Afghanistan

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Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان
Jomhūrī-ye Eslāmī-ye Afġānistān
(Persian)
د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت
Da Afġānistān Islāmī Jomhoriyat
(Pashto)
Flag Emblem
Anthem: Afghan National Anthem
The national anthem of Afghanistan
Capital
(and largest city)		 Kabul
34°32′N 69°08′E / 34.533°N 69.133°E / 34.533; 69.133
Official language(s) Persian (Dari)
Pashto
Demonym Afghan [alternatives]
Government Islamic republic
 -  President Hamid Karzai
 -  Vice President Mohammed Fahim
 -  Vice President Karim Khalili
 -  Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi
Establishment
 -  First Afghan state[1][2] October 1747 
 -  Independence (from United Kingdom) August 19, 1919 
Area
 -  Total 647,500 km2 (41st)
251,772 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) negligible
Population
 -  2011 estimate 29,835,392 [3] (42nd)
 -  1979 census 15.5 million[4] 
 -  Density 43.5/km2 (150th)
111.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $27.443 billion[5] 
 -  Per capita $909[5] 
GDP (nominal) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $15.541 billion[5] 
 -  Per capita $515[5] 
Gini (2008) 29[6] (low) 
HDI (2007) 0.352 (low) (181st)
Currency Afghani (AFN)
Time zone D† (UTC+4:30)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .af
Calling code +93

Afghanistān (officially called as Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوريت, Dari: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان) is a country in the Middle East. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and a narrow piece of land known as the Vakhan, or Wakhan Corridor, connects Afghanistan with China to the northeast.[7]

In ancient times it was crossed by trade routes connecting lands to the east and west. More recently, Afghanistan has been damaged by many years of war.

Afghanistan is approximately 251,826 square miles (652,230 square kilometers) in area. There are about 30 million people in Afghanistan, though this number includes people called refugees who had fled to Pakistan and Iran. Kabul, the capital and largest city, had about 2,850,000 people living in it in 2008.[8]

Contents

[change] Land and Climate

Afghanistan has many mountains that cover about four fifths of Afghanistan. The main range is the Hindu Kush Range, which stretches southwest from the Vakhan. The Hindu Kush Range and the smaller ranges that cover most of central Afghanistan are part of the Himalayas. The highest peak in the country is Mount Nowshak in the northeast, which rises 24,557 feet (7,485 meters). North of the central mountains are fertile plains (which have soil that is good for growing plants) and foothills. The southwestern part of the country had many deserts, the largest being the sandy Registan Desert.

Afghanistan's rivers are fed by melting snow and glaciers in the mountains. Northern streams flow toward the Amu Darya, which forms part of the country's northern border. The Amu Darya is Afghanistan's largest river; but the Helmand River in the southwest is longer. The Kabul River provides water for the fertile valleys and basins around Kabul and Jalalabad.

Afghanistan has a dry climate with very cold winters and hot summers. In the winter temperatures drop below 0 °F (-18 °C) in the mountains. Summer temperatures in the desert reach as high as 115 °F (46 °C). Drought sometimes causes problems for the country's farmers. Dust storms and sandstorms happen a lot in the desert.[9]

The country has a lot of a gemstone called lapis lazuli, which was used to decorate the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun.[10]

[change] Plants and Animals

Endangered snow leopards live in the cold Hindu Kush, but they have thick fur to stay warm. Hunters sell the soft leopard skins in the markets in the capital Kabul.

Southern Afghanistan has few plants because of the dry climate. There are more plants towards the north, where there is more rain. The high mountains have tall forests of pine and fir. Cedar, oak, walnut, alder, and ash trees grow at lower places.

Many of Afghanistan's wild animals live in the mountains. These animals include wolves, foxes, hyenas, jackals, bears, and Wild Goats. Gazelles, wild dogs, and wild cats such as the snow leopard live all over the country. The country's birds include vultures and eagles. The Rhesus Macaque and the red flying squirrel live in the warmer southern areas of the country.

Many years of war, hunting, and years of drought have killed many wild animals in Afghanistan. Tigers used to roam the hills, but they are now extinct, which means that there are no more tigers there. Bears and wolves have been hunted nearly to extinction.[10]

[change] People and Culture

Pashtun kids, eastern Afghanistan
The blue-tiled mosque in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, is important to all muslims.

Many different cultures have moved through or invaded the land that is now Afghanistan. Today the people of Afghanistan, known as Afghans, have many traits passed down from these groups. The largest ethnic group is the Pashtuns (or Pathans), who make up about two fifths the Afghan people. Tajiks are the second-largest group, making up about one third of the population.[7] Tajiks come from of the Iranian peoples.[11] Pashtuns are also related to the Iranian peoples.[10] The country's other ethnic groups include the Hazaras, Uzbeks, Chahar Aimaks, Turkmens, Nuristani and Baloch. The Hazaras live in the mountains of central Afghanistan Historians (people who study history) believe that the Hazras are related to the Mongols, because their language has many Mongol words.[10]

Tajik school girls, western Afghanistan

The language of the Pashtuns, called Pashto, is an official language of Afghanistan. The second official language is Dari (Afghan dialect of Farsi (Persian)). Farsi is spoken by the Tajik, Hazara, and other groups. Both Pashto and Dari (Persian) belong to the Indo-European languages, but they are usually written with the Arabic alphabet. Uzbek and Turkmen are widely spoken in the north and Nuristani and Pashai are spoken in the east. Almost all Afghans follow the religion of Islam.

Afghanistan is a largely rural country, which means that there are few cities and much spaced-apart land. Only about one fifth of the population lives in cities. Kabul, the capital, is the largest city. It is along the Kabul River south of the Hindu Kush range. Other cities in Afghanistan include Kandahar, Herāt, Mazar-e Sharif, and Jalalabad. The rural population is made up of farmers and nomads (people who travel from place to place). The farmers live mainly in small villages along the rivers. The nomads live in tents while moving from place to place with their animals and belongings. Few people live in the high central mountains or the deserts in the south and southwest. Millions of people fled (left) Afghanistan for Pakistan and Iran during the war that happened in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

[change] History

Map of the Silk Road

Afghanistan is in the path of important trade routes connecting southern and eastern Asia to Europe and the Middle East. Because of this, many empire builders have taken over the area. Signs that these emperors were near Afghanistan still exist in many parts of the country.[12] Afghanistan in near what used to be the Silk Road,so it has many cultures. From up to 8,000 years ago, the peoples of Afghanistan helped develop (create) world religions, traded and exchanged many goods, and sometimes controlled politics and culture in Asia.[13]

[change] Prehistory

Archaeologists digging a cave in what is now northeastern Afghanistan (in Badakhshan), discovered that people lived in the country as early as 100,000 years ago. They found the skull of a Neanderthal, or early human, as well as tools from about 30,000 years ago. In other parts of Afghanistan, archaeologists uncovered pottery and tools that are 4,000 to 11,000 years old—evidence that Afghans were among the first people in the world to grow crops and raise animals.[14]

A Stone Female Figurine, known as Bactrian Princess, from Bactria, north of Afghanistan, about 4,000 years ago

Farmers and herders settled in the plains surrounding the Hindu Kush as early as 7000 B.C. These people may have grown wealthy off the lapis lazuli they found along riverbeds, which they traded to early city sites to the west, across the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia. As farms and villages grew and thrived in Afghanistan, these ancient people eventually invented irrigation (digging ditches for water so it flows to crops) that allowed them to grow crops on the northern Afghanistan desert plains. This civilization is today called BMAC (Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex), or the "Oxus civilization".[15]

The Oxus civilization expanded as far east as western edge of the Indus Valley during the period between 2200 and 1800 B.C.[16] These people, who were the ancestors of the Indo-Iranians, used the term "Aryan" to identify their ethnicity, culture, and religion. Scholars know this when they read the ancient texts of these people; the Avesta of Iranian people and the Vedas of Indo-Aryans.[17][18]

According to the Avesta, Aryans settled in sixteen districts in the area, beginning with Airiana vaejo ("Land of Aryans", most likely in the north of today's Afghanistan), and following with Bāxδī = Bactria or Balkh; Nisāya = a district between Margiana and Bactria; Harōiva = Areia or Herāt; Vaēkərəta = Gandhāra; Urvā = Ghazni region; Haraxᵛaitī = Arachosia or Kandahar; Haētumant = Helmand region; Raγa = a district north of Haraxᵛaitī and Haētumant; Čaxra = Čarx between Ghazni and Kabul, in the valley of Logar.[19] The old Greek writers knew them and called the land of these Aryan settlers Ariana.[20]

Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, lived in Bactria, an ancient land in the north of today's Afghanistan.

Zoroaster, the founder of the Zoroastrian religion, the world's earliest monotheistic religion, lived in the area (somewhere north of today's Afghanistan), around 1000 B.C.[21]

[change] Ancient history

Bactria, Aria and Arachosia were the ancient satrapies of the Persian Achaemenid Empire that made up most of what is now Afghanistan during 500 B.C. Tajiks and Pashtuns are the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of these lands.

By the middle of the sixth century BC, the Achaemenids conquered the land, which was previously conquered by the Medes, and made it part of the Persian empire. Alexander the great defeated and conquered the Persian Empire in 330 BC. He founded few cities in the area and Greek culture and language continued to influence the people for a long period, right up to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century A.D. After Alexander the great, Greco-Bactrians, Scythians, Kushans, Parthians and Sassanians took over.[22]

[23] Kushans spread Buddhism from India in the 1st century B.C., and Buddhism remained an important religion in the area until the 7th century.[24] The Buddhas of Bamiyan were the remainder of Buddhism in Afghanistan. Those giant statues were destroyed by the hard-line ruling Taliban in 2001, despite international protests in defence of the priceless art. The Taliban believed that those ancient statues were un-Islamic.

[change] Medieval history

Arabs introduced Islam in the 7th century and slowly began spreading the new religion. In the 9th and 10th centuries, numerous local Islamic dynasties rose to power. One of the earliest was the Ṭāhirids of Khorāsān, whose kingdom included Balkh and Herāt; they established virtual independence from the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in 820. The Ṭāhirids were succeeded in 867–869 by a native dynasty from Sīstān, the Ṣaffārids. Local princes in the north soon became feudatories of the powerful Sāmānids, who ruled from Bukhara. From 872 to 999 Bukhara, Samarkand, and Balkh enjoyed a golden age under Sāmānid rule.[25]

Turkish Ghaznavids took over in the 10th century and made Ghazni and Bust (Lashkar Gāh) their capitals. Maḥmūd, a great Ghaznavid sultan, conquered the Punjab and Multan and carried his raids into the heart of India.

The north-eastern parts of the Persian empire were locally recognized as Khorāsān, being literally the “Land of the Sun”, which was a prosperous and important province of Persia, as it was the seat of many rulers. It remained the cultural capital of Persia until the devastating Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century.[26]

Avicenna's writings helped convey the thought of the Greek philosopher Aristotle to the thinkers of western Europe, and his ‘Canon of Medicine' became the definitive work in its field for centuries.

Khorasan reached its peak of civilization in the twelfth century, and cities like Herāt, Balkh and Ghazni (all in today's Afghanistan) were centres of science and culture. The New Persian literature arose and flourished in Khorasan. The early Persian poets such as Rudaki were from Khorasan. Moreover, Ferdowsi, the author of Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran, and Rumi, the famous Sufi poet, were also from Khorasan. It has produced scientists such as Avicenna, Al-Farabi, Al-Biruni, Omar Khayyám, Al-Khwarizmi, and many others who are widely well known for their significant contributions in various domains such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, physics, geography, and geology.

Mongols came in the 13th century and destroyed much of the Persian region. Timur, the Turkic conqueror, took over a large part of the country in the end of 14th century. Timur's successors, the Timurids (1405–1507), were great patrons of learning and the arts who enriched their capital city of Herāt with fine buildings. Under their rule Afghanistan enjoyed peace and prosperity.

In the late Middle Ages, there was a region in the south of Khorasan and along the Sulaiman mountains (in the west of today's Pakistan) which was called "Afghanistan" and it was the homeland of Afghans or Pashtuns.[27] From the 16th to the early 18th century, Afghanistan was controlled between the Safavids of Persia and Moghul rulers of India. Safavids and Mughals sometimes occasionally oppressed the Afghans. In 1709, the Hotaki tribe of Afghans revolted and fully defeated the Shia Safavid Persians and then the Mughals of India in 1747.

A great Pashtun leader named Ahmad Shah Durrani is considered the founder of Afghanistan as a united country. After the Persian ruler of the region was killed in 1747, Durrani was crowned king. During his rule he created a unified country out of lands that had been controlled by local rulers.[14]

[change] Recent history

During the 1800s, Afghanistan became involved in a rivalry between the British and Russian empires and served as a buffer zone between these two empires. Russia was the great power to the north, and Britain controlled India to the east. As Russia expanded southward across central Asia, Britain believed that its control over India was threatened. To stop the Russian advance, Britain tried to conquer Afghanistan. Britain fought wars in Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842 and from 1878 to 1880, winning some control over the country's affairs. In a third war, however, Afghanistan won independence from Britain in 1919, when the king of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan, declared independence from United Kingdom control over Afghan foreign affairs.

Three decades of war and the Taliban rule left Afghanistan in ruins.

After independence Afghanistan continued as a monarchy. From the 1930s into the 1970s the country was ruled by stable governments with a king as head of state. In 1973, however, political crises led to the overthrow of the king. The country's new leaders ended the monarchy and made Afghanistan a republic.

In 1978 a Communist political party supported by the Soviet Union seized control of Afghanistan's government. This move sparked rebellions throughout the country. The government asked the Soviet Union for military assistance. The Soviets took advantage of the situation and invaded Afghanistan in December 1979.

Most of the people of Afghanistan opposed the Soviet presence. For nearly a decade anti-Communist Islamic forces known as mujahideen fought the invaders. The United States and other anti-Soviet countries supported the mujahideen. The Soviet Army lost more than 10,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, and millions of Afghans left the country for Pakistan and Iran. In 1989 the Soviet Army withdrew the last of its troops.[9]

After the Soviets left, various Afghan groups began fighting for control of the country. A very conservative Islamic group known as the Taliban emerged as the most powerful of these groups. By the late 1990s the Taliban had gained control over most of Afghanistan. Small groups continued to fight against the Taliban in the northern part of the country.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to their strict version of Islamic law. People whom the Taliban believed violated these laws were given harsh public punishments. In addition, the Taliban severely restricted the rights of women. Because of such policies, most countries did not consider the Taliban to be the legitimate, or lawful, government of Afghanistan.

Hamid Karzai, the current president of Afghanistan

The Taliban also angered other countries by allowing suspected terrorists to live in Afghanistan. Among them were Osama bin Laden and members of his organization, al-Qaeda. In September 2001 the United States blamed bin Laden for terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. The Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden to the United States. In response, the United States and its allies launched a bombing campaign against the Taliban in October 2001. Within months the Taliban abandoned Kabul and a new government came to power, but fighting continued.[9]

In December 2004, Hamid Karzai, became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan.[7]

[change] Government

Afghanistan is a newly formed democracy.[source?] Under the new constitution, the president and two vice presidents are elected every five years.[source?] The International Security Force Assistance (ISAF) helps the government maintain peace and rebuild the country.

The government still faces problems with the Taliban, internal security, and public services.

[change] Provinces

As of 2004, there are thirty-four provinces. Each province is divided into districts.

Province map of Afghanistan
Provinces of Afghanistan
Provinces of Afghanistan[28]
Province Map # ISO 3166-2:AF[29] Centers Population[30] Area (km²) Language Notes U.N. Region
Badakhshan 30 AF-BDS Fayzabad 819,396 44,059 Dari Persian, Pamiri languages, Pashto 29 districts North East Afghanistan
Badghis 4 AF-BDG Qala i Naw 499,393 20,591 Dari Persian, Pashto 7 districts West Afghanistan
Baghlan 19 AF-BGL Puli Khumri 741,690 21,118 Dari Persian, Uzbek, Turkmen, Pashto 16 districts North East Afghanistan
Balkh 13 AF-BAL Mazari Sharif 1,123,948 17,249 Dari Persian, Pashto 15 districts North West Afghanistan
Bamyan 15 AF-BAM Bamiyan 343,892 14,175 Dari Persian 7 districts Central Afghanistan
Daykundi 10 AF-DAY Nili 477,544 8,088 Dari Persian and Pashto 8 districts
Formed from Orūzgān Province in 2004		 South West Afghanistan
Farah 2 AF-FRA Farah 493,007 48,471 Pashto, Dari Persian, Baloch 11 districts West Afghanistan
Faryab 5 AF-FYB Maymana 833,724 20,293 Uzbek, Dari Persian, Pashto & Turkmen 14 districts North West Afghanistan
Ghazni 16 AF-GHA Ghazni 1,080,843 22,915 Pashto, Dari Persian 19 districts South East Afghanistan
Ghor 6 AF-GHO Chaghcharan 635,302 36,479 Dari Persian, Pashto 10 districts West Afghanistan
Helmand 7 AF-HEL Lashkar Gah 1,441,769 58,584 Pashto, Dari Persian 13 districts South West Afghanistan
Herat 1 AF-HER Herat 1,762,157 54,778 Dari Persian, Pashto, Turkmen 15 districts West Afghanistan
Jowzjan 8 AF-JOW Sheberghan 426,987 11,798 Uzbek, Turkmen,Pashto & Dari Persian 9 districts North West Afghanistan
Kabul 22 AF-KAB Kabul 3,314,000 4,462 Dari Persian, Turkmen, Pashto and Uzbek 18 districts Central Afghanistan
Kandahar 12 AF-KAN Kandahar 2,913,000 54,022 Pashto, Dari Persian 16 districts South East Afghanistan
Kapisa 29 AF-KAP Mahmud-i-Raqi 358,268 1,842 Dari Persian, Pashto, Pashayi 7 districts Central Afghanistan
Khost 26 AF-KHO Khost 638,849 4,152 Pashto 13 districts South East Afghanistan
Kunar 34 AF-KNR Asadabad 413,008 4,942 Pashto 15 districts North East Afghanistan
Kunduz 18 AF-KDZ Kunduz 820,000 8,040 Pashto, Dari Persian, Uzbek & Turkmen 7 districts North East Afghanistan
Laghman 32 AF-LAG Mihtarlam 382,280 3,843 Pashto, Pashai, Nuristani & Dari Persian 5 districts East Afghanistan
Logar 23 AF-LOW Pul-i-Alam 322,704 3,880 Pashto, Dari Persian 7 districts Central Afghanistan
Nangarhar 33 AF-NAN Jalalabad 1,342,514 7,727 Pashto, Dari Persian 23 districts East Afghanistan
Nimruz 3 AF-NIM Zaranj 117,991 41,005 Balochi, Pashto & Dari Persian 5 districts South West Afghanistan
Nuristan 31 AF-NUR Parun 130,964 9,225 Nuristani, Pashto 7 districts North East Afghanistan
Orūzgān 11 AF-ORU Tarin Kowt 320,589 22,696 Pashto, Dari Persian 6 districts Central Afghanistan
Paktia 24 AF-PIA Gardez 415,000 6,432 Pashto, Dari Persian 11 districts South East Afghanistan
Paktika 25 AF-PKA Sharan 809,772 19,482 Pashto, Dari Persian 15 districts South East Afghanistan
Panjshir 28 AF-PAN Bazarak 128,620 3,610 Dari Persian 5 districts
Created in 2004 from Parwan Province		 North East Afghanistan
Parwan 20 AF-PAR Charikar 491,870 5,974 Dari Persian, Pashto 9 districts Central Afghanistan
Samangan 14 AF-SAM Aybak 378,000 11,262 Dari Persian, Uzbek 5 districts North West Afghanistan
Sar-e Pol 9 AF-SAR Sar-e Pol 505,400 16,360 Dari Persian, Pashto and Uzbek 7 districts North West Afghanistan
Takhar 27 AF-TAK Taloqan 830,319 12,333 Dari Persian, Uzbek, Pashto 12 districts North East Afghanistan
Wardak 21 AF-WAR Meydan Shahr 529,343 9,934 Pashto, Dari Persian 9 districts Central Afghanistan
Zabul 17 AF-ZAB Qalat 244,899 17,343 Pashto, Dari Persian 9 districts South East Afghanistan

[change] See also

[change] References

  1. ↑ "Background: Afghanistan". The World Factbook. CIA. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2028.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af. Retrieved 24 June 2010. 
  2. ↑ "Last Afghan empire". Louis Dupree, Nancy Hatch Dupree and others. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/21392/Last-Afghan-empire. Retrieved 22 August 2010. 
  3. ↑ "Population of Afghanistan". The World Factbook. CIA. 2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af. Retrieved 6 November 2011. 
  4. ↑ "Chapter 2. The Society and Its Environment" (PDF). Afghanistan Country Study. Illinois Institute of Technology. pp. 105–06. http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/Afghanistan-Chapter2.pdf. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Afghanistan". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2008&ey=2011&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=33&pr.y=11. Retrieved October 8, 2011. 
  6. ↑ "Gini Index". World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI/. Retrieved 2 March 2011. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Afghanistan". CIA - The World Factbook. 2011 [last update]. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
  8. ↑ "Afghanistan Statistical Yearbook 2008/09", Central Statistics Office
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Afghanistan." Britannica Student Library. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Afghanistan Facts and Pictures". National Geographic Kids. 2011. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/afghanistan/. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
  11. ↑ "Tajik." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
  12. ↑ [Encyclopedia Britannica, Afghanistan History. Retrieved on 26 January 2009 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History#ref=ref261360]
  13. ↑ Hiebert, F., Cambon, P., 2008, AFGHANISTAN Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, page 56, Washington, National Geographic, ISBN 978-1-4262-0295-7
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Afghanistan." Britannica Elementary Library. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
  15. ↑ Hiebert, F., Cambon, P., 2008, AFGHANISTAN Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, page 58, Washington, National Geographic, ISBN 978-1-4262-0295-7
  16. ↑ Hiebert, F., Cambon, P., 2008, AFGHANISTAN Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, page 73, Washington, National Geographic, ISBN 978-1-4262-0295-7
  17. ↑ [R. Ghirshman, L’Iran et la migration des Indo-aryens et des Iraniens, Leiden, 1977.]
  18. ↑ [Encyclopedia Iranica, IRANIAN IDENTITY ii. PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD. Retrieved on 14 October 2010 http://www.iranica.com/articles/iranian-identity-ii-pre-islamic-period]
  19. ↑ [Encyclopedia Iranica, AVESTAN GEOGRAPHY. Retrieved on 14 October 2010 http://www.iranica.com/articles/avestan-geography]
  20. ↑ [Encyclopedia Iranica, ARIA. Retrieved on 31 December 2008 http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v2f4/v2f4a051.html]
  21. ↑ Encyclopaedia Iranica: ZOROASTER ii. GENERAL SURVEY. By W. W. Malandra In the Avesta, the geography of the Vendīdād and of the Yashts make it clear that these texts locate themselves in eastern [ancient] Iran [today's Afghanistan]. Even though there are later traditions which place him in Azerbaijan and Media, it is more reasonable to locate Zoroaster somewhere in eastern [ancient] Iran [today's Afghanistan] along with the rest of the Avesta. Further, the two Avestan dialects belong linguistically to eastern [ancient] Iran [today's Afghanistan]
  22. ↑ "ancient Iran -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia". britannica.com. 2011. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/851961/ancient-Iran. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
  23. ↑ [Encyclopedia Britannica, ancient Iran. Retrieved on 31 December 2008 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/851961/ancient-Iran]
  24. ↑ [Encyclopedia Iranica, BUDDHISM i. In Pre-Islamic Times. Retrieved on 12 September 2010 http://iranica.com/articles/buddhism-i]
  25. ↑ "Afghanistan." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
  26. ↑ Lorentz, J. Historical Dictionary of Iran. 1995 ISBN 0-8108-2994-0AFGJANISTAN
  27. ↑ Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0631198415, 9780631198413. http://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&lpg=PP1&dq=The%20Afghans&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  28. ↑ References and details on data provided in the table can be found within the individual provincial articles.
  29. ↑ ISO 3166-2:AF (ISO 3166-2 codes for the provinces of Afghanistan)
  30. ↑ http://www.mrrd.gov.af/nabdp/Provincial%20Development%20Plan.htm
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Middle East Bahrain • Cyprus1 • Egypt • Palestine (west)2 • Iraq • Iran • Israel4 • Jordan • Kuwait • Lebanon • Northern Cyprus1 • Oman • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Syria • Turkey • United Arab Emirates • Palestine (east)2 • Yemen
Greater Middle East Afghanistan • Algeria • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Caucasus Emirates5 • Djibouti • Eritrea • Georgia • Kashmir3 • Libya • Morocco • Pakistan • Somalia • Sudan • Tunisia • Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)6
1 Only recognized by Turkey; see Cyprus dispute. 2 Palestine territories. 3 Disputed territories. 4 Jerusalem recognized capital of Palestine by Islamic countries. 5 In conflict with Russia. 6 Status disputed with Morocco.
The Simple English Wiktionary has a definition for: Afghanistan.

Retrieved from "http://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&oldid=3579016"
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