviet mujahideen forces,
supported by considerable outside aid.
The departure of Soviet troops in 1989
did not bring an end to the conflict, as
mujahideen groups began to struggle
amongst themselves. By 1994 the
Pashtun Taliban began to emerge as
the dominant power in Afghanistan,
taking Kabul in October 1996 and
controlling most of the country by
1998. They were opposed by
mujahideen commanders Massoud,
Dostum and others in the
predominantly Tajik and Uzbek United
Front (previously the Northern
Alliance).
The Taliban were already largely
isolated internationally. But, after 11
September 2001, they came under
immense international military
pressure for their refusal to give up
Usama bin Laden. After the fall of the
Taliban regime in November 2001, the
United Nations brought together
leaders of Afghan ethnic groups in
Germany. The Agreement on
Provisional Arrangements in
Afghanistan pending the
Re-establishment of Permanent
Government Institutions (the Bonn
Agreement), signed on 5 December
2001, set out a road map for the
restoration of representative
government in Afghanistan.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
ECONOMY
The economy has been seriously
damaged by decades of war. The main
activity remains agriculture (which
involves around 80% of the population),
both subsistence and some commercial.
The main traditional crops are grain,
rice, fruit, nuts and vegetables. But
they have all been severely affected by
drought in recent years. Industry is
small scale and includes handicrafts,
textiles, carpets, and some food
processing. Exports consist of mainly
fruit, nuts, vegetables and carpets.
In January 2003, Afghanistan signed a
trilateral trade agreement with Iran
and India that designated the Iranian
port of Chabahar as a major port for
Afghan industry. Under the agreement
Afghanistan and India will pay reduced
rates for port fees, warehousing, etc.;
they will have access to transit goods
through Iran; and Iran and India further
undertook to improve the Iranian
infrastructure to assist with the
transit of goods.
Afghanistan possesses a wide variety
of mineral resources including natural
gas, coal, oil and gemstones, but the
security situation has precluded their
effective utilisation. Drugs, mainly
opium, dominate illegal exports and,
coupled with smuggling to adjacent
countries, underpin a large black
economy.
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US $4.6 billion (FAO/ADB August
2002)
Principal industries: textiles, fruit and
nuts, soap, furniture, shoes, fertiliser,
hand woven carpets, cement, natural
gas, coal and copper
Major trading partners: exports to
Pakistan, the EU, India, Russia and the
United Arab Emirates; imports from
Pakistan, Japan, Kenya, South Korea,
India and Turkmenistan
Exchange rate: 42.785 Afghanis = 1US$
(Bloomberg July 2003)
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Afghanistan's international relations
AFGHANISTAN'S RELATIONS WITH THE
UK
The UK's links to Afghanistan date
back to the nineteenth century when
Britain struggled with Russia for
dominance in the region.
The UK is committed to helping
Afghanistan achieve stability, security
and prosperity, to the benefit of the
Afghan people, the United Kingdom and
the world community.
In October 2001 the Prime Minister and
Foreign Secretary appointed Special
Representatives for Afghanistan. The
current UK Special Representative for
Afghanistan is Tom Phillips.
The UK restored resident diplomatic
ties with Afghanistan when the Interim
Administration was inaugurated on 22
December 2001. British diplomatic staff
had left in February 1989 due to the
deteriorating security situation that
followed the Soviet withdrawal.
The British Ambassador to Afghanistan,
Mr Ron Nash, took up his appointment
in Kabul in May 2002.
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