2023 Edition

Background

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 increased 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. A UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. In December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan and was reelected in August 2009. The Taliban conducted an insurgency for two decades against the Afghan Government and international forces from the United States and other countries. In February 2020, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement that led to the withdrawal from Afghanistan of international forces in exchange for commitments on counterterrorism and other assurances. The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021. 

Area

land

652,230 sq km

total

652,230 sq km

water

0 sq km

Area - comparative

almost six times the size of Virginia; slightly smaller than Texas

Climate

arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Elevation

highest point

Noshak 7,492 m

lowest point

Amu Darya 258 m

mean elevation

1,884 m

Geographic coordinates

33 00 N, 65 00 E

Geography - note

landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor)

Irrigated land

24,930 sq km (2020)

Land boundaries

border countries

China 91 km; Iran 921 km; Pakistan 2,670 km; Tajikistan 1,357 km; Turkmenistan 804 km; Uzbekistan 144 km

total

5,987 km

Land use

agricultural land

58.1% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 11.8% (2018)

agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018)

agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 46% (2018)

forest

1.8% (2018 est.)

other

40.1% (2018)

Location

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

Major lakes (area sq km)

salt water lake(s)

Ab-e Istadah-ye Muqur (endorheic basin) - 520 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Amu Darya (shared with Tajikistan [s], Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan [m]) - 2,620 km; Helmand river source (shared with Iran) - 1,130 kmnote – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Indian Ocean drainage: Indus (1,081,718 sq km)Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Amu Darya (534,739 sq km); Tarim Basin (1,152,448 sq km)

Map references

Asia

Maritime claims

none (landlocked)

Natural hazards

damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts

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

Terrain

mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Age structure

0-14 years

39.8% (male 7,926,748/female 7,686,979)

15-64 years

57.35% (male 11,413,654/female 11,084,665)

65 years and over

2.85% (2023 est.) (male 515,147/female 604,810)

Alcohol consumption per capita

beer

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits

0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total

0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Birth rate

34.8 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Child marriage

women married by age 15

4.2%

women married by age 18

28.3% (2017 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

19.1% (2018)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

18.9% (2018)

note

note:  percent of women aged 12-49

Current health expenditure

15.5% of GDP (2020)

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

70.3% (2023 est.)

Death rate

12.1 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Dependency ratios

elderly dependency ratio

4.8

potential support ratio

22.5 (2021 est.)

total dependency ratio

84.6

youth dependency ratio

80.2

Drinking water source

improved: rural

rural: 68.3% of population

improved: total

total: 76.5% of population 70.2%

improved: urban

urban: 100% of population

unimproved: rural

rural: 31.7% of population

unimproved: total

total: 23.5% of population (2020 est.)

unimproved: urban

urban: 0% of population

Education expenditures

2.9% of GDP (2020 est.)

Ethnic groups

current, reliable statistical data on ethnicity in Afghanistan are not available; Afghanistan's 2004 Constitution cited Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkman, Baluch, Pachaie, Nuristani, Aymaq, Arab, Qirghiz, Qizilbash, Gujur, and Brahwui ethnicities; Afghanistan has dozens of other small ethnic groups

Gross reproduction rate

2.21 (2023 est.)

Hospital bed density

0.4 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Infant mortality rate

female

94.2 deaths/1,000 live births

male

111.5 deaths/1,000 live births

total

103.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

Languages

Languages

Afghan Persian or Dari (official, lingua franca) 77%, Pashto (official) 48%, Uzbeki 11%, English 6%, Turkmani 3%, Urdu 3%, Pachaie 1%, Nuristani 1%, Arabic 1%, Balochi 1%, other <1% (2020 est.)

major-language sample(s)

کتاب حقایق جهان، مرجعی ضروری برای اطلاعات اولیە (Dari) د دنیا د حقائېقو کتاب، بنیادی معلوماتو لپاره ضروری سرچینه- (Pashto)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

note

note 1: percentages sum to more than 100% because many people are multilingual note 2: Uzbeki, Turkmani, Pachaie, Nuristani, Balochi, and Pamiri are the third official languages in areas where the majority speaks them

Life expectancy at birth

female

55.7 years

male

52.5 years

total population

54.1 years (2023 est.)

Literacy

definition

age 15 and over can read and write

female

22.6% (2021)

male

52.1%

total population

37.3%

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk

intermediate (2023)

food or waterborne diseases

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

note

note: Afghanistan is one of two countries with endemic wild polio virus (the other is Pakistan) and considered high risk for international spread of the disease; before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

vectorborne diseases

Crimea-Congo hemorrhagic fever, malaria

Major urban areas - population

4.589 million KABUL (capital) (2023)

Maternal mortality ratio

620 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Median age

female

20 years

male

19.8 years

total

19.9 years (2023 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.9 years (2015 est.)

note

note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Nationality

adjective

Afghan

noun

Afghan(s)

Net migration rate

-0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

5.5% (2016)

Physicians density

0.25 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Population

39,232,003 (2023 est.)

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

Population growth rate

2.26% (2023 est.)

Religions

Muslim 99.7% (Sunni 84.7 - 89.7%, Shia 10 - 15%), other <0.3% (2009 est.)

Sanitation facility access

improved: rural

rural: 52% of population

improved: total

total: 61.4% of population

improved: urban

urban: 88.2% of population

unimproved: rural

rural: 48% of population

unimproved: total

total: 38.6% of population (2020 est.)

unimproved: urban

urban: 11.8% of population

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

female

8 years (2018)

male

13 years

total

10 years

Sex ratio

0-14 years

1.03 male(s)/female

15-64 years

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over

0.85 male(s)/female

at birth

1.05 male(s)/female

total population

1.03 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Tobacco use

female

7.2% (2020 est.)

male

39.4% (2020 est.)

total

23.3% (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.53 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Urbanization

rate of urbanization

3.34% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population

26.9% of total population (2023)

Administrative divisions

34 provinces (welayat, singular - welayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktiya, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Zabul

Capital

daylight saving time

does not observe daylight savings time

etymology

named for the Kabul River, but the river's name is of unknown origin

geographic coordinates

34 31 N, 69 11 E

name

Kabul

time difference

UTC+4.5 (9.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Citizenship

citizenship by birth

no

citizenship by descent only

at least one parent must have been born in - and continuously lived in - Afghanistan

dual citizenship recognized

no

residency requirement for naturalization

5 years

Constitution

history

several previous; latest ratified in 2004, suspended by the Taliban after taking over the country in 2021

Country name

conventional long form

formerly Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

conventional short form

Afghanistan

etymology

the name "Afghan" originally referred to the Pashtun people (today it is understood to include all the country's ethnic groups), while the suffix "-stan" means "place of" or "country"; so Afghanistan literally means the "Land of the Afghans"

former

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

local long form

formerly Jamhuri-ye Islami-ye Afghanistan

local short form

Afghanistan

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission

the United States does not maintain a presence in Afghanistan and bases the Department of State's Afghanistan Affairs Unit in Doha, Qatar; note - the US Embassy in Kabul closed in August 2021

embassy

Embassy Kabul, operations have been suspended; Department of State’s Afghanistan Affairs Unit operates from Doha, Qatar.

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission

none; note - the Afghan Embassy closed in March 2022

Executive branch

cabinet

includes the acting prime minister, acting deputy prime ministers, and 26 ministries

chief of state

Overall Taliban Leader HAYBATULLAH Akhundzada serves as the head of the Taliban government as Amir-ul Momineennote - on 7 September 2021, the Taliban announced Mohammad HASSAN Akhund as the “acting prime minister” of the "caretaker government”; as of November 2021, the group had announced three acting “deputy prime ministers” - Abdul Ghani BERADER, Abdul Salam HANAFI, and Abdul KABIR

elections/appointments

the 2004 Afghan constitution directed that the president should be elected by majority popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28 September 2019

head of government

Overall Taliban Leader HAYBATULLAH Akhundzada serves as the head of the Taliban government as Amir-ul Momineen

Flag description

three equal vertical bands of black (hoist side), red, and green, with the national emblem in white centered on the red band and slightly overlapping the other 2 bands; the center of the emblem features a mosque with pulpit and flags on either side, below the mosque are Eastern Arabic numerals for the solar year 1298 (1919 in the Gregorian calendar, the year of Afghan independence from the UK); this central image is circled by a border consisting of sheaves of wheat on the left and right, in the upper-center is an Arabic inscription of the Shahada (Muslim creed) below which are rays of the rising sun over the Takbir (Arabic expression meaning "God is great"), and at bottom center is a scroll bearing the name Afghanistan; black signifies the past, red is for the blood shed for independence, and green can represent either hope for the future, agricultural prosperity, or Islam

note

note 1: the United States has not recognized the Taliban or any other entity as the government of Afghanistan and, accordingly, continues to display the flag of Afghanistan as set forth in the country's constitution of 2004note 2: Afghanistan had more changes to its national flag in the 20th century - 19 by one count - than any other country; the colors black, red, and green appeared on most of them

Government type

theocratic; the United States does not recognize the Taliban Government

Independence

19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs)

International law organization participation

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; formerly accepted ICCt jurisdiction

International organization participation

member of the following organizations but cannot participate because the international community does not recognize the Taliban Government:  ADB, CICA, CP, ECO, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNAMA, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Judicial branch

highest court(s)

the Taliban Government has a Supreme Court: number of judges and organizational structure NA; note - before 15 August 2021, Afghanistan had a Supreme Court (consisting of a supreme court chief and 8 justices organized into criminal, public security, civil, and commercial divisions)

judge selection and term of office

the Taliban Supreme Court judge selection and term of office NA; note - before 15 August 2021, the Supreme Court chief and justices were appointed by the president with the approval of the Wolesi Jirga; court chief and justices served single 10-year terms

subordinate courts

the Taliban Government has many provincial-level courts, religious courts, and specialty courtsnote - before 15 August 2021, consisted of Appeals Courts; Primary Courts; and Special Courts for issues including narcotics, security, property, family, and juveniles

Legal system

the Taliban is implementing its own interpretation of Islamic law, which partially based on the Hanifi school of Islamic jurisprudence; before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan had a mixed legal system of civil, customary, and Islamic law (2021)

Legislative branch

description

the Taliban Government has not announced the formation of a legislative branch; before the 2021 Taliban takeover, Afghanistan had a bicameral National Assembly that consisted of the House of Elders and House of the People

National anthem

lyrics/music

Abdul Bari JAHANI/Babrak WASA

name

"Milli Surood" (National Anthem)

note

note: adopted 2006

National heritage

note

note: the monumental 6th- and 7th-century statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001

selected World Heritage Site locales

Minaret of Jam; Buddhas of Bamyan

total World Heritage Sites

2 (both cultural)

National holiday

previous: Independence Day, 19 August (1919); under the Taliban Government, 15 August (2022) is declared a national holiday, marking the anniversary of the victory of the Afghan jihad

National symbol(s)

lion; national colors: red, green, black

Political parties and leaders

the Taliban Government enforces an authoritarian state and has banned other political parties; note - before 15 August 2021, the Ministry of Justice had licensed 72 political parties as of April 2019

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Agricultural products

wheat, milk, grapes, vegetables, potatoes, watermelons, melons, rice, onions, apples

Budget

expenditures

$5.293 billion (2019 est.)

revenues

$5.093 billion (2019 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-15.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Current account balance

Current account balance 2018

-$3.897 billion (2018 est.)

Current account balance 2019

-$3.792 billion (2019 est.)

Current account balance 2020

-$3.137 billion (2020 est.)

Debt - external

Debt - external FY10/11

$284 million (FY10/11)

Economic overview

extremely low-income South Asian economy; import drops, currency depreciation, disappearing central bank reserves, and increasing inflation after Taliban takeover; increasing Chinese trade; hit hard by COVID; ongoing sanctions

Exchange rates

Currency

afghanis (AFA) per US dollar -

Exchange rates 2016

67.866 (2016 est.)

Exchange rates 2017

68.027 (2017 est.)

Exchange rates 2018

72.083 (2018 est.)

Exchange rates 2019

77.738 (2019 est.)

Exchange rates 2020

76.814 (2020 est.)

Exports

Exports 2018

$1.609 billion (2018 est.)

Exports 2019

$1.516 billion (2019 est.)

Exports 2020

$1.476 billion (2020 est.)

note

note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.

Exports - commodities

gold, figs, grapes, cotton, fruits and nuts, coal (2021)

note

note: Afghan opium production remains a significant illicit trade export

Exports - partners

United Arab Emirates 45%, Pakistan 24%, India 22%, China 1% (2019)

Fiscal year

21 March - 20 March

GDP - composition, by end use

exports of goods and services

6.7% (2016 est.)

government consumption

12% (2016 est.)

household consumption

81.6% (2016 est.)

imports of goods and services

-47.6% (2016 est.)

investment in fixed capital

17.2% (2016 est.)

investment in inventories

30% (2016 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture

23% (2016 est.)

industry

21.1% (2016 est.)

note

note: data exclude opium production

services

55.9% (2016 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate)

$20.24 billion (2017 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2008

29.4 (2008)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

highest 10%

24% (2008)

lowest 10%

3.8%

Imports

Imports 2018

$7.988 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports 2019

$7.371 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports 2020

$6.983 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports - commodities

wheat flours, broadcasting equipment, refined petroleum, rolled tobacco, aircraft parts, synthetic fabrics (2019)

Imports - partners

United Arab Emirates 23%, Pakistan 17%, India 13%, Uzbekistan 7%, China 9% (2021)

Industrial production growth rate

-14.19% (2021 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2017

4.98% (2017 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2018

0.63% (2018 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2019

2.3% (2019 est.)

Labor force

9.39 million (2021 est.)

Population below poverty line

54.5% (2016 est.)

Public debt

Public debt 2016

7.8% of GDP (2016 est.)

Public debt 2017

7% of GDP (2017 est.)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

note

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2019

$78.558 billion (2019 est.)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2020

$76.711 billion (2020 est.)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2021

$60.803 billion (2021 est.)

Real GDP growth rate

Real GDP growth rate 2019

3.91% (2019 est.)

Real GDP growth rate 2020

-2.35% (2020 est.)

Real GDP growth rate 2021

-20.74% (2021 est.)

Real GDP per capita

note

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP per capita 2019

$2,100 (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2020

$2,000 (2020 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2021

$1,500 (2021 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2018

$8.207 billion (31 December 2018 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2019

$8.498 billion (31 December 2019 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2020

$9.749 billion (31 December 2020 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

9.9% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate 2019

11.22% (2019 est.)

Unemployment rate 2020

11.71% (2020 est.)

Unemployment rate 2021

13.28% (2021 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

female

26.4%

male

18.6%

total

20.2% (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

from coal and metallurgical coke

4.158 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from consumed natural gas

267,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from petroleum and other liquids

3.468 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

total emissions

7.893 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Coal

consumption

2.096 million metric tons (2020 est.)

exports

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

production

2.096 million metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves

66 million metric tons (2019 est.)

Electricity

consumption

5.913 billion kWh (2019 est.)

exports

0 kWh (2019 est.)

imports

4.912 billion kWh (2019 est.)

installed generating capacity

776,000 kW (2020 est.)

transmission/distribution losses

61.6 million kWh (2019 est.)

Electricity access

electrification - rural areas

97% (2021)

electrification - total population

97.7% (2021)

electrification - urban areas

99.5% (2021)

Electricity generation sources

biomass and waste

0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

fossil fuels

15.9% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

geothermal

0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

hydroelectricity

79.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

nuclear

0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

solar

5.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

tide and wave

0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

wind

0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Energy consumption per capita

Total energy consumption per capita 2019

3.227 million Btu/person (2019 est.)

Natural gas

consumption

80.193 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

exports

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

imports

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

production

80.193 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

proven reserves

49.554 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

Petroleum

crude oil and lease condensate exports

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves

0 barrels (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption

24,300 bbl/day (2019 est.)

total petroleum production

0 bbl/day (2021 est.)

Refined petroleum products - exports

0 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Refined petroleum products - imports

34,210 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Refined petroleum products - production

0 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

0.1 (2020 est.)

total

26,570 (2020 est.)

Broadcast media

under the Taliban government, independent media outlets have decreased in number and are probably self-censoring criticism of the Taliban and the Ministry of Information and Culture monitors all mass media in Afghanistan; television and radio are key media platforms; only about a fifth of Afghans use the internet, mostly through smartphones (2023)

Internet country code

.af

Internet users

percent of population

18% (2020 est.)

total

7.02 million (2020 est.)

Telecommunication systems

domestic

before the Taliban takeover in August 2021, less than 1 per 100 for fixed-line teledensity; 57 per 100 for mobile-cellular subscriptions (2021)

general assessment

Afghanistan's telecom sector is facing challenges providing adequate coverage to all of the population; prior to the Taliban regaining power, the World Bank and other donors supported the development of a nationwide fiber backbone and there is terrestrial cable connectivity to five neighboring countries; work on the 'Wakhan Corridor Fiber Optic Survey Project' to connect to China has faced obstacles because of Afghanistan's economic issues. (2021)

international

country code - 93; multiple VSAT's provide international and domestic voice and data connectivity (2019)

Telephones - fixed lines

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

(2021 est.) less than 1

total subscriptions

150,000 (2021 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

57 (2021 est.)

total subscriptions

23 million (2021 est.)

Airports

46 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

29

note

note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

17

note

note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

YA

Heliports

1 (2021)

National air transport system

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers

29.56 million (2018) mt-km

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers

1,722,612 (2018)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers

13

number of registered air carriers

3 (2020)

Pipelines

466 km gas (2013)

Ports and terminals

river port(s)

Hairatan, Qizil Qal`ah (Amu Darya)

Roadways

paved

17,903 km (2017)

total

34,903 km (2017)

unpaved

17,000 km (2017)

Waterways

1,200 km (2011) (chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT)

Military - note

the Taliban’s primary security threats include ISIS-Khorasan and anti-Taliban resistance elements known as the National Resistance Front and Afghanistan Freedom Front (2023)

Military and security forces

the Taliban has established a de facto ministry of defense and a national army (aka Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate Army, or Afghan Army); it has also formed a ministry of interior with a subordinate police force (2023)

Military and security service personnel strengths

announced that approximately 130,000 personnel had been recruited for a new "National Army"; also announced that over 50,000 personnel had been trained for the police force under the ministry of interior (2022)

note

note: as of 2022, there were also up to 10,000 foreign fighters in Afghanistan, most of whom were aligned with the Taliban

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Taliban military/security forces are armed largely with US-provided equipment captured from the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces when the central government in Kabul collapsed in 2021 (2023)

Military expenditures

Military Expenditures 2015

2.9% of GDP (2015)

Military Expenditures 2016

3.1% of GDP (2016)

Military Expenditures 2017

3.3% of GDP (2017)

Military Expenditures 2018

3.2% of GDP (2018)

Military Expenditures 2019

3.3% of GDP (2019)

Military service age and obligation

not available

note

note: the Taliban dismissed nearly all women from the former Afghan Government security forces, except those serving in detention facilities and assisting with body searches 

Disputes - international

Afghanistan-China: none identifiedAfghanistan-Iran: Afghan and Iranian commissioners have discussed boundary monument densification and resurvey; Iran protests Afghanistan's restricting flow of dammed Helmand River tributaries during droughtAfghanistan-Pakistan: Pakistan has built fences in some portions of its border with Afghanistan which remains open in some areas to terrorist and other illegal activities; their alignments may not always be in conformance with the Durand Line and original surveyed definitions of the boundary; Pakistan demarcates the Durand Line differently from Afghanistan, and thus portions of the Pakistani fence may lie within what Afghanistan (and most of the international community, including the US) would consider Afghan territory; successive governments in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, have not accepted the 1947 demarcation lineAfghanistan-Tajikistan: none identifiedAfghanistan-Turkmenistan: none identifiedAfghanistan-Uzbekistan: none identified; boundary follows Amu Darya River as delimited in the Afghan-Soviet treaties and not by the river's current course; the boundary was delimited and possibly demarcated during Soviet times (pre-1991); no current negotiations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to redelimit the boundary have been identified 

Illicit drugs

the world’s largest supplier of opiates, but it is not a major supplier to the United States; 233,000 hectares (ha) of opium poppy cultivated in Afghanistan in 2022; opium from poppies used to produce morphine and heroin; also produces large quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis, and cannabis products such as hashish; one of the world’s largest populations suffering from substance abuse; major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics. (2022)

Refugees and internally displaced persons

IDPs

4.394 million (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in the south and west due to natural disasters and political instability) (2022)

refugees (country of origin)

59,486 (Pakistan) (mid-year 2022)

Trafficking in persons

note

note: The United States has not recognized the Taliban or another entity as the government of Afghanistan. On August 15, 2021, the Taliban culminated its takeover of Kabul, and on September 7, 2021, the Taliban announced a so-called interim government. As of December 2021, the Taliban had not outlined steps or a timeline to establish a new permanent government. All references to “the pre-August 15 government” refer to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. References to the Taliban reflect events both prior to and after August 15.

tier rating

Tier 3 - Afghanistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Afghanistan remains on Tier 3; substantial personnel turnover and closing of some ministries after the August 15, 2021 Taliban takeover hindered Afghanistan's ability to maintain consistent anti-trafficking efforts; although the pre-August 15 government took some training and awareness steps to address trafficking, it employed or recruited child soldiers and sexual slaves in government compounds; after August 15, the Taliban continued recruiting or employing child soldiers and did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any traffickers; the Taliban shut down shelters for victims, did not identify or protect victims, and did not make any efforts to prevent trafficking; Taliban undermining the rights of women, minorities, and other vulnerable populations, further exacerbated vulnerabilities to trafficking (2022)

trafficking profile

human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Afghanistan and exploit Afghan victims abroad; internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking; since the Taliban takeover, vulnerabilities to exploitation have intensified; traffickers exploit men, women, and a large number of children domestically; victims are subjected to forced labor in agriculture, brick kilns, carpet weaving, domestic servitude, commercial sex, begging, poppy cultivation and harvesting, salt mining, transnational drug smuggling, and truck driving; the Taliban and non-state armed groups, such as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), continue to unlawfully recruit and use child soldiers; sexual exploitation of boys remains pervasive nationwide, and traffickers subject some boys to sexual exploitation abroad; after the Taliban takeover, restrictions on the movement of women and girls, and severely diminished access to employment and education, increased their vulnerability to trafficking; LGBTQI+ individuals are among the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan under the Taliban (2022)

Terrorist group(s)

Haqqani Taliban Network; Harakat ul-Mujahidin; Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami; Islamic Jihad Union; Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K); Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force; Jaish-e-Mohammed; Jaysh al Adl (Jundallah); Lashkar i Jhangvi; Lashkar-e Tayyiba; al-Qa’ida; al-Qa'ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS); Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

note

note 1:  as of mid-2022, TTP was reportedly the largest component of foreign terrorist fighters in Afghanistan, with an estimated 3-4,000 armed fighters operating primarily along the Afghanistan-Pakistan bordernote 2: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix T

Air pollutants

carbon dioxide emissions

8.67 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions

90.98 megatons (2020 est.)

particulate matter emissions

62.49 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

Climate

arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Environment - current issues

limited natural freshwater resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution in overcrowded urban areas

Environment - international agreements

party to

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified

Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity

due to civil conflict, population displacement, and economic slowdown - the latest analysis estimated the number of people in crisis or emergency food insecurity at 15.3 million people (35% of the population analyzed) between May and October 2023; although the levels of acute food insecurity have declined compared to the same season in 2022, largely due to seasonal improvements and the scale‑up of humanitarian assistance in 2022, the situation could deteriorate in areas where humanitarian assistance faces access constraints; the ban on women’s participation in the humanitarian response poses a challenge to the delivery of quality humanitarian assistance leading to significant additional access constraints, particularly to the most vulnerable, women and children (2023)

Land use

agricultural land

58.1% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 11.8% (2018)

agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018)

agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 46% (2018)

forest

1.8% (2018 est.)

other

40.1% (2018)

Major lakes (area sq km)

salt water lake(s)

Ab-e Istadah-ye Muqur (endorheic basin) - 520 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Amu Darya (shared with Tajikistan [s], Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan [m]) - 2,620 km; Helmand river source (shared with Iran) - 1,130 kmnote – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Indian Ocean drainage: Indus (1,081,718 sq km)Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Amu Darya (534,739 sq km); Tarim Basin (1,152,448 sq km)

Revenue from coal

0.45% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.2% of GDP (2018 est.)

Total renewable water resources

65.33 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

agricultural

20 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial

170 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

municipal

200 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Urbanization

rate of urbanization

3.34% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population

26.9% of total population (2023)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually

5,628,525 tons (2016 est.)