Afghanistan, a mountainous country, has long been fought over because of its strategic location between the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. After more than two decades of civil war and conflict, combined with the worst drought in 30 years, there is widespread suffering and massive displacement of the population inside and outside Afghanistan.

The former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and occupied the country for a decade before withdrawing under pressure from Mujahideen forces. In 1996 the Taliban regime took control over most parts of the country and imposed a strict form of Islam. Fighting continued among Afghan factions, most recently between the Taliban and opposition Northern Alliance forces. The international community, excluding Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, did not recognise the Taliban regime. After the 11 September attack on the United Sates in 2001 the US, aided by British forces, began an assault to defeat the Taliban.

After the fall of the regime, United Nations-brokered talks in December 2001 provided a framework for future Afghan governance, including an interim authority, elections and a multinational peacekeeping force for the capital, Kabul. In early December the same year, Pashtun tribal leader Hamid Karzai was appointed by a UN-led coalition to head the interim government.

Peace and security

In 2005, Taliban and other anti-government forces expanded their insurgency in the predominantly Pashtun areas in southern Afghanistan. It was also the deadliest year for US forces and their coalition allies in Afghanistan and more than 1,500 Afghan civilians died.

Armed clashes between rival factions decreased in 2005, but in many areas warlords and their troops continue to engage in arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, kidnapping, extortion, torture and murder, extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects, forced displacement, and rape of women, girls and boys, according to Human Rights Watch.

IDPs/Refugees

During the Soviet occupation and the Taliban period, one-third of the population fled Afghanistan. Neighbouring Pakistan and Iran provided refuge for more than six million refugees. Afghanistan is the world's leading source of refugees. Since 1988, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has channelled more than US$1 billion in multilateral assistance to Afghan refugees and vulnerable persons inside Afghanistan.

Many refugees began returning to the country in November 2001 after the fall of the Taliban. Since the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began its voluntary repatriation programme for Afghanistan in 2002, it has helped more than 3.5 million Afghans to return - 2.7 million from Pakistan and 800,000 from Iran. However, according to UNHCR on Afghanistan, an estimated 3.5 million refugees are still residing in Pakistan and Iran. There are also still 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan, the majority living in the south.

IRIN photo gallery on refugees

Democracy and governance

Until 2001, Afghanistan was an internationally isolated country under Taliban rule. The regime collapsed after US strikes starting in October 2001.

A presidential election took place in October 2004. Karzai was elected president with 55 percent of the vote and in 2005 Afghanistan had its first parliamentary election in 30 years. In some remote areas, there are still no real government structures or activity, only warlords.

Afghanistan ranked 117 out of 158 in Transparency International's 2005 corruption index, scoring 2.5 out of a possible 10.

Media

Freedom House, a media watchdog, describes the press in Afghanistan as "not free" (2005 country report on Afghanistan by Freedom House). However, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Afghan press has improved after democratic advances in 2004 resulted in stronger constitutional protection for freedom of expression and the media. Radio is Afghanistan's most accessible medium for news and information. Outside Kabul, press freedom conditions are varied and in rural areas more limited. Many practise self-censorship or avoid writing about sensitive issues such as Islam, national unity, or crimes committed by specific warlords.

Under the Taliban regime television and print media were banned. Women were not allowed to work, but since 2002 progress has been seen. There are now some female reporters and newsreaders but they still face dangers.

Economy

The country is highly dependent on farming and raising livestock. The major food crops produced are corn, rice, barley, wheat, vegetables, fruit and nuts. The biggest industrial crops are cotton, tobacco, madder, castor beans, and sugar beets. The major sheep product exports are wool and prized Karakul skins.

Afghanistan is rich in natural resources. There are numerous mineral and precious stone deposits, as well as natural gas and as yet untapped oil reserves. But as the largest producer of opium poppies, drug trafficking provides the biggest income source. According to the UN World Drug Report 2004 (www.unodc.org) Afghanistan produces three-quarters of the world's illicit opium. Current growth projections for the legal economy are only 10 percent a year.

The most recent UN Development Programme Human Development Index ranks Afghanistan at 173 out of 178 countries worldwide.

Population

Afghanistan has a population of 27.7 million (2003). The population growth rate is 3.9 percent a year according to the UN population fund (UNFPA). Fertility rates are high at 6.8 children per woman. Infant, child and maternal mortality rates are very high. The maternal mortality ratio, for instance, is 1,900 deaths per 100,000 live births - one of the highest in the world.

Most Afghans belong to the Pashtun (Pathan), Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara, Turkmen, and Aimak ethnic groups. The official languages are Pashtu and Dari, spoken by 85 percent of the people. Pashtu is the native tongue of the Pashtuns; Dari is a Persian dialect. Turkmen and Uzbek are spoken widely in the north.

About 99 percent of the population is Muslim, and of these about 84 percent are Sunni Muslims and 15 percent Shia Muslims.

Development indicators

According to the World Food Programme, half the population is living below the poverty line. Infant mortality was 165 per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared with 168 per 1,000 live births in 1990. Life expectancy in Afghanistan is 43 for women and 43.3 for men (2003) and is at least 20 years lower than all neighbouring countries and just over six years lower than the average for the least developed countries, as defined by the UNDP.

Afghanistan's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) indicators are below the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries, according to the UNDP.

In 2004, Afghanistan became the 191st signatory to the MDGs.

UNDP on Afghanistan

UNDP on Afghanistan with focus on poverty reduction

UNDP on Afghanistan with focus on the Millennium Goals

Afghanistan Information Management Service

Education

Afghanistan is reforming the education system, including schools, universities, vocational training institutions and non-formal education. According to UNDP, four million children have enrolled in school since the fall of the Taliban regime. Nearly 40 percent are girls. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that only 51.9 percent of Afghan men over the age of 15 and 21.9 percent of women in the same age-group can read and write. The Literacy and Non-formal Education Development in Afghanistan project (LAND AFGHAN) was launched with the signing of an agreement between UNESCO and Afghanistan in 2003 to fill part of the education gap that resulted from war.

UNESCO on Afghanistan and the Literacy Project

Children

Some 57 percent of Afghans are younger than 18 years. Afghanistan's infant and under-five mortality rates are among the highest in the world. Diarrhoea, respiratory infections, malaria and malnutrition are common deadly threats.

There are an estimated 8,000 child soldiers in the country. Child kidnapping and trafficking are common in the northern and northeastern regions. Many children are seized for their income-generating abilities and end up being exploited in Pakistan or Gulf States.

Primary-school enrolment rates have increased tenfold for girls and by two-thirds for boys since 2001 but there is a large gender gap in school enrolment; in many provinces, girls rarely attend school at all.

Health

Afghanistan's health status is among the poorest in the world. Much of the population lacks access to basic healthcare and the shortage of health staff is acute. An impressive immunisation drive has virtually eradicated polio just five years after the disease caused more disability than land mines. A measles campaign has saved nearly 30,000 lives. Access to safe water in 2000 was just 17 percent, according to UNICEF.

The most recent figures from HRW show that one woman dies every 30 minutes due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

See: World Health Organization

HIV/AIDS

There is little data on the HIV/AIDS situation in Afghanistan and according to UNDP, only 11 cases have been reported. The main mode of transmission is believed to be through sharing infected drug needles and blood transfusion. The WHO estimates that only half of the 44 medical facilities that transfuse blood are able to screen it for HIV.

Food security

After decades of war, Afghanistan is making progress but poverty is widespread. Afghanistan's infrastructure has been virtually destroyed, its human-resource base severely depleted and its social capital eroded. A 2003 nationwide vulnerability assessment found that 3.5 million Afghans are extremely poor and chronically food insecure. The country has suffered severe droughts. Another three million are seasonally food insecure. In total, the UN estimates that seven million people are vulnerable to famine.

Gender issues

The complete exclusion of women from social, economic and public life under the Taliban has had a severe impact on the country. There has been some progress since the fall of the Taliban, but Afghanistan still has a long way to go. The constitution promulgated by Karzai in 2004 ensures that the citizens of Afghanistan, whether man or woman, have equal rights and duties before the law and that any kind of discrimination among citizens is prohibited. According to HRW, progress has been slow and women still face disproportionate threats and violence. The constitution also guarantees a minimum of two seats per province in the national assembly to women.

UNIFEM Afghanistan - United Nations Development Fund for Women

Human rights

Afghanistan's past has been permeated by grave human rights violations, according to Amnesty International, but improvement has been seen since the establishment of the new government. However, poverty, lawlessness, factional fighting, repression and insecurity increase significantly with distance from city centres, usually where warlords dominate.The Bonn Agreement provided for the establishment of an Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in June 2002.

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission

Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Human Rights Watch

Humanitarian needs

Afghanistan needs help in assisting returning refugees; dealing with land-mines; healthcare and education; protection of human rights, water and sanitation, food aid and nutrition.