Afghanistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Flag Emblem
Anthem: Milli Tharana


Capital
(and largest city) Kabul
69°08′E / 34.517, 69.133
Official languages Dari (Persian) and Pashto[1]
Demonym Afghan^{[alternatives]}
Government Islamic presidential republic
 -  President Hamid Karzai
 -  Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud
 -  Vice President Karim Khalili
 -  Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi
Establishment
 -  First Afghan state[2] October, 1747 
 -  Independence from the United Kingdom August 19, 1919 
Area
 -  Total 647,500 km² (41st)
251,772 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 0
Population
 -  2008 estimate 32,738,376 (37th)
 -  1979 census 13,051,358 
 -  Density 46/km² (150th)
119/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $20.099 billion[3] (96th)
 -  Per capita $733[3] (IMF) (172nd)
GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $9.596 billion[3] 
 -  Per capita $350[3] (IMF) 
HDI (1993) 0.229 (n/a) (unranked)
Currency Afghani (AFN)
Time zone (UTC+4:30)
 -  Summer (DST)  (UTC+4:30)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .af
Calling code 93

Afghanistan (pronounced /æfˈgænɪstæn/[4]), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Persian: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان), is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia. It is variously designated as geographically located within Central Asia,[5][6] South Asia,[7][8] and the Middle East.[9] It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the south and west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast. The name Afghanistan means the "Land of Afghans."

Afghanistan is a crossroads between the East and the West, and has been an ancient focal point of trade and migration. It has an important geostrategical location, connecting South and Central Asia and Middle East. During its long history, the land has seen various invaders and conquerors, while on the other hand, local entities invaded the surrounding vast regions to form their own empires. Ahmad Shah Durrani created the Durrani Empire in 1747, with its capital at Kandahar.[10] Subsequently, the capital was shifted to Kabul and most of its territories ceded to former neighboring countries. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in "The Great Game" played between the British Indian Empire and Russian Empire.[11] On August 19, 1919, following the third Anglo-Afghan war, the country regained full independence from the United Kingdom over its foreign affairs.

Since the late 1970s Afghanistan has suffered continuous and brutal civil war, which included foreign interventions in the form of the 1979 Soviet invasion and the recent 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban government. In late 2001 the United Nations Security Council authorized the creation of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This force is composed of NATO troops that are involved in assisting the government of President Hamid Karzai in establishing the writ of law as well as rebuilding key infrastructures in the nation. In 2005, the United States and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement committing both nations to a long-term relationship. In the meantime, multi-billion US dollars have also been provided by the international community for the reconstruction of the country.

Etymology

The name Afghānistān translates to the "Land of Afghans". Its modern usage derives from the word Afghan.

Origin of the word "Afghan"

There are different theories about the origin of the word Afghan, its age, and its meaning. Some believe that "Afghan" is formed from "Apagân".[12] The Pashtuns began using the term Afghan as a name for themselves from at least the Islamic period and onwards. According to W. K. Frazier Tyler, M. C. Gillet and several other scholars, "The word Afghan first appears in history in the Hudud-al-Alam in 982 AD." Al-Biruni referred to Afghans as various tribes living on the western frontier mountains of the Indus River, which would be the Sulaiman Mountains.[13]

A Moroccan traveller, Ibn Battuta, visiting Kabul in 1333 writes:[14]

We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by a village inhabited by a tribe of Persians called Afghans.

In this regard the Encyclopædia Iranica states:[15]

From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Afghān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afghan [and] Paštūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paštūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically.

It further explains:

The term "Afghān" has probably designated the Paštūn since ancient times. Under the form Avagānā, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century CE in his Brihat-samhita.

This is also supported by traditional Pashto literature, for example in the writings of the 17th century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak:[16]

Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashtun and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtuns, Pashtuns are Afghans!

Meaning and origin of the name "Afghanistan"

The last part of the name, -stān is an ancient Indo-Iranian suffix for "place", prominent in many languages of the region.

The term "Afghanistan," meaning the "Land of Afghans," was mentioned by the sixteenth century Mughal Emperor Babur in his memoirs, referring to the territories south of Kabul that were inhabited by Pashtuns (called "Afghans" by Babur).[17]

Until the 19th century the name was only used for the traditional lands of the Pashtuns, while the kingdom as a whole was known as the Kingdom of Kabul, as mentioned by the British statesman and historian Mountstuart Elphinstone.[18] Other parts of the country were at certain periods recognized as independent kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Balkh in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[19]