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Arab Culture & Civilization
Explore this exemplary library of articles and resources on Arab societies and culture. This site was originally created by the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE).
Ethnic Groups: The people of Afghanistan are called Afghanis. The Pashtun make up about 43 percent of the population and are often referred to as "true Afghans." The Tajiks comprise nearly 25 percent of the population, the Uzbeks, 6 percent, and the Hazaras, about 5 percent. For more information on the Tajiks, see the chapter on Tajikistan in Volume 9; for more information on the Uzbeks, see the chapter on Uzbekistan, also in Volume 9. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Afghanistan-to-Bosnia-Herzegovina/Afghanistan.html
Education: Adult illiteracy for the year 2002 for males was 49%; females, 79%. This is the highest illiteracy rate in Asia. Education is free at all levels. Primary education lasts for six years and is theoretically compulsory for 6 years, but only 53% of boys and 5% of girls were enrolled in elementary school in 2002. Boys and girls are schooled separately. A teacher has on average 58 pupils in an elementary school classroom, but only 28 students in a secondary school classroom. Only 32% of the males and 11% of females graduating from elementary school continue into secondary education. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Afghanistan-EDUCATION.html
Health: Before the war, the health situation in Afghanistan was among the worst in the world primarily because the health infrastructure was grossly inadequate and mostly limited to urban centers. Protracted conflict since 1978 worsened the inequitable distribution of health manpower and services. The estimated infant mortality rate was 163 per 1000 live births (1993); the under five mortality rate 257 for every 1000 live births (1994); the maternal mortality rate 1700 per 100,000 live births (1993); and life expectancy at birth was 43.7. Since infant and under five mortality rates are frequently used as reliable overall indicators of community health and development, these figures underscore the appalling state of the health sector in Afghanistan. Most children die of a variety of infectious and parasitic diseases, including acute diarrhea, respiratory infections, tuberculosis, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, malaria, measles and malnutrition, in addition to disorders allied to pregnancy and delivery. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+af0077%29
Literacy: As with other sectors, statistics are difficult to confirm. Since 1978, particularly, validated nation-wide data have been impossible to obtain with the result that official figures on which much recently published data are based should be employed with great caution.
Nevertheless, pre-war trends when the literacy rate was estimated at 11.4 percent ( 18.7 percent male; 2.8 female), persist and provide useful patterns reflected in the present. Then, as now, economic, regional and gender bias was very noticeable. Urban-rural and regional disparities are still valid. In urban settings 25.9 percent (35.5 percent male; 14.8 percent female) of the population six years old and over were literate, but in rural areas literate accounted for only 8.8. percent (15.7 percent male; 0.6 percent female, in some provinces 0.1 percent). Regionally, 32 percent of the students attending schools in 1978 lived in the Central region around Kabul, compared with only 3.8 percent living in the East Central mountains of Bamiyan and Ghor. Contrasting 1993 official figures giving an overall literacy rate of 29.8 percent (45.2 percent males; 13.5 percent females) assumes that expanded educational efforts during the intervening years were effective. In reality the bulk of the students represented in the enrollment figures remain functionally illiterate. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+af0070%29
Religion: Afghanistan is one of the most solidly Muslim countries in the world. The majority follow the main branch of Islam, the Sunni tradition. About 10 to 20 percent of Afghanis follow the Shi'ite branch of Islam. There are also sufis (or dervishes), members of the mystical branch of Islam. Religious folk traditions are generally more important to Afghanis than the scholarly study of Islam. Local religious leaders are usually not highly educated. Mostly, they are peasants who do other part-time work. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Afghanistan-to-Bosnia-Herzegovina/Afghanis.html
POPULATION
The population of Afghanistan in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 23,897,000, which placed it as number 46 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 3% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 43% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 107 males for every 100 females in the country in 2003. According to the UN, the annual population growth rate for 2000-2005 is 3.88%, with the projected population for the year 2015 at 35,473,000. The population density in 2002 was 42 per sq km (110 per sq mi).
It was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau that 22% of the population lived in urban areas in 2001. The capital city, Kabul, had a population of 2,454,000 in that year. Other major population centers include Kandaha¯r, 339,200; Mazār-e Sharif, 239,800; and Hera¯t, 166,600. According to the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000-2005 was 6.9%. These figures are unreliable, however, because many city dwellers have left their urban homes for refuge in rural areas. Approximately 20% of the population is nomadic.
Two decades of near constant warfare make Afghanistan's population-never certain in any case-even more difficult to assess. As many as three million Afghans are estimated to have died, and an additional six million sought refuge in Pakistan, Iran, and elsewhere in the world during the worst of the fighting when thousands of Soviet troops were present. The last official census was taken in 1988. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Afghanistan-POPULATION.html
This website provides information on Afghan culture. Topics include history, urbanism, food, economy, social structure, gender roles, government, marriage, arts, medicine, and religion.
