Portal:Afghanistan

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Afghanistan Portal

Flag of Afghanistan

Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. According to the World Population review, as of 2023^[update], Afghanistan's population is 43 million. The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020^[update].

Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires, the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires. Because of the various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres, the area was a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam. The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century, although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state. Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established.

Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, including lithium, iron, zinc, and copper. It is the second-largest producer of cannabis resin, and third largest of both saffron and cashmere. The country is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Due to the effects of war in recent decades, the country has dealt with high levels of terrorism, poverty, and child malnutrition. Afghanistan remains among the world's least developed countries, ranking 180th in the Human Development Index. Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) is $81 billion by purchasing power parity and $20.1 billion by nominal values. Per capita, its GDP is among the lowest of any country as of 2020^[update]. (Full article...)

Show new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Mohammad Najibullah (Pashto/Dari: محمد نجیب‌الله, Pashto: [mʊˈhamad nad͡ʒibʊˈlɑ ahmadˈzai]; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, the leader of the one-party ruling Republic of Afghanistan from 1986 to 1992 and as well as the President of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after which the mujahideen took over Kabul. After a failed attempt to flee to India, Najibullah remained in Kabul. He lived in the United Nations headquarters until his assassination during the Taliban's capture of Kabul.

A graduate of Kabul University, Najibullah held different careers under the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Following the Saur Revolution and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Najibullah was a low profile bureaucrat. He was sent into exile as Ambassador to Iran during Hafizullah Amin's rise to power. He returned to Afghanistan following the Soviet intervention which toppled Amin's rule and placed Babrak Karmal as head of the state, the party and the government. During Karmal's rule, Najibullah became head of the KHAD, the Afghan equivalent of the Soviet KGB. He was a member of the Parcham faction led by Karmal. During Najibullah's tenure as KHAD head, it became one of the most brutally efficient governmental organs. Because of this, he gained the attention of several leading Soviet officials, such as Yuri Andropov, Dmitriy Ustinov and Boris Ponomarev. In 1981, Najibullah was appointed to the PDPA Politburo. In 1985, Najibullah stepped down as the state security minister to focus on PDPA politics; he had been appointed to the PDPA Secretariat. Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, also the last Soviet leader, was able to get Karmal to step down as PDPA General Secretary in 1986, and replace him with Najibullah. For a number of months, Najibullah was locked in a power struggle against Karmal, who still retained his post of Chairman of the Revolutionary Council. Najibullah accused Karmal of trying to wreck his policy of National Reconciliation, a series of efforts by Najibullah to end the conflict. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know? - load more entries

... that the ruined stronghold of Alexandria Ariana, a city founded by Alexander the Great, may lie underneath the citadel of Herat in present-day Afghanistan?
... that background research for Dujanah included interviews with Muslim apostates and a Scottish veteran of Afghanistan?
... that after travelling around 8,300 km (5,200 mi) from Afghanistan to Ireland, Muzamil Sherzad was named a member of Ireland's squad for the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup?
... that artefacts from Ai-Khanoum, a Hellenistic city rediscovered by the King of Afghanistan in 1961, include a "remarkable" disc displaying "hybrid Greek and Oriental imagery"?
... that University of Nebraska alumnus M. Khalid Roashan helped draft the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan?

General images - show another

The following are images from various Afghanistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An Afghan boy with a kite (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 2Typical Afghan food table (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 3Map of Afghanistan 1839–1863, showing the First Anglo-Afghan war, and unification of Afghanistan by Dost Mohammad Khan (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 4Much of the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan was subordinated to the Achaemenid Empire (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 5Present-day location of Afghanistan in Asia (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 6Map of the region during the 7th century (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 7Outside the Presidential Palace in Kabul, a day after the Marxist revolution on April 28, 1978. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 8Map of the situation in Afghanistan in late 1996; Massoud (red), Dostum (green) and Taliban (yellow) territories. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 9Arachosia, Aria and Bactria were the ancient satraps of the Achaemenid Empire that made up most of what is now Afghanistan during 500 BCE. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 10The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent c. 620, under Khosrow II (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 11Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka (dotted line), according to the Rabatak inscription (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 12Approximate maximum extent of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom circa 180 BCE, including the regions of Tapuria and Traxiane to the West, Sogdiana and Ferghana to the north, Bactria and Arachosia to the south. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 13Afghan musicians in Farah, Afghanistan. (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 14Mongol invasions and conquests seriously depopulated large areas of Afghanistan (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 15Map of the Hotak Empire during the Reign of Mirwais Hotak, 1715. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 16Map of Ghurid territory, before the assassination of Muhammad of Ghor. In the west, Ghurid territory extended to Nishapur and Merv, while Ghurid troops reached as far as Gorgan on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Eastward, the Ghurids invaded as far as Bengal. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 17Ethno-linguistic map of Afghanistan 1997 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 18Gandhara Buddhist reliquary with content, including Indo-Parthian coins. 1st century CE.
Image 19Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1963
Image 20Kabul during civil war in 1993 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 21Songbirds in cages at a farm in Nangarhar Province, used for the pleasure of the site's farmers (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 22Hotaki Empire, 1728 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 23Alexander's troops beg to return home from India in plate 3 of 11 by Antonio Tempesta of Florence, 1608. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 24The day after the Marxist revolution on April 28, 1978 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 25Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent more troops against the United Front of Ahmad Shah Massoud than the Afghan Taliban. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 26Herat Citadel in the western Afghan city of Herat (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 27Ethnolinguistic groups in Afghanistan in 1982 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 28Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaking before U.S. Congress in June 2004 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 29Women dancing in traditional dress in San Francisco (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 30The Mahajanapadas, including the Gandhara and Kambojas kingdoms and Achaemenid Empire in West, around c. 500 BCE (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 31From left to right: Abdullah Abdullah, John Kerry and Ashraf Ghani during the 2014 Afghan presidential election (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 32Elements of Afghan culture including: tabla and harmonium musical instruments, an GhaderKooni, teapot, and sheer pira dessert (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 33NATO's military terminal at Kabul International Airport (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 34President Hamid Karzai observing the honor guard of the Afghan armed forces during the 2011 Afghan Independence Day. (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 35A map of Afghanistan showing the 2021 Taliban offensive (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 36Timurid Empire at its greatest extent in 1405 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 37Players in a game of buzkashi, the national sport (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 38King Yaqub Khan with Britain's Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari, 26 May 1879, on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty of Gandamak (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 39Alexander Empire in South Asia (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 40Map of Afghanistan (Emirate) and surrounding nations, dated 1860. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 41Modern-day sketch work of Mahmud Hotak (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 42An Afghan man with a tasbih (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 43Soldiers of the Afghan National Army in 2010, including the ANA Commando Battalion standing in the front.
Image 44Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent in 1030 CE (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 45Some of the popular Afghan dishes, from left to right: 1. Lamb grilled kebab (seekh kabab); 2. Palao and salad; 3. Tandoori chicken; and 4. Mantu (dumplings). The Afghan cuisine includes a blend of Central Asian, Eastern Asian, South Asian and the Middle Eastern cuisines. Nearly all Afghan dishes are non-spicy. (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 46Map of the situation in Afghanistan in August 2001 until October 2001 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 47The Bimaran casket, representing the Buddha surrounded by Brahma (left) and Śakra (right) was found inside a stupa with coins of Azes inside. British Museum. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 48A miniature from Padshahnama depicting the surrender of the Shia Safavid garrison of Kandahar in 1638 to the Mughal army of Shah Jahan commanded by Kilij Khan. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 49Vishnu Nicolo Seal representing Vishnu with a worshipper (probably Mihirakula), 4th–6th century CE. The inscription in cursive Bactrian reads: "Mihira, Vishnu and Shiva". British Museum. (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 50Women painting at the Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA) in Kabul. (from Culture of Afghanistan)
Image 51Gandhara Kingdom in Early Vedic Period, around 1500 BCE (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 52Taliban fighters patrolling Kabul in a Humvee, 17 August 2021 (from History of Afghanistan)
Image 53Tents of Afghan nomads in the northern Badghis Province of Afghanistan. Early peasant farming villages came into existence in Afghanistan about 7,000 years ago. (from History of Afghanistan)

edit

Related portals

Religions in Afghanistan

Neighboring countries

Other countries

edit

Selected picture - show another

A view of Faryab Province, Afghanistan, 2009

More selected pictures

edit

Topics

edit

Recognized content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Afghanistan}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

Featured articles

Good articles

Featured pictures

3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines - Afghanistan
Meat seller in Kabul
Rosette, Titles of Shah Jahan

edit

New articles

This list was generated from these rules. Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.

Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-10-15 19:30 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.