The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

[Mohammad Mukhtar
MUFLEH]; Islamic Party of Afghanistan [Mohammad Khalid FAROOQI];
Islamic Party of the Afghan Land [Mohammad Hassan FEROZKHEL];
Islamic People's Movement of Afghanistan [Ilhaj Said Hussain
ANWARY]; Islamic Society of Afghanistan [Ustad RABBANI]; Islamic
Unity of the Nation of Afghanistan Party [Qurban Ali URFANI];
Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan [Mohammad Karim KHALILI]; Islamic
Unity Party of the People of Afghanistan [Ustad Mohammad MOHAQQEQ];
Labor and Progress of Afghanistan Party [Zulfiqar OMID]; Muslim
People of Afghanistan Party [Besmellah JOYAN]; Muslim Unity Movement
Party of Afghanistan [Wazir Mohammad WAHDAT]; National and Islamic
Sovereignty Movement Party of Afghanistan [Ahmad Shah AHMADZAI];
National Congress Party of Afghanistan [Abdul Latif PEDRAM];
National Country Party [Ghulam MOHAMMAD]; National Development Party
of Afghanistan [Dr. Aref BAKTASH]; National Freedom Seekers Party
[Abdul Hadi DABEER]; National Independence Party of Afghanistan [Taj
Mohammad WARDAK]; National Islamic Fighters Party of Afghanistan
[Amanat NINGARHAREE]; National Islamic Front of Afghanistan [Pir
Sayed Ahmad GAILANEE]; National Islamic Moderation Party of
Afghanistan [Qara Bik Eized YAAR]; National Islamic Movement of
Afghanistan [Sayed NOORULLAH]; National Islamic Unity Party of
Afghanistan [Mohammad AKBAREE]; National Movement of Afghanistan
[Ahmad Wali MASOOUD]; National Party of Afghanistan [Abdul Rashid
ARYAN]; National Patch of Afghanistan Party [Sayed Kamal SADAT];
National Peace Islamic Party of Afghanistan [Shah Mohammood Popal
ZAI]; National Peace & Islamic Party of the Tribes of Afghanistan
[Abdul Qaher SHARIATEE]; National Peace & Unity Party of Afghanistan
[Abdul Qader IMAMI]; National Prosperity and Islamic Party of
Afghanistan [Mohammad Osman SALEKZADA]; National Prosperity Party
[Mohammad Hassan JAHFAREE]; National Solidarity Movement of
Afghanistan [Pir Sayed Eshaq GAILANEE]; National Solidarity Party of
Afghanistan [Sayed Mansoor NADREEI]; National Sovereignty Party
[Sayed Mustafa KAZEMI]; National Stability Party [Mohammad Same
KHAROTI]; National Stance Party [Habibullah JANEBDAR]; National
Tribal Unity Islamic Party of Afghanistan [Mohammad Shah KHOGYANI];
National United Front [Burhanuddin RABBANI] (a coalition); National
Unity Movement [Sultan Mohammad GHAZI]; National Unity Movement of
Afghanistan [Mohammad Nadir AATASH]; National Unity Party of
Afghanistan [Abdul Rashid JALILI]; New Afghanistan Party [Mohammad
Yunis QANUNI]; Peace and National Welfare Activists Society [Shamsul
Haq Noor SHAMS]; Peace Movement [Shahnawaz TANAI]; People's
Aspirations Party of Afghanistan [Ilhaj Saraj-u-din ZAFAREE];
People's Freedom Seekers Party of Afghanistan [Feda Mohammad EHSAS];
People's Liberal Freedom Seekers Party of Afghanistan [Ajmal
SUHAIL]; People's Message Party of Afghanistan [Noor Aqa WAINEE];
People's Movement of the National Unity of Afghanistan [Abdul Hakim
NOORZAI]; People's Party of Afghanistan [Ahmad Shah ASAR]; People's
Prosperity Party of Afghanistan [Ustad Mohammad ZAREEF]; People's
Sovereignty Movement of Afghanistan [Hayatullah SUBHANEE]; People's
Uprising Party of Afghanistan [Sayed Zahir Qayed Omul BELADI];
People's Welfare Party of Afghanistan [Mia Gul WASIQ]; People's
Welfare Party of Afghanistan [Mohammad Zubair PAIROZ]; Progressive
Democratic Party of Afghanistan [Wali ARYA]; Republican Party
[Sebghatullah SANJAR]; Solidarity Party of Afghanistan [Abdul Khaleq
NEMAT]; The Afghanistan's Mujahid Nation's Islamic Unity Movement
[Saeedullah SAEED]; The People of Afghanistan's Democratic Movement
[Sharif NAZARI]; Tribes Solidarity Party of Afghanistan [Mohammad
Zarif NASERI]; Understanding and Democracy Party of Afghanistan
[Ahamad SHAHEEN]; United Afghanistan Party [Mohammad Wasil RAHIMEE];
United Islamic Party of Afghanistan [Wahidullah SABAWOON]; Young
Afghanistan's Islamic Organization [Sayed Jawad HUSSINEE]; Youth
Solidarity Party of Afghanistan [Mohammad Jamil KARZAI]; note -
includes only political parties approved by the Ministry of Justice

Political pressure groups and leaders:

other: religious groups; tribal leaders

International organization participation:

ADB, CP, ECO, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, IDA, IDB, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITSO,
ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO
(guest), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Said Tayeb JAWAD chancery: 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-6410 FAX: [1] (202) 483-6488 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador William B. WOOD embassy: The Great Masood Road, Kabul mailing address: U.S. Embassy Kabul, APO, AE 09806 telephone: [93] 0700 108 001 FAX: [93] 0700 108 564

Flag description:

three equal vertical bands of black (hoist side), red, and green, with the national emblem in white centered on the red band and slightly overlapping the other two bands; the center of the emblem features a mosque with pulpit and flags on either side, below the mosque are numerals for the solar year 1298 (1919 in the Gregorian calendar, the year of Afghan independence from the UK); this central image is circled by a border consisting of sheaves of wheat on the left and right, in the upper-center is an Arabic inscription of the Shahada (Muslim creed) below which are rays of the rising sun over the Takbir (Arabic expression meaning "God is great"), and at bottom center is a scroll bearing the name Afghanistan

Economy
Afghanistan

Economy - overview:

Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of conflict. The economy has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector, and service sector growth. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2007. 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. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, and the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan's living standards from its current level, among the lowest in the world. International pledges made by more than 60 countries and international financial institutions at the Berlin Donors Conference for Afghan reconstruction in March 2004 reached $8.9 billion for 2004-09. While the international community remains committed to Afghanistan's development, pledging over $24 billion at three donors' conferences since 2002, Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly $4 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$35 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$8.842 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

11.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$1,000 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 38% industry: 24% services: 38% note: data exclude opium production (2005 est.)

Labor force:

15 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 80% industry: 10% services: 10% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:

40% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:

53% (2003)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Budget:

revenues: $715 million expenditures: $2.6 billion note: Afghanistan has also received $273 million from the Reconstruction Trust Fund and $63 million from the Law and Order Trust Fund (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

21 March - 20 March

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

13% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

NA

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

18.14% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$1.426 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$958.6 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$20.06 million (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins

Industries:

small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper

Industrial production growth rate:

NA%

Electricity - production:

839 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

1.088 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

230 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 36.3% hydro: 63.7% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

5,036 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

4,534 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

20 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

20 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

49.55 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

NA

Exports:

$274 million; note - not including illicit exports or reexports (2006)

Exports - commodities:

opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems

Exports - partners:

India 22.8%, Pakistan 21.8%, US 20.5%, Tajikistan 7.2% (2007)

Imports:

$3.823 billion (2006)

Imports - commodities:

capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products

Imports - partners:

Pakistan 36.8%, US 11%, India 5%, Germany 4.2% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$2.775 billion (2005)

Debt - external:

$8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to Multilateral Development Banks (2004)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA

Currency (code):

afghani (AFA)

Currency code:

AFA

Exchange rates:

afghanis (AFA) per US dollar - NA (2007), 46 (2006), 47.7 (2005), 48 (2004), 49 (2003)

Communications
Afghanistan

Telephones - main lines in use:

280,000 (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

5.4 million (2008)

Telephone system:

general assessment: limited landline telephone service; an increasing number of Afghans utilize mobile-cellular phone networks in major cities domestic: aided by the presence of multiple providers, mobile-cellular telephone service is improving rapidly international: country code - 93; five VSAT's installed in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, and Jalalabad provide international and domestic voice and data connectivity (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 21, FM 5, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashto, Dari (Afghan
Persian), Urdu, and English) (2006)

Radios:

167,000 (1999)

Television broadcast stations:

at least 7 (1 government-run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in 6 of the 34 provinces) (2006)

Televisions:

100,000 (1999)

Internet country code:

.af

Internet hosts:

31 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

1 (2000)

Internet users:

580,000 (2007)

Communications - note:

Internet access is growing through Internet cafes as well as public "telekiosks" in Kabul (2005)

Transportation
Afghanistan

Airports:

46 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 12 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 34 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2007)

Heliports:

9 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 466 km (2007)

Roadways:

total: 42,150 km paved: 12,350 km unpaved: 29,800 km (2006)

Waterways:

1,200 km (chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT) (2007)

Ports and terminals:

Kheyrabad, Shir Khan

Military
Afghanistan

Military branches:

Afghan Armed Forces: Afghan National Army (ANA, includes Afghan
National Army Air Corps) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

22 years of age; inductees are contracted into service for a 4-year term (2005)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 7,431,147 females age 16-49: 7,004,819 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 4,234,180 females age 16-49: 3,946,685 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 371,451 female: 351,295 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

Transnational Issues
Afghanistan

Disputes - international:

Pakistan has built fences in some portions of its border with Afghanistan which remains open in some areas to foreign terrorists and other illegal activities

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

IDPs: 132,246 (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in south and west due to drought and instability) (2007)

Illicit drugs:

world's largest producer of opium; poppy cultivation increased 17% to a near-record 202,000 hectares in 2007; good growing conditions pushed potential opium production to a record 8,000 metric tons, up 42% from last year; if the entire opium crop were processed, 947 metric tons of heroin potentially could be produced; drug trade is a source of instability and the Taliban and other antigovernment groups participate in and profit from the drug trade; widespread corruption impedes counterdrug efforts; most of the heroin consumed in