Afghanistan

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan د افغانستان اسلامي امارت (Pashto) Də Afġānistān Islāmī Imārat امارت اسلامی افغانستان (Dari) Imārat-i Islāmī-yi Afğānistān
Flag Emblem
Motto: لا إله إلا الله، محمد رسول الله Lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh, Muhammadun rasūlu llāh "There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." (Shahadah)
Anthem: دا د باتورانو کور "Dā Də Bātorāno Kor" "This Is the Home of the Brave"[2]
Afghanistan on the globe Afghanistan's neighbors and towns
Capital and largest city	Kabul 34°31′N 69°11′E / 34.517°N 69.183°E / 34.517; 69.183[3]
Official languages	Pashto Dari
Ethnic groups (2019 unofficial estimates)[a][5][6][7][8]	42% Pashtun 27% Tajik  9% Hazara  9% Uzbek  4% Aimaq  3% Turkmen  2% Baloch  4% other
Religion (2015)	99.7% Islam (official) 0.3% other
Demonym(s)	Afghan[b][11][12]
Government	Unitary totalitarian[13] provisional theocratic Islamic emirate[14]
• Supreme Leader	Hibatullah Akhundzada
• Prime Minister	Hasan Akhund (acting)
• Chief Justice	Abdul Hakim Haqqani
Legislature	None[c]
Formation
• Hotak dynasty	1709
• Durrani Empire	1747
• Emirate	1823
• Dost Mohammad unites Afghanistan	27 May 1863
• Independence	19 August 1919
• Kingdom	9 June 1926
• Republic	17 July 1973
• Democratic Republic	27–28 April 1978
• Islamic State	28 April 1992
• Islamic Emirate	27 September 1996
• Islamic Republic	26 January 2004
• Restoration of Islamic Emirate	15 August 2021
Area
• Total	652,867[19] km2 (252,073 sq mi) (40th)
• Water (%)	negligible
Population
• 2023 estimate	41,128,771[20] (37th)
• Density	48.08/km2 (124.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$81.007 billion[21]
• Per capita	$2,459 [21] (179th)
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$20.136 billion[21]
• Per capita	$611[21] (190th)
HDI (2022)	0.462[22][23] low (182nd)
Currency	Afghani (افغانى) (AFN)
Time zone	UTC+4:30 Lunar Calendar[25] (Afghanistan Time)
	DST is not observed[24]
ISO 3166 code	AF
Internet TLD	.af

Afghanistan,^[d] officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,^[e] is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south,^[f] Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. According to the World Population review, as of 2023^[update], Afghanistan's population is 43 million.^[6] The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020^[update].^[27]

Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires,^[28] the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires.^[29] Because of the various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres,^[30][31] the area was a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam.^[32] The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century,^[33] although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state.^[34] Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established.

Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars. The conflict began in 1978 when a communist revolution established a socialist state (itself a response to the dictatorship established following a coup d'état in 1973), and subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. Mujahideen fought against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War and continued fighting among themselves following the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989. The Taliban controlled most of the country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after capturing Kabul, ending the 2001–2021 war.^[35] The Taliban government remains internationally unrecognized.^[36]

Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, including lithium, iron, zinc, and copper. It is the second-largest producer of cannabis resin,^[37] and third largest of both saffron^[38] and cashmere.^[39] The country is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Due to the effects of war in recent decades, the country has dealt with high levels of terrorism, poverty, and child malnutrition. Afghanistan remains among the world's least developed countries, ranking 180th in the Human Development Index. Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) is $81 billion by purchasing power parity and $20.1 billion by nominal values. Per capita, its GDP is among the lowest of any country as of 2020^[update].

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