Afghanistan

Afghanistan



__**Geography**__


 * Afghanistan is bordered on the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, on the extreme northeast by China, on the east and south by Pakistan, and by Iran on the west.
 * Afghanistan is approximately the size of the state of Texas.
 * Afghanistan is a landlocked country, which means that the entire country is surrounded by land and not water.
 * The country is split east to west by the Hindu Kush mountain range, rising in the east to heights of 24,000 ft (7,315 m).
 * With the exception of the southwest, most of the country is covered by high snow-capped mountains and is traversed by deep valleys.
 * Some of Afghanistan's natural hazards are damaging earthquakes occur in the Hindu Kush mountains, flooding, and droughts.
 * Afghanistan's natural resources are natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, uranium, gold, silver, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.
 * Some of the environmental issues that Afghanistan faces are limited fresh water,overgrazing,deforestation, desertification, air and water pollution

**__How Afghanistan became how it is Today__**
 * Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union (Russia) in the late 1970's and they fought each other for many years until Afghanistan finally pushed them out in the late 1980's.
 * Disputes between the Taliban and Al Qaeda occur for several years, many consider it a war, and deeply affects the civilans around Afghanistan.
 * The Taliban militia are born in 1994, and advance rapidly against the Rabbani government.
 * The Taliban quickly took over the governement and tortured many of the Afghanis.
 * Afghanistan has very high rates of poverty due to the fact taht they have limited resources for them to use, such as water and shelter, because of being landlocked and either hot deserts or cold mountain tops.
 * Ever since the Taliban took over the government, the government of Afghanistan has been corrupted and not spending its money on the people but instead on the wars they've been in helping last in those wars instead of the people who truly need it.
 * On September 9, 2001, two Arab suicide attackers, allegedly belonging to Al Qaeda, posing as journalists, detonated a bomb hidden in a video camera while interviewing Ahmed Shah Massoud in the Takhar province of Afghanistan.
 * Some analysts believe that Massoud's assassination is connected to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, which may be the terrorist attack that Massoud had warned against during his speech to the European Parliament several months earlier
 * Even though the U.S. has helped Afghanistan in their war against Russia, the U.S. has been against Afghanistan for many years, especially ever since 9/11

**__Quote__**
 * "Despite everything that has befallen us, do we not continue to hold the destiny of this shattered and magnificent nation, together with the future of all our children--girls and boys alike--in the palm of our hands.?" -Greg Mortenson
 * "We stand together, as NATO allies and partner nations, in assisting the government of Afghanistan to build its security capabilities." -Global Security
 * "Afghan society is very complex, and Afghanistan has a very complex culture, part of the reason it has remained unknown is because of this complexity." -Mohsen Makhmalba
 * "But apart from the military measures, security measures, of course, Afghanistan needs great help for building up its social life, its economic life. It has become a very poor country, neglected for many years." -Bulent Ecerit
 * "...They're great people to work with and have a strong work ethic, but they're still trying to rebuild and get their economy going again." -Global Security

**__Economic Status__**
 * Afghanistan has suffered from such chronic instability and conflict during its modern history that its economy and infrastructure are in ruins, and many of its people are refugees.
 * Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries.
 * Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs.
 * However, Afghanistan's economy has grown at a fast pace since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, albeit from a low base. GDP growth exceeded 12% in 2007 and 3.4% in 2008; growth for 2009-2010 was 22.5%.
 * Despite these increases, unemployment remains around 40% and factors such as corruption, security, and shortage of skilled workers constrains development and the conduct of business.
 * In June 2006, Afghanistan and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program for 2006-2009 that focused on maintaining macroeconomic stability, boosting growth, and reducing poverty.
 * Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of conflict.
 * The economy has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector, and service sector growth.
 * Two of the biggest challenges to Afghanistan’s growing economy are corruption and the significant security problem.

**__Society__**
 * In 2004 Afghanistan held it's first democratic election, wherer 8 million people voted.
 * Since the taliban retreated in 2001, womens rights have greatly improved. While in some areas women are still required to wear burkas. Other areas, women can and are elected to highly notable positions in the government.
 * Local law is enforced by war lords and criminals. Violent executions are performed in public.
 * Only 28% of the population can read and write.
 * Afghanistan has the highest rate of death in birthing mothers, in the world. 14 deaths for every 1000 births.
 * 5 million children cannot access education.
 * the total population of internal displacement has recently increased to over 440,000 people.
 * Some common and deadly diseases in Afghanistan include: diarrhea, hepatitis, typhoid fever, malaria, rabies, and H5N1.
 * 29,835,392 people are currently living in Afghanistan.

**__Works Cited__**
 * "The World Factbook." //Central Intelligence Agency //. Central Intelligence Agency, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. .

history/chron/index4.html>. []. library/cia/blcafghanistan.htm>. imgres?q=maps+of+afghanistan&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&gbv=2&addh=36&tbm=isch&tbni d=7k_f8HFU71SuvM:&imgrefurl=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ afghanistan.html&docid=NL-kj-bnSng9rM&imgurl=http://static.lonelyplanet.com/ worldguide/maps/ wg-afghanistan-1-400x300.gif&w=400&h=300&ei=AyHUTvm7Bqbs2AW5991R&zoom=1&biw=671&b ih=668&iact=rc&dur=110&sig=110056992319500790012&page=1&tbnh=128&tbnw=170&start=0 &ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=64&ty=87>. A0107264.html>. Geography_of_Afghanistan>. History_of_Afghanistan#Contemporary_era_.281973.E2.80.93present.29>. > . > . > n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.  20116812933228775.html
 * "ASIA-PACIFIC Afghanistan." //Humanitarian Action for Children //. UNICEF, 16 May 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
 * "Afghanistan Online." //Afghanistan Online //. Afghan- Web, 9 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. [|http://www.afghan-web.com].
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 * //afghan-web.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. <http://www.afghan-web.com/
 * //connect-afghanistan.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
 * //geography.about.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. //Afghanistan Quotes//. Brainy Quotes, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
 * BBC. "Afghanistan Profile." //BBC News//. N.p., 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.
 * Carlstrom, Gregg. "'Economic Depression' Looms in Afghanistan." //Aljazeera//. N.p.,

>  //af.html>// []. > 2011. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/afghanistan>. > Still a Long Way to Go." //USIP's Daily Page//. United States Institute of > Peace, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://www.usip.org/publications/ > afghanistans-economy-right-road-still-long-way-g> > //of State//. US Department of State, 6 Dec. 2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. > <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5380.htm#econ>. > Berger Group, Inc., 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http:/// > [|www.irp-af.com/]
 * CIA. "CIA the World Factbook." //CIA Government//. CIA, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.
 * Daylife//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
 * "Quotes About Afghanistan." //Goodreads//. © 2011 Goodreads Inc, 2011. Web. 28 Nov.
 * United States Institute of Peace. "Afghanistan's Economy: On the Right Road, But
 * US state department. "Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs." //US Department//
 * "Welcome to USAID." //USAID from the American People//. Copyright © 2011 The Louis