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Compare China (2001) - Afghanistan (2007)
Compare China (2001) z Afghanistan (2007)
| China (2001) | Afghanistan (2007) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau | 34 provinces (velayat, singular - velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamian, Daykondi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khowst, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Nurestan, Oruzgan, Paktia, Paktika, Panjshir, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak, Zabol |
| Age structure | 0-14 years:
25.01% (male 166,754,893; female 151,598,117) 15-64 years: 67.88% (male 445,222,858; female 418,959,646) 65 years and over: 7.11% (male 42,547,296; female 48,028,480) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 44.6% (male 7,282,600/female 6,940,378)
15-64 years: 53% (male 8,668,170/female 8,227,387) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 374,426/female 396,962) (2007 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish | opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins |
| Airports | 489 (2000 est.) | 46 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
324 over 3,047 m: 27 2,438 to 3,047 m: 88 1,524 to 2,437 m: 147 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.) |
total: 12
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
165 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 29 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 78 (2000 est.) |
total: 34
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2007) |
| Area | total:
9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
total: 647,500 sq km
land: 647,500 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than the US | slightly smaller than Texas |
| Background | For centuries China has stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the first half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines, civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled in the next 20 years and China now has the world's second largest GDP. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to weaken. | Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. Subsequently, a series of civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution and a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. On 7 December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. The National Assembly was inaugurated on 19 December 2005. |
| Birth rate | 15.95 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 46.21 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $269 million
expenditures: $561 million note: Afghanistan has also received $273 million from the Reconstruction Trust Fund and $63 million from the Law and Order Trust Fund (FY04-05 budget est.) |
| Capital | Beijing | name: Kabul
geographic coordinates: 34 31 N, 69 11 E time difference: UTC+4.5 (9.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Climate | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north | arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers |
| Coastline | 14,500 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 | new constitution drafted 14 December 2003-4 January 2004; signed 16 January 2004 |
| Country name | conventional long form:
People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo abbreviation: PRC |
conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
conventional short form: Afghanistan local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan local short form: Afghanestan former: Republic of Afghanistan |
| Currency | yuan (CNY) | - |
| Death rate | 6.74 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 19.96 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Debt - external | $162 billion (2000 est.) | $8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to Multilateral Development Banks (2004) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph W. PRUEHER embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6422 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang |
chief of mission: Ambassador William B. WOOD
embassy: The Great Masood Road, Kabul mailing address: U.S. Embassy Kabul, APO, AE 09806 telephone: [00 93] (20) 230-0436 FAX: [00 93] (20) 230-1364 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate YANG Jiechi chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
chief of mission: Ambassador Said Tayeb JAWAD
chancery: 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-6410 FAX: [1] (202) 483-6488 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York |
| Disputes - international | most of boundary with India in dispute; dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remains to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan | Pakistan, with UN and other international assistance, repatriated 2.3 million Afghan refugees with less than a million still remaining, many at their own choosing; Pakistan has proposed and Afghanistan protests construction of a fence and laying of mines along portions of their border; Coalition and Pakistani forces continue to monitor remote tribal areas to control the border with Afghanistan and stem terrorist and other illegal activities |
| Economic aid - recipient | $NA | international pledges made by more than 60 countries and international financial institutions at the Berlin Donors Conference for Afghan reconstruction in March 2004 reached $8.9 billion for 2004-09 (2005) |
| Economy - overview | In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state managers and enterprises has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2000, with its 1.26 billion people but a GDP of just $3,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s, and industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition by subsides and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid economic growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Weakness in the global economy in 2001 could hamper growth in exports. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure--such as water control and power grids--and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary local levies on farmers. | 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. Real GDP growth exceeded 8% in 2006. Despite the progress of the past few years, 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. Criminality, insecurity, and the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan's living standards from its current level, among the lowest in the world. While the international community remains committed to Afghanistan's development, pledging over $24 billion at three donors' conferences since 2002, Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly $3 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure. |
| Electricity - consumption | 1.084 trillion kWh (1999) | 801.4 million kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - exports | 7.2 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - imports | 90 million kWh (1999) | 100 million kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - production | 1.173 trillion kWh (1999) | 754.2 million kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
79.82% hydro: 18.98% nuclear: 1.2% other: 0.01% (1999) |
- |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Turpan Pendi -154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
lowest point: Amu Darya 258 m
highest point: Nowshak 7,485 m |
| Environment - current issues | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species | limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution |
| Environment - international agreements | party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation |
| Ethnic groups | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% | Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4% |
| Exchange rates | yuan per US dollar - 8.2776 (January 2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996)
note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank of China quotes the midpoint rate against the US dollar based on the previous day's prevailing rate in the interbank foreign exchange market |
afghanis per US dollar - 46 (2006), 47.7 (2005), 48 (2004), 49 (2003), 41 (2002)
note: in 2002, the afghani was revalued and the currency stabilized at about 40 to 50 afghanis to the US dollar; before 2002, the market rate varied widely from the official rate |
| Executive branch | chief of state:
President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998) head of government: Premier ZHU Rongji (since 18 March 1998); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote) |
chief of state: President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid KARZAI (since 7 December 2004); Vice Presidents Ahmad Zia MASOOD and Abdul Karim KHALILI (since 7 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; former King ZAHIR Shah holds the honorific, "Father of the Country," and presides symbolically over certain occasions but lacks any governing authority; the honorific is not hereditary
head of government: President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid KARZAI (since 7 December 2004); Vice Presidents Ahmad Zia MASOOD and Abdul Karim KHALILI (since 7 December 2004) cabinet: 25 ministers; note - under the new constitution, ministers are appointed by the president and approved by the National Assembly elections: the president and two vice presidents are elected by direct vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); if no candidate receives 50% or more of the vote in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes will participate in a second round; a president can only be elected for two terms; election last held 9 October 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: Hamid KARZAI elected president; percent of vote - Hamid KARZAI 55.4%, Yunus QANUNI 16.3%, Ustad Mohammad MOHAQQEQ 11.6%, Abdul Rashid DOSTAM 10.0%, Abdul Latif PEDRAM 1.4%, Masooda JALAL 1.2% |
| Exports | $232 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels | opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems |
| Exports - partners | US 21%, Hong Kong 18%, Japan 17%, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (2000) | India 22%, Pakistan 21%, US 14.6%, UK 6.3%, Denmark 5.5%, Finland 4.3% (2006) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | 21 March - 20 March |
| Flag description | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner | three equal vertical bands of black (hoist), red, and green, with a gold emblem centered on the red band; the emblem features a temple-like structure encircled by a wreath on the left and right and by a bold Islamic inscription above |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.5 trillion (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
15% industry: 50% services: 35% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 38%
industry: 24% services: 38% note: data exclude opium production (2005 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 8% (2000 est.) | 8% (2006 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 35 00 N, 105 00 E | 33 00 N, 65 00 E |
| Geography - note | world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) | landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor) |
| Heliports | - | 9 (2007) |
| Highways | total:
1.4 million km paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
- |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.4% highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Illicit drugs | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine | world's largest producer of opium; cultivation dropped 48% to 107,400 hectares in 2005; better weather and lack of widespread disease returned opium yields to normal levels, meaning potential opium production declined by only 10% to 4,475 metric tons; if the entire poppy crop were processed, it is estimated that 526 metric tons of heroin could be processed; many narcotics-processing labs throughout the country; drug trade is a source of instability and some antigovernment groups profit from the trade; significant domestic use of opiates; 80-90% of the heroin consumed in Europe comes from Afghan opium; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through informal financial networks; source of hashish |
| Imports | $197 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals | capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products |
| Imports - partners | Japan 18%, Taiwan 11%, US 10%, South Korea 10%, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Malaysia (2000) | Pakistan 37.5%, US 11.9%, Germany 7.1%, India 5.1% (2006) |
| Independence | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) | 19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 10% (2000 est.) | NA% |
| Industries | iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications | small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper |
| Infant mortality rate | 28.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 157.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 161.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 152.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.4% (2000 est.) | 16.3% (2005 est.) |
| International organization participation | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC | AsDB, CP, ECO, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 498,720 sq km (1993 est.) | 27,200 sq km (2003) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) | the constitution establishes a nine-member Stera Mahkama or Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for 10-year terms by the president with approval of the Wolesi Jirga) and subordinate High Courts and Appeals Courts; there is also a minister of justice; a separate Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission established by the Bonn Agreement is charged with investigating human rights abuses and war crimes |
| Labor force | 700 million (1998 est.) | 15 million (2004 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 50%, industry 24%, services 26% (1998) | agriculture: 80%
industry: 10% services: 10% (2004 est.) |
| Land boundaries | total:
22,147.24 km border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,676.9 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km |
total: 5,529 km
border countries: China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km |
| Land use | arable land:
10% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 43% forests and woodland: 14% other: 33% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 12.13%
permanent crops: 0.21% other: 87.66% (2005) |
| Languages | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) | 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 |
| Legal system | a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law | based on mixed civil and Shari'a law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Legislative branch | unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA |
the bicameral National Assembly consists of the Wolesi Jirga or House of People (no more than 249 seats), directly elected for five-year terms, and the Meshrano Jirga or House of Elders (102 seats, one-third elected from provincial councils for four-year terms, one-third elected from local district councils for three-year terms, and one-third nominated by the president for five-year terms)
note: on rare occasions the government may convene a Loya Jirga (Grand Council) on issues of independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity; it can amend the provisions of the constitution and prosecute the president; it is made up of members of the National Assembly and chairpersons of the provincial and district councils elections: last held 18 September 2005 (next to be held for the Wolesi Jirga by September 2009; next to be held for the provincial councils to the Meshrano Jirga by September 2008) election results: the single non-transferable vote (SNTV) system used in the election did not make use of political party slates; most candidates ran as independents |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.62 years male: 69.81 years female: 73.59 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 43.77 years
male: 43.6 years female: 43.96 years (2007 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 81.5% male: 89.9% female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 28.1% male: 43.1% female: 12.6% (2000 est.) |
| Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam | Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran |
| Map references | Asia | Asia |
| Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total:
1,745 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,533,521 GRT/24,746,859 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 324, cargo 825, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 11, combination ore/oil 1, container 132, liquefied gas 24, multi-functional large-load carrier 5, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 258, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 41, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
| Military branches | People's Liberation Army (PLA) - which includes Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime) | Afghan National Army (includes Afghan Air Force) (2006) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $12.608 billion (FY99); note - China's real defense spending may be several times higher than the official figure because a number of significant items are funded elsewhere | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY99) | 1.9% (2006 est.) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
366,306,353 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
200,886,946 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
10,089,458 (2001 est.) |
- |
| National holiday | Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) | Independence Day, 19 August (1919) |
| Nationality | noun:
Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese |
noun: Afghan(s)
adjective: Afghan |
| Natural hazards | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts | damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts |
| Natural resources | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) | natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones |
| Net migration rate | -0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Pipelines | crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) | gas 466 km (2006) |
| Political parties and leaders | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [JIANG Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP | Afghanistan Peoples' Treaty Party (Hizb-e-Wolesi Tarhun Afghanistan) [Sayyed Amir TAHSEEN]; Afghanistan's Islamic Mission Organization (Tanzim Daawat-e-Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Rasoul SAYYAF]; Afghanistan's Islamic Nation Party (Hezb-e-Umat-e-Islam-e-Afghanistan) [Toran Noor Aqa Ahmad ZAI]; Afghanistan's National Islamic Party (Hezb-e-Mili Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Rohullah LOUDIN]; Afghanistan's Welfare Party (Hezb-e-Refah-e-Afghanistan) [Meer Asef ZAEEFI]; Afghan Social Democratic Party (Hezb-e-Afghan Melat) [Anwarul Haq AHADI]; Afghan Society for the Call to the Koran and Sunna (Hezb-e-Jamahat-ul-Dawat ilal Quran-wa-Sunat-e-Afghanistan) [Mawlawee Samiullah NAJEEBEE]; Comprehensive Movement of Democracy and Development of Afghanistan Party (Hizb-e-Nahzat Faragir Democracy wa Taraqi-e-Afghanistan) [Sher Mohammad BAZGAR]; Democratic Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Democracy Afghanistan) [Tawos ARAB]; Democratic Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Domcrat-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Kabir RANJBAR]; Elites People of Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e-Nakhbagan-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Hamid JAWAD]; Freedom and Democracy Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Nahzat-e-Aazadee Wa Democracy-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Raqib Jawid KOHISTANEE]; Freedom Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Azadee-e-Afghanistan) [Ilaj Abdul MALEK]; Freedom Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Isteqlal-e-Afghanistan) [Dr. Ghulam Farooq NEJRABEE]; Hizullah-e-Afghanistan [Qari Ahmad ALI]; Human Rights Protection and Development Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Ifazat Az Uqooq-e-Bashar Wa Inkishaf-e-Afghanistan) [Baryalai NASRATI]; Islamic Justice Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Adalat-e-Islami Afghanistan) [Mohammad Kabir MARZBAN]; Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Harakat-e-Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Ali JAWID]; Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Party (Hizb-e-Nahzat-e-Melli Islami Afghanistan) [Mohammad Mukhtar MUFLEH]; Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan) [Mohammad Khalid FAROOQI]; Islamic Party of the Afghan Land (De Afghan Watan Islami Gond) [Mohammad Hassan FEROZKHEL]; Islamic People's Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Harakat-e-Islami Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Ilhaj Said Hussain ANWARY]; Islamic Society of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Jamihat-e-Islami) [Ustad RABBANI]; Islamic Unity of the Nation of Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami-e-Melat-e-Afghanistan) [Qurban Ali URFANI]; Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Karim KHALILI]; Islamic Unity Party of the People of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Ustad Mohammad MOHAQQEQ]; Labor and Progress of Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e-Kar Wa Tawsiha-e-Afghanistan) [Zulfiqar OMID]; Muslim People of Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e-Mardom-e-Mosalman-e-Afghanistan) [Besmellah JOYAN]; Muslim Unity Movement Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Tahreek Wahdat-ul-Musimeen Afghanistan) [Wazir Mohammad WAHDAT]; National and Islamic Sovereignty Movement Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-e-Eqtedar-e-Melli wa Islami Afghanistan) [Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai]; National Congress Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Kangra-e-Mili-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Latif PEDRAM]; National Country Party (Hezb-e-Mili Heward) [GHULAM MOHAMMAD]; National Development Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Taraqee Mili Afghanistan) [Dr. Aref BAKTASH]; National Freedom Seekers Party (Hezb-e-Aazaadi Khwahan Maihan) [Abdul Hadi DABEER]; National Independence Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Esteqlal-e-Mili Afghanistan) [Taj Mohammad WARDAK]; National Islamic Fighters Party of Afghanistan (De Afghanistan De Mili Mubarizeeno Islami Gond) [Amanat NINGARHAREE]; National Islamic Front of Afghanistan (Mahaz-e-Mili Islami Afghanistan) [Pir Sayed Ahmad GAILANEE]; National Islamic Moderation Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Eatedal-e-Mili Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Qara Bik Eized YAAR]; National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Junbish Mili Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Sayed NOORULLAH]; National Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad AKBAREE]; National Movement of Afghanistan (Nahzat-e-Mili Afghanistan) [Ahmad Wali MASOOUD]; National Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Mili Afghanistan) [Abdul Rashid ARYAN]; National Patch of Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e Paiwand Mihahani Afghanistan) [Sayed Kamal SADAT]; National Peace Islamic Party of Afghanistan (De Afghanistan De Solay Mili Islami Gond) [Shah Mohammood Popal ZAI]; National Peace & Islamic Party of the Tribes of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Sulh-e-Mili Islami Aqwam-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Qaher SHARIATEE]; National Peace & Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Sulh Wa Wahdat-e-Mili-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Qader IMAMI]; National Prosperity and Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Sahadat-e-Mili Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Osman SALEKZADA]; National Prosperity Party (Hezb-e-Refah-e-Mili Afghanistan) [Mohammad Hassan JAHFAREE]; National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Nahzat-e-Hambastagee Mili-e-Afghanistan) [Pir Sayed Eshaq GAILANEE]; National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Paiwand Mili Afghanistan) [Sayed Mansoor NADREEI]; National Sovereignty Party (Hezb-e-Eqtedar-e-Mili) [Sayed Mustafa KAZEMI]; National Stability Party (Hezb-e-Subat-e-Mili Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Same KHAROTI]; National Stance Party (Hizb-e-Melli Dareez) [Habibullah JANEBDAR]; National Tribal Unity Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Mili Wahdat-e-Aqwam-e-Islami-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Shah KHOGYANI]; National Unity Movement (Hezb-e-Tahreek Wahdat-e-Mili-e-Afghanistan) [Sultan Mohammad GHAZI]; National Unity Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Harakat-e-Mili Wahdat-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Nadir AATASH]; National Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Afghanistan) [Abdul Rashid JALILI]; New Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e-Afghanistan-e-Naween) [Mohammad Yunis QANUNI]; Peace and National Welfare Activists Society (Hezb-e-Majmeh Mili Faleen-Sulh-e-Afghanistan) [Shamsul Haq Noor SHAMS]; Peace Movement (De Afghanistan De Solay Ghorzang Gond) [Shahnawaz TANAI]; People's Aspirations Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Aarman-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Ilhaj Saraj-u-din ZAFAREE]; People's Freedom Seekers Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Aazadee Khwahan Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Feda Mohammad EHSAS]; People's Liberal Freedom Seekers Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Lebral-e-Aazadee Khwa-e-Afghanistan) [Ajmal SUHAIL]; People's Message Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Resalat-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Noor Aqa WAINEE]; People's Movement of the National Unity of Afghanistan (De Afghanistan De Mili Wahdat Wolesi Tahreek) [Abdul Hakim NOORZAI]; People's Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Ahmad Shah ASAR]; People's Prosperity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Falah-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Ustad Mohammad ZAREEF]; People's Sovereignty Movement of Afghanistan (Nahzat-e-Hakemyat-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Hayatullah SUBHANEE]; People's Uprising Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Rastakhaiz-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Sayed Zahir Qayed Omul BELADI]; People's Welfare Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Refah-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Mia Gul WASIQ]; People's Welfare Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Sahadat-e-Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Zubair PAIROZ]; Progressive Democratic Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Taraqee Democrat Afghanistan) [Wali ARYA]; Republican Party (Hezb-e-Jamhoree Khwahane-Afghanistan) [Sebghatullah SANJAR]; Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Hambastagee-e-Afghanistan) [Abdul Khaleq NEMAT]; The Afghanistan's Mujahid Nation's Islamic Unity Movement (Da Afghanistan Mujahid Woles Yaowaali Islami Tahreek) [Saeedullah SAEED]; The People of Afghanistan's Democratic Movement (Hezb-e-Junbish Democracy Mardom-e-Afghanistan) [Sharif NAZARI]; Tribes Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Hambastagee Mili Aqwam-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Zarif NASERI]; Understanding and Democracy Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Tafahum Wa Democracy-e-Afghanistan) [Ahamad SHAHEEN]; United Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e-Afghanistan-e-Wahid) [Mohammad Wasil RAHIMEE]; United Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-e-Mutahed Islami Afghanistan) [Wahidullah SABAWOON]; Young Afghanistan's Islamic Organization (Hezb-e-Islami-e-Afghanistan-e-Jawan) [Sayed Jawad HUSSINEE]; Youth Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Hambastagee Mili Jawanan-e-Afghanistan) [Mohammad Jamil KARZAI]; note - includes only political parties approved by the Ministry of Justice |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals | - |
| Population | 1,273,111,290 (July 2001 est.) | 31,889,923 (July 2007 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 10% (1999 est.) | 53% (2003) |
| Population growth rate | 0.88% (2001 est.) | 2.625% (2007 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998) | AM 21, FM 5, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashtu, Afghan Persian (Dari), Urdu, and English) (2006) |
| Radios | 417 million (1997) | - |
| Railways | total:
67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails) standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double track) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.) note: a new total of 68,000 km was estimated for early 1999 to take new construction programs into account (1999) |
- |
| Religions | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
note: officially atheist |
Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1% |
| Sex ratio | at birth:
1.09 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.049 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.054 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.943 male(s)/female total population: 1.049 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment:
domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) |
general assessment: very limited telephone and telegraph service; many Afghans utilize growing cellular phone coverage in major cities
domestic: telephone service is improving with the licensing of several wireless telephone service providers in 2005 and 2006; approximately 8 in 100 Afghans own a wireless telephone; telephone main lines remain limited international: country code - 93; five VSAT's installed in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, and Jalalabad provide international and domestic voice and data connectivity (2007) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 135 million (2000) | 280,000 (2005) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 65 million (January 2001) | 2.52 million (2006) |
| Television broadcast stations | 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) | at least 7 (1 government-run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in 6 of the 34 provinces) (2006) |
| Terrain | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east | mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest |
| Total fertility rate | 1.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.64 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2000 est.) | 40% (2005 est.) |
| Waterways | 110,000 km (1999) | 1,200 km (chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT) (2007) |
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