The Project Gutenberg EBook of The 1992 CIA World Factbook, by United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

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Title: The 1992 CIA World Factbook

Author: United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

Posting Date: February 21, 2010 [EBook #48] Release Date: October, 1993

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE 1992 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK ***

Produced by Dr. Gregory B. Newby

The Project Gutenberg Edition of THE CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 1992: January 1, 1993

This edition, as are all Project Gutenberg Editions, is Plain Vanilla ASCII, meaning there are no characters other than what you would see on paper, thus no page returns, no markup, nothing but the characters you would type if you were to copy this from a book on a typewriter. Repetitive paged headers and trailing spaces are not present. Leading spaces have been preserved in fact sections for readability.

Mail subject headers can be searched with leading :'s. . .such as:

:Afghanistan Geography
:Afghanistan People
:Afghanistan Government
:Afghanistan Government
:Afghanistan Economy
:Afghanistan Economy
:Afghanistan Communications
:Afghanistan Defense Forces

To find the beginning of any country, search for :country
To find internal information, search for :country section, as above.

THE CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 1992

:Afghanistan Geography

Total area:
    647,500 km2
Land area:
    647,500 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries:
    5,529 km total; China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan
    1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km
Coastline:
    none - landlocked
Maritime claims:
    none - landlocked
Disputes:
    Pashtunistan issue over the North-West Frontier Province with Pakistan;
    periodic disputes with Iran over Helmand water rights; Pakistan, Saudi
    Arabia, and Iran continue to support clients in country; power struggles
    among various groups for control of Kabul, regional rivalries among emerging
    warlords, and traditional tribal disputes continue
Climate:
    arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
Terrain:
    mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Natural resources:
    natural gas, crude oil, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc,
    iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
Land use:
    arable land 12%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 46%; forest and
    woodland 3%; other 39%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
    damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; soil degradation,
    desertification, overgrazing, deforestation, pollution
Note:
    landlocked

:Afghanistan People

Population:
    US Bureau of the Census - 16,095,664 (July 1992), growth rate 2.4% (1992)
    and excludes 3,750,796 refugees in Pakistan and 1,607,281 refugees in Iran;
    note - another report indicates a July 1990 population of 16,904,904,
    including 3,271,580 refugees in Pakistan and 1,277,700 refugees in Iran
Birth rate:
    44 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    20 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    0 migrants/1,000 population (1992); note - there are flows across the border
    in both directions, but data are fragmentary and unreliable
Infant mortality rate:
    162 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    45 years male, 43 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    6.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    noun - Afghan(s); adjective - Afghan
Ethnic divisions:
    Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 19%; minor ethnic groups include
    Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others
Religions:
    Sunni Muslim 84%, Shi`a Muslim 15%, other 1%
Languages:
    Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and
    Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%; much
    bilingualism
Literacy:
    29% (male 44%, female 14%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
    4,980,000; agriculture and animal husbandry 67.8%, industry 10.2%,
    construction 6.3%, commerce 5.0%, services and other 10.7%, (1980 est.)
Organized labor:
    some small government-controlled unions existed under the former regime but
    probably now have disbanded

:Afghanistan Government

Long-form name:
    Islamic State of Afghanistan
Type:
    transitional
Capital:
    Kabul
Administrative divisions:
    30 provinces (velayat, singular - velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan,
    Balkh, Bamian, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol,
    Kandahar, Kapisa, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz,
    Oruzgan, Paktia, Paktika, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak,
    Zabol; note - there may be a new province of Nurestan (Nuristan)
Independence:
    19 August 1919 (from UK)
Constitution:
    the old Communist-era constitution probably will be replaced with an Islamic
    constitution
Legal system:
    a new legal system has not been adopted but the transitional government has
    declared it will follow Islamic law (Shari`a)
National holiday:
    28 April, Victory of the Muslim Nation; 4 May, Remembrance Day for Martyrs
    and Disabled; 19 August, Independence Day
Executive branch:
    a 51-member transitional council headed by Sibghatullah MOJADDEDI rules
    Kabul; this body is to turn over power to a leadership council, which will
    function as the government and organize elections; Burhanuddin RABBANI will
    serve as interim President
Legislative branch:
    previous bicameral legislature has been abolished
Judicial branch:
    an interim Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been appointed, but a new
    court system has not yet been organized
Leaders:
  Chief of State and Head of Government:
    Interim President Burhanuddin RABBANI; First Vice President Abdul Wahed
    SORABI (since 7 January 1991); Prime Minister Fazil Haq KHALIQYAR (since 21
    May 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
    the former resistance parties represent the only current political
    organizations and include Jamiat-i-Islami (Islamic Society), Burhanuddin
    RABBANI; Hizbi Islami-Gulbuddin (Islamic Party), Gulbuddin Hikmatyar
    Faction; Hizbi Islami-Khalis (Islamic Party) Yunis Khalis Faction;
    Ittihad-i-Islami Barai Azadi Afghanistan (Islamic Union for the Liberation
    of Afghanistan), Abdul