Afghanistan 
Facts
Population: 31,889,923 (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.6% (male 7,282,600/female 6,940,378)
15-64 years: 53% (male 8,668,170/female 8,227,387)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 374,426/female 396,962) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 2.625% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 46.21 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 19.96 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.049 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.054 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.943 male(s)/female
total population: 1.049 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 157.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 161.81 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 152.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 43.77 years
male: 43.6 years
female: 43.96 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 6.64 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (2001 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA.
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA.
Nationality: noun: Afghan(s)
adjective: Afghan.
Ethnic groups: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%.
Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1%.
Languages: Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashtu (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism.
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 28.1%
male: 43.1%
female: 12.6% (2000 est.).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $21.5 billion (2004 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 8% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $800 (2004 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.).
Population below poverty line: 53% (2003).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 16.3% (2005 est.).
Unemployment rate: 40% (2005 est.).
Budget: revenues: $269 million
expenditures: $561 million; including capital expenditures of $41.7 million
note: Afghanistan has also received $273 million from the Reconstruction Trust Fund and $63 million from the Law and Order Trust Fund (FY04/05 budget est.).
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: 734.3 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - consumption: 782.9 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 100 million kWh (2004).
Exports: $471 million; note - not including illicit exports or reexports (2005 est.).
Exports - commodities: opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems.
Exports - partners: US 25.8%, India 21.2%, Pakistan 20.3%, Finland 4.1% (2005).
Imports: $3.87 billion (2005 est.).
Imports - commodities: capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products.
Imports - partners: Pakistan 39%, US 9.6%, Germany 5.6%, India 5.3%, Turkey 4.2%, Turkmenistan 4.1% (2005).
Debt - external: $8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to Multilateral Development Banks (2004).
Economic aid - recipient: 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.
Currency (code): afghani (AFA).
Exchange rates: afghanis per US dollar - 46 (2006), 47.7 (2005), 48 (2004), 49 (2003), 41 (2002)
note: in 2002, the afghani was revalued and the currency stabilized at about 40 to 50 afghanis to the US dollar; before 2002, the market rate varied widely from the official rate.
Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Press
(Farsi-language daily), Kabul
http://www.8am.af/
(Advocacy web site for Afghan Women), Kabul
http://www.afghanwomensnetwork.org
Aina-E-Zan (Women's Mirror)
(Weekly Newspaper for Women), Kabul
(Daily Newspaper), Kabul
http://www.anisdaily.com/
(English language online publication), Kabul
http://www.e-ariana.com
(non-governmental press agency), Kabul
http://kabulpress.org/
(Independent news agency), Kabul
http://www.pajhwok.com/
Afghanistan in the News
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Displaying 13 to 16 of 52 items.
The prosecutor general and the country's most popular television station are engaged in an ugly standoff that could be a very bad sign for the media.
NATO forces will utilize this period for troop turnovers while the Taliban recuperates from the serious losses it suffered throughout the region and outlines its strategy for the coming year.
Schools, students, and educators are being targeted more and more frequently by Taliban insurgents seeking to regain control of the volatile Southern regions.
Ehsan Bayat, the founder and chairman of ATN, is gambling that Afghans are — and will be — enthusiastic TV viewers. “Afghans are resourceful people. They know that television will play an important role in the redevelopment and democratization of our nation.”
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