Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
President: Hamid Karzai
Population
584,578
30,419,928
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
49.720 years
Capital City
Kabul
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Kabul (population: 3,043,530)
Human Development Index
0.591
0
GDP per capita
$1,000 US
Literacy Rate
%
28.1%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
1.5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
25.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
35.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
parliamentary democracy
Islamic republic
Independence date
19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs)
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Sunni Muslim 80%, Shia Muslim 19%, other 1%
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
Exports
opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
External Debt
$1,280,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
afghanis (AFA) per US dollar - 50 (2007), 46 (2006), 47.7 (2005), 48 (2004), 49 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
1
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran
Area
28,896 km sq
652,230 km sq
Coastline
5,313 km
0 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
