War continues to rage in Afghanistan, as it has off and on for two decades. The U.N. and a number of Islamic countries were attempting in late 1997 to broker new peace talks, but with little apparent success.
In September 1996, the Taliban, a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim militia, appeared to have won control of the
country when it entered the capital, Kabul, with barely a shot fired.
The Taliban immediately imposed a strict version of Islamic law: women were beaten for not covering themselves in a head-to-toe shroud
known as a burqa. High heels and cosmetics were banned, and most women were not allowed to work outside their homes. Men were told to
grow their beards as the Prophet Mohammed did or face lashings and jail time.
But the Taliban still struggles to defeat remaining opposition forces led by the Shiite Muslim Hezb-i-Wahdat party. The Sunni Taliban accuses
Shiite-led Iran of aiding this group, a charge Iran denies.
Land and People | History |
| Financial | Weather
DEMOGRAPHICS
- Population:
- 23,738,085
- Average life span:
- 47 male, 46 female
- Average income:
- $260
- GDP per capita:
- $600
- Literacy rate:
- 32%
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
- Capital:
- Kabul
- Size:
- 251,826 square miles (652,225 square km)
- Government type:
- In transition
- Political leaders:
- Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar
- Opposition alliance leader Burhanuddin Rabbani
- Religions:
- Sunni Muslim (84%); Shiite Muslim (15%)
- Languages:
- Pashto (official); Dari (official); Uzbek; Turkmen
HISTORY
- 1907 -- Afghanistan region gains autonomy in Anglo-Russian agreement.
- 1919-- Full independence granted by the Treaty of Rawalpindi.
- 1926 -- Emir Amanullah founds the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
- 1973 -- Military coup ousts King Muhammed Zahir.
- 1978 -- Pro-Soviet leftists oust military government and conclude economic and military treaties with the USSR.
- 1979 -- Another coup leads the USSR to invade Afghanistan and install a puppet government.
- 1980-1988 -- Muslim "mujahedeen" ("holy warriors") wage a remarkably successful guerrilla war against the Soviet occupation.
- 1988 -- USSR agrees to withdraw from Afghanistan.
- 1992 -- Islamic rebels oust President Najibullah.
- 1992-1995 -- Civil war among various rebel groups.
- 1995 -- U.N. brokers truce among nine factions and sets up a council to rule the country.
- 1996 -- A fundamentalist Islamic militia called the Taliban rejects the ruling council and begins a new civil war.
- 1996 -- The Taliban Islamic militia launches a new wave of fighting that culminates in September with the capture of Kabul.
- 1997 -- The Taliban battles an alliance of opposition forces for control of Afghanistan's northern reaches
FINANCIAL
- Monetary unit:
- Afghani
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CNN WEATHER INFORMATION
- Forecasts:
- --Kabul
- Forecast and satellite maps:
- --Asia forecast map