Afghanistan

A

Population and Settlement

In the country’s first and most recent official census, conducted in 1979, a population of 15,551,358 was recorded. The population was estimated to be 31,889,923 in 2007. After two decades of war—with its casualties and refugees—any estimate is highly speculative. Demographic uncertainty will prevail until a new reliable census is taken.

Beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979, the number of Afghan refugees outside the country escalated dramatically. As many as 3 million refugees went to Pakistan and 1.5 million to Iran. About 150,000 Afghans were able to migrate permanently to other countries, including the United States, Australia, and various European countries. Many refugees began returning to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Their numbers surpassed expectations, with more than 1.5 million refugees returning from Pakistan and more than 400,000 from Iran by the end of 2002. The rapid return of refugees led to a national humanitarian crisis as the government and international aid agencies struggled to provide adequate food and medical supplies. Many refugees had returned to farms and fields studded with land mines or devastated by air strikes, as well as chronic water shortages following several years of drought.

Before the Soviet-Afghan War, Afghanistan had an estimated annual population growth rate of 3.5 percent. Urban areas had a growth rate of 4.8 percent, reflecting migration to places of greater employment. In 2007 the growth rate was estimated at 2.62 percent. Afghanistan’s infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world, with 157 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The average life expectancy is 44 years.

The population of Afghanistan is overwhelmingly rural, with about 77 percent living in rural areas in 2003. Of urban dwellers, probably about half reside in Kābul, the country’s capital and largest city.

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B

Principal Cities

Kābul, the capital, is situated in east central Afghanistan. Other important cities include Kandahār (Qandahār) in the south, Herāt in the west, and Mazār-e Sharīf in the north. Smaller cities include Jalālābād in the east, Chārīkār just north of Kābul, and the northern centers of Kondoz and Feyẕābād (Faizabad).

During the Soviet-Afghan War and immediately after it ended in 1989, the populations of the largest cities increased as internally displaced people sought the anonymity and perceived security of more densely populated areas. The population of Kābul, for example, swelled to more than 2 million in the late 1980s. However, many people fled from Kābul during the ensuing civil war, as rocket attacks and other combat destroyed much of the city. Only about 700,000 inhabitants remained there in 1993, although the population again grew to more than 2 million after 2001. Many other cities, including Herāt and Kandahār, also suffered extensive war damage. Reconstruction has been slow and investment in infrastructure minimal. Most cities lack sewer systems, water treatment plants, and public transportation.

C

Ethnic Groups and Languages

The population of Afghanistan includes many different ethnic groups, some of which also live in neighboring countries. Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, long dominated the central government. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, a coalition government that included Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and other minority groups came to power. In 1996, however, the Taliban seized control and reasserted Pashtun dominance over other groups.

After the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, the country’s major ethnic groups agreed to share power in government. The 2004 constitution contains provisions to protect the rights of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic groups. For example, it gives significant language rights to minorities, allowing local languages such as Uzbek and Turkmen to be considered official languages in areas in which they are primarily spoken. The country’s two most widely spoken languages, Pashto and Dari, are recognized as the official national languages.

The Pashtuns (also Pushtuns or Pakhtuns) make up about two-fifths of Afghanistan’s population. Their traditional homeland lies south of the Hindu Kush. Although Pashtuns live in many areas of Afghanistan, their power base is centered in the south, especially in the region around Kandahār. Many Pashtuns also live in the northwestern border regions of Pakistan. Male Pashtuns live by ancient tribal code called Pashtunwali, which stresses courage, personal honor, resolution, self-reliance, and hospitality. The mother tongue of the Pashtuns is an Indo-Iranian language called Pashto (also Pashtu or Pushto).

The Tajiks (Tadzhiks), a people of Iranian origin, are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. They make up about one-quarter of the population. The Tajiks are closely related to the people of Tajikistan. They live in the valleys north of Kābul and in the northeastern province of Badakhshān. The mother tongue of the Tajiks is Dari (also known as Afghan Persian), which is an Indo-Iranian language closely related to Persian. Dari is more widely spoken than Pashto in Afghanistan. Although Pashto is the language of the country’s largest ethnic group, Dari is commonly used by the country’s linguistically diverse ethnic groups to communicate with one another.

The central mountain ranges are the traditional homeland of the Hazaras. The region is known as Hazarajat. The Hazaras suffered extreme persecution under the Taliban, in part because they make up most of the country’s minority Shia Muslim population. Many Hazaras fled to Iran, which had long provided political backing and military support for Shia groups in Afghanistan. Although their ancestors may have come from northwestern China or Mongolia, the Hazaras speak an archaic dialect of Persian.

In the east, north of the Kābul River, is an isolated wooded mountainous region known as Nuristan. The Nuristani people who live there speak a wide variety of Indo-Iranian dialects. In the far south live the Baluch (Baloch), whose Indo-Iranian language is also spoken in southwestern Pakistan and southeastern Iran. Their traditional homeland, a region known as Baluchistan, crosses national borders.

To the north of the Hindu Kush, on the steppes (grassy plains) near the Amu Darya, live several groups who speak Turkic languages. The Uzbeks are the largest of these groups, which also include Turkmen and, in the extreme northeastern Wakhan Corridor, the Kyrgyz people. The Kyrgyz were mostly driven out by the Soviet invasion and largely emigrated to Turkey.

In addition to the country’s major ethnic groups there are many smaller groups, both ethnic and tribal, scattered throughout Afghanistan. Together, these groups speak more than 70 languages and a great variety of dialects.

In northwestern Afghanistan live a seminomadic people known as the Chahar Aimak (also Char Aimaq), meaning “four western tribes.” While the term does not denote an ethnic group in the proper sense, it has been used this way in practice, mainly to differentiate these people from the Hazaras. The Chahar Aimak formed their tribal groupings centuries ago from various ethnic origins, including Hazara. Unlike the Hazaras, the Chahar Aimak are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak dialects similar to Dari.

The nomads of Afghanistan are popularly known as Kuchis. Following ancient migration routes, they move with the seasons to provide grazing lands for their flocks of sheep and goats. Before the Soviet invasion of 1979, there were about 2 million nomads in Afghanistan. Their lifestyle, based on thousands of years of pastoral traditions and culture, was nearly destroyed by the subsequent wars. Their traditional routes were severely disrupted, and remained so after the wars due to the dangers posed by land mines.

D

Religion

Religion is the strongest common bond among Afghanistan’s various ethnic groups. The overwhelming majority of Afghans, or about 99 percent, are Muslims. About 84 percent are Sunni Muslims and about 15 percent are Shia Muslims. Small groups of Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, and Jews are scattered in the towns. Since the 1960s many Afghan Jews have migrated to Israel. Mazār-e Sharīf, where the tomb of the Muslim leader Ali is said to be located in a 15th-century mosque, is a leading place of Muslim pilgrimage.

An important figure in Muslim life is the mullah (a male religious leader or teacher). Any man who can recite the Qur’an (Koran), the sacred scripture of Islam, from memory can be a mullah. In Afghanistan, however, the mullah may not understand either the words or the meaning because the book was written and is memorized in Arabic, which is not a local language. The mullah conducts the Friday sermon and prayers, marriages, and funerals. Mullahs also teach the laws and doctrines of Islam to both adults and children. Mullahs arbitrate local disputes, based upon Islamic legal principles, and they are also called upon to provide advice and resolution of many other physical, social, and personal problems, including such things as medicines, local water disputes, or a family feud. In some of the more remote rural areas, the local mullah and the local khan (landlord) dictate what their followers may or may not do.

E

Education

Two separate systems of education exist in Afghanistan. The older system is a religious one, taught by the mullahs, who conduct classes in the madrassas (mosque schools). They teach the religious precepts of the Qur’an, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The other system was introduced in Afghanistan’s 1964 constitution, which provided for free and compulsory education at all levels, although this was rarely achieved. This system was based on Western models. Special emphasis was placed on primary education. Secondary schools existed in Kābul and the larger towns. Five years of primary school and five years of secondary school were expected, although many Afghans could not attend because they lived in areas where there were no schools.

Decades of war effectively eliminated most education, and an entire generation grew up without any formal schooling. The civil war resulted in the closing or dismantling of most lower, middle, and higher educational facilities in the country. Many teachers quit their posts and left Afghanistan. The subsequent Taliban regime suppressed all schooling except in the madrassas, and forbade it for girls and women. Only rote memorization of the Qur’an in Arabic was officially allowed. Opposition groups in a few places in the country tried to maintain some education, but under very difficult circumstances.

With the removal of the Taliban from power in late 2001, people in Afghanistan began to rebuild a national education system. Schools such as Kābul University reopened, and student enrollments soared. However, the country was sorely lacking the educational facilities and resources it needed to meet the burgeoning demand. A mobile school system was set up to bring education to rural areas, and foreign universities and nongovernmental organizations donated books and teaching materials. By the 2003-04 academic year 4.2 million boys and girls attended about 7,000 schools around the country. The male-female ratio had returned to pre-Taliban levels, although boys still outnumbered girls. A major project to improve literacy rates throughout Afghanistan was launched in January 2003 with the help of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The average literacy rate was estimated to be 36 percent for all Afghans aged 15 and older in 2000, with 51 percent literacy among males and 21 percent among females.

According to the 2004 constitution, Afghans are free to choose the language in which they receive their education. Primary and secondary educations are available in both Dari and Pashto, as well as in Afghanistan’s other languages, such as Uzbek. University courses are mostly taught in Dari. Kābul University, founded in 1932, is the country’s largest and most prestigious academic institution. Nine other colleges were established within it from 1938 through 1967. The University of Nangarhār in Jalālābād was established in 1962 to teach medicine and other disciplines. Important but small universities are also located in Kandahār, Herāt, Balkh, and Bāmiān. Before 1961 only men could receive a higher education; that year the government opened all public institutions of higher learning to women.

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