On July 29, 2015, the Afghan government an-nounced that it had received intelligence thatMullah Mohammad Omar, the secretive leader of

the Taliban for nearly 20 years, had died in 2013 in a hos-pital in Pakistan. A day later, a spokesman for the Talibanconfirmed that Mullah Omar was dead and announcedthat his deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, had beenappointed as his successor. In the media there was spec-ulation about how the change in leadership would affectthe group's cohesiveness and what the implications wouldbe for peace talks betweenthe Taliban and the Afghangovernment that began in thesummer of 2015.

DemographyArea: 252,072 sq mi, 652,864 sq km.Population (2015): 25,618,0005.Density (2015): persons per sq mi101.6, persons per sq km 39.2.

Sex distribution (2013–14): male51.16%; female 48.84%.

Population projection: (2020)32,165,000; (2030) 46,417,000.

Major cities (2012): Kabul3,289,000; Herat 436,300;Kandahar (Qandahar)397,500; Mazar-e Sharif368,100; Jalalabad 206,500.

Urban-rural (2013–14):

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2014): 38.8(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000population (2014): 14.1(world avg. 8.1).

Life expectancy at birth(2014): male 49.2 years;female 51.9 years.

Age breakdown (2013):

Ethnolinguistic composition (2004): Religious affiliation (2009):

Afghanistan

Official name: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan(Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan [Dari]); Da Afghanestan Eslami Jamhuriyat (Pashto)1.

Form of government: Islamic republic1 with twolegislative houses (House of Elders [1022];House of the People [2493]).

Head of state and government: President Ashraf Ghani.

Capital: Kabul.Official languages: Dari; Pashto4.Official religion: Islam.Monetary unit: afghani (Af); valuation (Sept. 1,2015) 1 U.S.$ = Af 64.78; 1 £ = Af 99.75.

Population (2013–14 estimate)6population population population

Province (’000) Province (’000) Province (’000)

Badakhshan 919.9Badghis 479.8Baghlan 879.0Balkh 1,271.3Bamian 432.7Daykundi8 410.8Farah 490.6Faryab 964.6Ghazni 1,188.6Ghowr 668.0Helmand 894.2Herat 1,816.1

Jowzjan 521.4Kabol (Kabul) 4,086.5Kandahar 1,175.8Kapisa 426.8Khowst 556.0Konduz 972.2Kunar 436.0Laghman 431.2Lowgar 379.4Nangarhar 1,462.6Nimruz 159.3Nurestan 143.2

Oruzgan 374.1Paktia 534.0Paktika 420.7Panjshir7 148.6Parvan 642.3Samangan 375.1Sar-e Pol 541.0Takhar 950.1Vardak 577.1Zabol 294.1TOTAL 26,023.1

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National economyBudget (2010–11). Revenue: Af 156,626,000,000 (grants 48.6%, domes-tic tax revenue 44.1%, domestic nontax rev-enue 7.3%). Expenditures: Af 231,750,-000,000 (capital expenditure 48.3%, currentexpenditure 51.7%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2013):U.S.$2,097,000,000.

Gross national income (2014): U.S.$21,131,-000,000 (U.S.$680 per capita).

Production (metric tons except as noted).Agriculture, forestry, fishing (2013): wheat5,169,000, grapes 611,000, barley 514,000,rice 512,000, corn (maize) 312,000, potatoes303,000, apricots 90,000, apples 79,000,almonds 42,000, berries 25,000, opium poppy (2012) 3,700; livestock(number of live animals) 13,141,000 sheep, 7,037,000 goats, 170,000camels; roundwood 3,485,812 cu m, of which fuelwood 50%; fish-eries production (2012) 2,050 (from aquaculture 51%). Mining andquarrying (2013): salt (rock) 145,000; marble 67,000; chromite 6,000;lapis lazuli n.a. Manufacturing (value added in Af ’000,000; 2005–06):food 48,575; chemicals 1,206; cement, bricks, and ceramics 809; tex-tiles, wearing apparel, and fur 569; base metals 139. Energy produc-tion (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2012–13) 880,000 (2,666,-000,000), by source (2012): fossil fuels 19.7%; nuclear, none; renew-able energy 80.3%, of which hydroelectric 80.3%; coal (metric tons;2011) 1,480,000 (1,480,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2009) c. 20,000(none); petroleum products (metric tons; 2011) none (2,478,000);natural gas (cu m; 2011) 161,000,000 (161,000,000).

Average household size (2003): 8.0.Population economically active (2008): total 8,728,00011; participation

rates: ages 15–64, male, n.a.; female 26.5%11; unemployed (January2009) c. 33%, of which youth, n.a.

Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops 4.7%, leftfallow 7.2%, in permanent crops 0.2%, in pasture 46.0%, forest area2.1%.

Foreign trade10

Imports (2013–14): U.S.$8,724,084,000 (petroleumproducts 20.0%; food 18.2%, of which wheat 5.4%;machinery and transport equipment 13.7%; fabri-cated metals 11.5%).Major import sources:

Exports (2013–14): U.S.$514,973,000 (dried fruits/nuts 26.6%, of which raisins 7.3%, pistachios 5.0%,almonds 4.5%; high-quality carpets 16.8%; whiteasafoetida 8.7%; licorice roots 4.3%; fresh fruits3.5%)12.Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2006): route length6.2 mi, 10 km. Roads (2006): total length26,190 mi, 42,150 km(paved 29%). Vehicles(2013–14): passengercars 1,141,023; trucksand buses 401,778.

Education and healthLiteracy (2006): percentage oftotal population age 15 andover literate 28.1%; males43.1%; females 12.6%.

Health (2013–14): physicians9,184 (1 per 2,827 persons);hospital beds 12,598 (1 per1,960 persons); infant mortal-ity rate (2014) 109.2.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel(November 2014): 178,500(army 96.4%, air force3.6%)13. Military expenditureas percentage of GDP (2013):13.3%; per capita expendi-ture U.S.$86.

1From promulgation of new constitution on Jan. 26, 2004. 2Thirty-four members are appointed by the president, while the remainder are indirectly elected. 3Three seats arereserved for Kuchis, Afghan Pashtun nomads. 4Six additional locally official languages per the 2004 constitution are Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, Kafiri (Nuristani), Pashai, andPamiri. 5Excludes Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran but includes nomadic population; the first complete national census since 1979 was conducted in September–October2010. 6Refers to settled population only and excludes refugees in Pakistan and Iran. 7Created in 2004 from part of Parv)n. 8Created in 2004 from part of Oruzg)n. 9Taxes onimports. 10Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 11ILO estimate. 12Exports of illegal opiates equaled c. U.S.$2,800,000,000 in 2009. 13Foreign troops (November 2014): 43-country NATO-sponsored security and development force 37,877, of which U.S. 28,970, Germany 1,599, Italy 1,411, Georgia 755, U.K. 750, Turkey 393, Romania 327, Poland 304, Australia273, France 88. 14Subscribers.

Internet resource for further information:• Central Statistics Organization cso.gov.af

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2011–12 2002–03

in value % of total labour % of labourAf ’000,000 value force6 force6

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 241,743 27.0 5,181,400 69.6Mining and quarrying 10,396 1.1Manufacturing 117,171 13.1 362,200 4.9Public utilities 605 0.1Transp. and commun. 174,419 19.5 169,500 2.3Construction 65,199 7.3 98,600 1.3Trade, hotels, restaurants 71,640 8.0 509,600 6.8Finance, real estate 9,719 1.1Public administration 111,704 12.4 1,126,000 15.1Services 61,089 6.8Other 32,4789 3.69

TOTAL 896,163 100.0 7,447,300 100.0

}

}

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2013 21,58814 70114

Landline 2013 95.8 3.1

Internet users 2010 1,256 40Broadband 2013 1.514 —14

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