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Afghānistān, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Persian: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان), is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Asia and the Middle East. Generally considered a part of Central Asia, it is sometimes ascribed to a regional bloc in either South Asia or the Middle East, as it has religious, ethno-linguistic, and geographic links with most of its neighbours. It is largely bordered by Pakistan in the south and east,Part of the region bordering Pakistan falls in the disputed Kashmir region which is claimed by India Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and the People's Republic of China in the far east. The name Afghanistan means "Afghani place" or "Land of the Afghans".

Afghanistan is a mosaic of ethnic groups, and a crossroads between the East and West. It is an ancient focal point of trade and migration. The region of modern Afghanistan has seen many invaders come and go, including the Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, British and the Soviets. Afghanistan was created as a nation in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani.Encyclopaedia Britannica - Ahmad Shah Durrani...Link In 1919, following the Anglo-Afghan wars, the country gained full independence from the UK over its foreign affairs.

Since 1979, Afghanistan has suffered almost continuous conflict, beginning with the Soviet invasion followed by a civil war and finally by the 2001 US invasion, in which the ruling Taliban government was toppled. In December 2001, the United Nations Security Council authorized the creation of an International Security Assistance Force. This force, composed of NATO troops, has been involved in assisting the government of President Hamid Karzai in establishing authority across the country.

Etymology

Main articles: Origins of the name Afghan and List of country name etymologies

The name Afghānistān translates to Land of the Afghans. Its modern usage derives from the word Afghan.

Origin of the word "Afghan"

The Pashtuns began using the term Afghan as a name for themselves from at least the Islamic period and onwards. According to W. K. Frazier Tyler, M. C. Gillet and several other scholars, "The word Afghan first appears in history in the Hudud-al-Alam in 982 AD."

In this regard, the Encyclopædia Iranica statesCh.M. Kieffer, "Afghan" (with ref. to "Afghanistan: iv. Ethnography"), in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition 2006, (LINK):

It further explains:

This information is supported by traditional Pashto literature, for example in the writings of the 17th century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattakextract from "Passion of the Afghan" by Khushal Khan Khattak; translated by C. Biddulph in "Afghan Poetry Of The 17th Century: Selections from the Poems of Khushal Khan Khattak", London, 1890:

Meaning and origin of the name "Afghanistan"

The last part of the name, -stān, is an Indo-Iranian suffix for "place", prominent in the Persian language.

The term "Afghanistan", meaning "Land of the Afghans", was mentioned by the 16th century Mughal Emperor Babur in his memoirs, referring to the territories south of Kabul that were inhabited by Pashtuns (called "Afghans" by Babur)Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur in Bāburnāma, "Transactions of the year 908", translated by John Leyden, Oxford University Press 1921 (LINK).

Regarding the modern usage of the name "Afghanistan", the Encyclopædia Of IslamM. Longworth Dames/G. Morgenstierne/R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition states:

Until the 19th century, the name was only used for the traditional lands of the Pashtuns, while the kingdom as a whole was known as the Kingdom of Kabul, as mentioned by the British statesman and historian Mountstuart ElphinstoneElphinstone, M., "Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies in Persia and India", London 1815; published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown.

Later, Afghan authorities adopted and extended the name "Afghanistan" to the entire kingdom, after its English translation, "Afghanland", had already appeared in various treaties between British Raj and Qajarid Persia, referring to the lands that were subject to the Pashtun Barakzai Dynasty of Kabul. It became the official name of the country in 1919, after Afghanistan gained its full independence from the BritishM. Ali, "Afghanistan: The War of Independence, 1919", Kabul [s.n.], 1960, and was confirmed as such in 1964 by Afghanistan's first national constitutionAfghanistan's Constitution of 1964, English translation, LINK.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a land-locked and mountainous country in central Asia, with plains in the north and southwest. The highest point is Nowshak, at 7485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level. Large parts of the country are dry, and fresh water supplies are limited. Afghanistan has a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The country is frequently subject to minor earthquakes.

At 249,984 mi² (647,500 km²), Afghanistan is the world's 41st-largest country (after Burma). It is comparable in size to Somalia, and is slightly smaller than the US state of Texas.

The country's natural resources include gold, silver, copper, zinc and iron ore in southeastern areas; precious and semi-precious stones such as lapis, emerald and azure in the north-east; and potentially significant oil and gas reserves in the north. However, these significant mineral and energy resources remain largely untapped due to the effects of the Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil war. Plans are underway to begin extracting them in the near future.

History

Main article: History of Afghanistan

Excavation of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institute and others suggests that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the area were among the earliest in the world.Nancy Hatch Dupree - An Historical Guide To Afghanistan - Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)...Link

Afghanistan is a country at a unique nexus point where numerous Eurasian civilizations have interacted and often fought, and was an important site of early historical activity. Through the ages, the Hindu Kush has been home to the Aryans (Indo-Iranians: Indo-Aryans, Persians, Medes, Parthians, etc.). It also has been invaded by a host of people, including the Greeks, Mauryans, Kushans, Hepthalites, Arabs, Mongols, Turks, British, Soviets, and most recently by the Americans. On other occasions, native Afghan entities have invaded surrounding regions to form empires of their own.

It has been speculated that Zoroastrianism might have originated in what is now Afghanistan between 1800 to 800 BC. Ancient Eastern Iranian languages, such as Avestan, may have been spoken in this region around a similar time-line with the rise of Zoroastrianism. By the middle of the 6th century BC, the Persian Empire of the Achaemenids supplanted the Median Empire and incorporated what was known as Persia to Greeks within its boundaries; and by 330 BC, Alexander the Great had invaded Afghanistan and conquered the surrounding regions. Following Alexander's brief occupation, the Hellenistic successor states of the Seleucids and Greco-Bactrians controlled the area, while the Mauryas from India annexed the southeast for a time and introduced Buddhism to the region until the area returned to the Bactrian rule.

During the 1st century AD, the Tocharian Kushans created a vast dynasty in modern Afghanistan region, bringing the Buddhism culture into this territory. Kushanians were then defeated by Sassanids in the 3rd century AD. Sassanids ruled up to the 7th century, when Muslim Arab armies conquered the Sassanid Empire in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. The Arab Abbasid Empire conquered the northwest section of Afghanistan by the 9th century and administered that region as part of Khorasan.Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Khorasan...Link

In the Middle Ages, up to the 18th century, the region was known as KhorāsānGhubar, Mir Ghulam Mohammad, Khorasan, 1937 Kabul Printing House, Kabul)Tajikistan Development Gateway from The Development Gateway Foundation - History of Afghanistan LINK. Several important centers of Khorāsān are thus located in modern Afghanistan, such as Balkh, Herat, Ghazni and Kabul 1. Afghanistan became the center of various important empires, including the Samanids (875-999), Ghaznavids (977-1187), Ghurids (1149-1212), Seljukids (1037-1194) and Timurids (1370-1506). Among them, the periods of GhaznavidsEncyclopaedia Britannica, Online Edition - Ghaznavid Dynasty LINK of Ghazni and TimuridsEncyclopaedia Britannica, Online Edition - Timurid Dynasty LINK of Herat are considered as one of the most brilliant eras of Afghanistan's history. Some scholars believe that the period of Timurids resembles to a Renaissance age for Khorasan or more particularly for Afghanistan. ^{[citation�needed]} The most powerful ruler of Ghaznavid EmpireEncyclopaedia Britannica, Online Edition - Ghaznavids and Ghurids LINK was Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, from modern-day Ghazni, Afghanistan.Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) - Mahmud of Ghazna...LinkEncyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Mahmud...Link This empire was succeeded by the Ghorid EmpireEncyclopaedia Britannica, Online Edition - Ghurid Sultanate LINK, led by Mohammad of Ghor, from modern-day Ghor, Afghanistan,Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) - Muhammad of Ghor...LinkEncyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Muizz-ud-Din-Muhammad...Linkwhose domains laid the foundations for the Delhi Sultanate in India.Encyclopaedia Britannica, Online Edition - The Dehli Sultanate LINK

Coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder and first king of Afghanistan.

In 1219, the region was overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who devastated the land. Their rule continued with the Ilkhanates, and was extended further following the invasion of Timur Lang, a ruler from Central Asia. In 1504, Babur, a descendant of both Timur Lang and Genghis Khan, established the Mughal Empire with its capital at Kabul. By the early 1700s, the region of modern Afghanistan was controlled by several ruling groups: Uzbeks to the north, Safavids to the west and the remaining larger area by the Mughals or self ruled by local Afghan tribes.

In 1709, Mirwais Khan Hotak, a local Afghan (Pashtun) from the Ghilzai clan, overthrew and killed Gurgin Khan, the Safavid governor of Kandahar. Mirwais Khan successfully defeated the Persian Safavids, who were attempting to convert the local population of Kandahar from Sunni to Shia sect of Islam. Mirwais held the region of Kandahar until his death in 1715 and was succeeded by his son Mahmud Hotaki. In 1722, Mahmud led an Afghan army to Isfahan (now in Iran), sacked the city and proclaimed himself King of Persia.The Encyclopaedia Britannica - The Hotakis (from Afghanistan)...Link The Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new Persian ruler, Nadir Shah.

In 1738, Nadir Shah conquered Kandahar; in the same year he occupied Ghazni, Kabul and Lahore. On June 19, 1747, Nadir Shah was assassinated, possibly planned by his nephew Ali Qoli. In the same year, Nadir Shah's top military commander and personal bodyguard, Ahmad Shah Abdali, an Afghan from the Abdali clan, called for a loya jirga following Nadir's death. The Afghans came together at Kandahar and unanimously chose Ahmad Shah to be the King, who changed his last name to Durrani (meaning Pearl). Encyclopaedia Britannica - The Durrani dynasty (from Afghanistan)...Link

Zahir Shah became the youngest, longest-serving and last king of Afghanistan.

By 1751, Ahmad Shah Durrani managed to conquer and rule the entire present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Khorassan region of Iran, along with Delhi in India. In 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Maruf, Kandahar, where he died peacefully.The Encyclopaedia Britannica - Ahmad Shah Durrani...Link He was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah Durrani, who transferred the capital from Kandahar to Kabul. Timur died in 1793 and was finally succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani.

During the 19th century, following the Anglo-Afghan wars (fought 1839-42, 1878-80, and lastly in 1919) and the ascension of the Barakzai dynasty, Afghanistan saw much of its territory and autonomy ceded to the United Kingdom. The UK exercised a great deal of influence, and it was not until King Amanullah Khan acceded to the throne in 1919 that Afghanistan gained complete independence over its foreign affairs (see "The Great Game"). During the period of British intervention in Afghanistan, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line. This would lead to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India – and later the new state of Pakistan – over what came to be known as the Pashtunistan debate.

The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was between 1933 and 1973, when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. However, in 1973, Zahir Shah's brother-in-law, Sardar Daoud Khan launched a bloodless coup. Daoud Khan and his entire family were later murdered in 1978, when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan launched a coup known as the Great Saur Revolution and took over the government.

Sardar Daoud Khan was President of the Republic of Afghanistan from 1973 to 1978.

Opposition against, and conflict within, the series of communist governments that followed, was considerable. As part of a Cold War strategy, in 1979 the United States government under President Jimmy Carter and National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski began to covertly fund and train anti-government Mujahideen forces through the Pakistani secret service agency known as Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), who were derived from discontented Muslims in the country that opposed the official atheism of the Marxist regime. In order to bolster the local Communist forces, the Soviet Union—citing the 1978 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborliness that had been signed between the two countries —intervened on December 24, 1979. According to media and official government sources, between 110,000 to 150,000 Soviet troops, assisted by another 100,000 or so pro-communist Afghan troops, were present in Afghanistan. The Soviet occupation resulted in a mass exodus of over 5 million Afghans that moved into refugee camps in neighboring Pakistan, Iran and other countries. More than 3 million settled in Pakistan, over a million in Iran and many others in different countries of the world. Faced with mounting international pressure and the loss of over 15,000 Soviet soldiers as a result of Mujahideen opposition forces trained by the United States, Pakistan, and other foreign governments, the Soviets withdrew ten years later, in 1989. For more details, see Soviet war in Afghanistan.

The result of the fighting was that the vast majority of the elites and intellectuals had escaped to take refuge abroad, a dangerous leadership vacuum thereby coming into existence. Fighting continued among the various Mujahideen factions, eventually giving rise to a state of warlordism. The most serious fighting during this growing civil conflict occurred in 1994, when over 10,000 people were killed in Kabul. The chaos and corruption that dominated post-Soviet Afghanistan in turn spawned the rise of the Taliban, who were mostly Pashtuns from the Helmand and Kandahar region.

The Taliban developed as a politico-religious force, and eventually seized Kabul in 1996. By the end of 2000, the Taliban were able to capture 95% of the country, aside from the opposition (Afghan Northern Alliance) strongholds primarily found in the northeast corner of Badakhshan Province. The Taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and were later implicated as supporters of terrorists, most notably by harbouring Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

During the Taliban's seven-year rule, much of the population experienced restrictions on their freedom and violations of their human rights. Women were banned from jobs, girls forbidden to attend schools or universities. Those who resisted were punished instantly. Communists were systematically eradicated and thieves were punished by amputating one of their hands or feet. On the positive side, the Taliban managed to nearly eradicate the majority of the opium production by 2001. Opiods - Afghanistan...Link

Ahmed Shah Massoud was a Tajik Afghan military commander who fought against the Soviets in the 1980s, then against the Taliban in the 1990s. He was assassinated on September 9, 2001.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, a military campaign to destroy the Al-Qaeda terrorist network operating in Afghanistan and overthrow their host (the Taliban government). The US made common cause with the Afghan Northern Alliance to achieve its ends.

In December 2001, major leaders from the Afghan opposition groups and diaspora met in Bonn, Germany, and agreed on a plan for the formulation of a new democratic government that resulted in the inauguration of Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun from the southern city of Kandahar, as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority.

President Hamid Karzai casting his vote at the 2004 Presidential elections.

As the country continues to rebuild and recover, it is still struggling against poverty, poor infrastructure, large concentration of land mines and other unexploded ordinance on earth, as well as a huge illegal poppy cultivation and opium trade. Afghanistan also remains subject to occasionally violent political jockeying. The country continues to grapple with the Taliban insurgency, the threat of attacks from a few remaining al-Qaeda, and instability, particularly in the north, caused by the remaining few semi-independent warlords.

See also: Afghanistan timeline�and Invasions of Afghanistan

Government and politics

Main articles on politics and government of Afghanistan can be found at the Politics and government of Afghanistan series.

Politics in Afghanistan has historically consisted of power struggles, bloody coups and unstable transfers of power. With the exception of a military junta, the country has been governed by nearly every system of government over the past century, including a monarchy, republic, theocracy and communist state. The constitution ratified by the 2003 Loya jirga restructured the government as an Islamic republic consisting of three branches, (executive, legislative, and judiciary).

Afghanistan is currently led by President Hamid Karzai, who was elected in October 2004. While supporters have praised Karzai's efforts to promote national reconciliation and a growing economy, critics charge him with failing to rein in the country's warlords, inability to stem corruption and the growing drug trade, and the slow pace of reconstruction. The current parliament was elected in 2005. Among the elected officials were former mujahadeen, Taliban members, communists, reformists, and Islamic fundamentalists. 28% of the delegates elected were women, 3% more than the 25% minimum guaranteed under the constitution. This made Afghanistan, long known under the Taliban for its oppression of women, one of the leading countries in terms of female representation.

The Supreme Court of Afghanistan is currently led by Chief Justice Ab