Demographics

Key Facts

Population

2006 estimate (US State Dept.): 31,056,997

Last official census 1979: 15,551,358

2000 estimate (www.afghanistan.com): 25,838,797

Annual population growth rate (2006 est.): 2.67%

More than 3.5 million Afghans live outside the country, mainly in Pakistan and Iran, although over 5 million have returned since the removal of the Taliban.

From Afghanistan Official Website:

The 1993 population estimate was 17,691,000, though the effect of the war-with its casualties and refugees-has made it difficult to make a reliable estimate.

In 1979 more than 85 percent of the population lived in rural areas, with about 15 percent in urban settings. Of the urban dwellers, probably about half lived in Kabul, the capital city. The nomadic population was estimated to be about 2.5 million people. During the war with the Soviets the number of Afghan refugees outside the country escalated dramatically, with as many as 2.5 million to 3 million refugees in Pakistan and another 1.5 million in Iran. About 150,000 Afghans were able to migrate permanently to other countries, including the United States, Australia, and various European countries.

Afghanistan has a population growth rate of about 2.6 percent. The growth rate is 2.3 percent in rural areas and 4.7 percent in urban areas, reflecting migration to urban centers. In the beginning of the civil war, the population of Kabul swelled to 2 million people because of the extensive fighting in the countryside. Now that situation has reversed because much of Kabul has been destroyed by rocket attack and other combat. Afghanistan's infant mortality rate is the highest in the world; as many as 38 percent of all newborn children do not survive beyond their first birthday.

People

Main ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch, Nuristani, Kizilbash.

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1%. (Source: US State Dept.)

Main languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), Pashto.

Education: Approximately 6 million children, of whom some 40% are girls, enrolled in school during 2007.

Literacy(2001 est.)--36% (male 51%, female 21%), but real figures may be lower given breakdown of education system and flight of educated Afghans during three decades of war and instability.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2004 est.)--165.96 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2004 est.)--42.27 yrs. (male); 42.66 yrs. (female).

Government

Type: Islamic Republic.

Independence: August 19, 1919.

Constitution: January 4, 2004.

Branches:

Executive--president (chief of state).

Legislative--bicameral National Assembly (House of the People--249 seats, House of the Elders--102 seats).

Judicial--Supreme Court, High Courts, and Appeals Courts.

Political subdivisions: 34 provinces.

Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.