Afghanistan

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Afghanistan means the Land of Afghans. It is surrounded by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the south and west, and China in the far northeast. It has a history and culture that goes back over 5000 years. It was called Aryana in ancient times, Khorasan in the medieval era, and its habitants named it Afghanistan in modern times. The country's capital is Kabul; Kabul is the largest city of Afghanistan and is the powerhouse of the Afghan economy. Buzkashi is a National Sport in Afghanistan. It resembles polo and is played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. Afghanistan is the world's 41st largest country with 647,500 km square total area. According to 2008 estimate, the country has 32,738,376 population, ranking 37th in the world. There is a wide variety of ethnic groups which includes Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and others. Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (states) and each province is further divided into many districts. There are 398 districts as of June 2005 but the number of districts is likely to increase with reorganization by Afghan Ministry. The main source of income in the country is Agriculture. The major food crops produced are in Afghanistan are corn, rice, barley, wheat, vegetables, fruits and nuts. The major industrial crops are: cotton, tobacco, madder, castor beans, and sugar beets. Sheep farming is also extremely valuable. It also produce many natural resources which include gold, silver, copper, zinc, iron ore, precious and semi-precious stones such as lapis, emerald and azure, and potentially significant petroleum and natural gas reserves. The country also has uranium, coal, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, and salt.

Posted On 20-Jan-2009 12:38:27

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Map of Afghanistan

Locations within Afghanistan • Badakhshan • Badghis • Baghlan • Balkh • Bamyan • Daykundi • Farah • Faryab • Ghazni • Ghor • Helmand • Herat • Jowzjan • Kabul • Kandahar • Kapisa • Khost • Konar • Kunduz • Laghman • Lowgar • Nangarhar • Nimruz • Nurestan • Oruzgan • Paktia • Paktika • Panjshir • Parvan • Samangan • Sare Pol • Takhar • Wardak • Zabol

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