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Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 communist countercoup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-communist mujahidin rebels. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Usama BIN LADIN.

Location

Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran

Natural Resources

natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones, arable land

Population - distribution

populations tend to cluster in the foothills and periphery of the rugged Hindu Kush range; smaller groups are found in many of the country's interior valleys; in general, the east is more densely settled while the south is sparsely populated

29121286
Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism, but Dari functions as the lingua franca
KABUL (capital) 4.635 million (2015)
Conventional long form
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Conventional short form
Afghanistan
Local long form
Jamhuri-ye Islami-ye Afghanistan
Local short form
Afghanistan
presidential Islamic republic
Name
Kabul
Geographic coordinates
34 31 N, 69 11 E
Time difference
UTC+4.5 (9.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Afghanistan is gradually recovering from decades of conflict. Before 2014, the economy had sustained nearly a decade of strong growth, largely because of international assistance. Since 2014, however, the economy has slowed, in large part because of the withdrawal of nearly 100,000 foreign troops that had artificially inflated the country’s economic growth. Despite improvements in life expectancy, incomes, and literacy since 2001, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Corruption, insecurity, weak governance, lack of infrastructure, and the Afghan Government's difficulty in extending rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. Afghanistan's living standards are among the lowest in the world.
Inflation
2.169%
External debt stocks
US$ 2,488,551,000
Total tax rate (% of commercial profits)
48.3%
Real Interest Rate
9.252%
Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)
11.818%
Current Account Balance
US$ -5,056,729,110
Labor Force, Total
10,221,047
Employment in Agriculture
%
Employment in Industry
%
Employment in Services
%
Unemployment Rate
8.54%
Imports of goods and services
US$ 9,544,683,716
Exports of goods and services
US$ 1,342,632,359
Total Merchandise Trade
49.67%
FDI, net inflows
US$ 163,102,610
Commercial Service Exports
US$ 617,893,330
opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins, poppies
small-scale production of bricks, textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, apparel, food products, non-alcoholic beverages, mineral water, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper
Commodities
opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
Partners
India 43.6%, Pakistan 28.3%, Tajikistan 7.4% (2015)
Commodities
machinery and other capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products
Partners
Pakistan 39.1%, India 9%, US 8.4%, Turkmenistan 6.3%, China 6.1%, Kazakhstan 6% (2015)
Country Risk Rating
E
The highest-risk political and economic situation and the most difficult business environment. Corporate default is likely.
Business Climate Rating
E
The highest possible risk in terms of business climate. Due to a lack of available financial information and an unpredictable legal system, doing business in this country is extremely difficult.
  • Substantial support from the international community
  • Prospects for extraction of raw materials (gas, oil, minerals, etc.)
  • Unstable geopolitical situation
  • Widespread corruption and shortcomings in terms of governance
  • Very heavy reliance on grants
  • Fragile banking system
  • Heavy reliance on the agriculture sector

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