Afghanistan. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
A state in the Middle East, in the northwestern part of Central Asia. Area - 652.2 thousand km². Capital - Kabul (approx. 2.5 million, 2005), major cities: Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, and others. Administratively divided into 34 provinces. Population - approx. 28 million (2004): Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Kazakhs, Turkmen, and others. About 5 million Afghans who left the country during the Afghan conflict are still in Pakistan, Iran, and several other countries, including the USA and Canada. Official languages - Pashto and Dari. State religion: the overwhelming majority of the population practices Sunni Islam. Currency - Afghani.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the RSFSR in 1919).
National holiday - August 19 - Independence Day (1919).
In Afghanistan, the following military-political organizations operate: Islamic Party of Afghanistan (founded in 1979 after the split of the existing Islamic Party of Afghanistan since 1976 into the parties of Hekmatyar and Khalis, leader - G. Hekmatyar, who headed the government, the cabinet of consensus, under President B. Rabbani since May 1993; in September 1996, the Taliban entering Kabul announced the removal of the president and government), Islamic Party of Afghanistan (founded in 1979; leader - Y. Khalis), Islamic Society of Afghanistan (founded in 1970, enjoyed support among the Tajik population; leader - B. Rabbani), National Salvation Front of Afghanistan (founded in 1980; leader - S. Mojadidi), National Islamic Front of Afghanistan (founded in 1979; leader - A. Gailani), Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan (founded in 1983; leader - A. Sayyaf), Movement of Islamic Revolution of Afghanistan (founded in 1979; leader - N. Mohammad), Party of Islamic Unity of Afghanistan (operating since 1989, enjoyed support among Shiites; faction leaders - K. Khal or M. Akbari), National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (founded in 1992; based in the north of the country; leader - A. Dostum), Taliban Movement (leader - M. Omar).
The first centralized state on the territory of the I.R.A. - the Durrani Empire - was formed in the mid-18th century. For more than a century following this, Great Britain attempted to subjugate it, incorporating it into its colonial possessions (Anglo-Afghan Wars of 1838-42, 1878-80, and 1919). However, the Afghans managed to preserve their statehood. At the same time, a number of onerous treaties and agreements were imposed on them, one of which (from 1893) detached extensive areas populated by Pashtuns and Baloch from Afghanistan along the so-called "Durand Line," which has not been recognized by any Afghan government to this day, and annexed them to British India. They are now part of Pakistan.
In 1919, Emir Amanullah proclaimed the independence of the country. In August 1919, a preliminary peace treaty was signed, according to which Great Britain recognized the independence of the Afghan state. The final peace treaty was concluded in November 1921. Russia was the first country to recognize Afghanistan's independence and establish diplomatic relations with it.
On November 28, 1921, a Russian-Afghan Treaty of Friendship was signed in Kabul, laying the foundation for good neighborly relations between the two countries and peoples.
From 1923 to 1973, Afghanistan was a constitutional monarchy. After the overthrow of King M. Zahir Shah on July 17, 1973, the country was proclaimed the Republic of Afghanistan (RA).
Afghanistan is a member of the UN (since 1946), Colombo Plan (since 1964).
On April 27, 1978, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA, established in 1965) staged a coup, bringing leftist pro-communist forces to power, and the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). In November 1987, it was again given its former name - the Republic of Afghanistan.
The democratic slogans proclaimed in the DRA government's program did not correspond to the content and direction of the reforms it initiated. Essentially, there was an attempt to build a socio-economic and political system in Afghanistan similar to that which existed in the countries of Eastern Europe. This began to provoke resistance from a significant part of the population. The formation of an opposition front began, the core and main force of which became organizations operating under the banner of preserving the Muslim faith.
The USSR, in accordance with the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness, and Cooperation of December 5, 1978, implemented a program of political and economic cooperation with the DRA. However, the situation in the country became complicated. At the end of December 1979, Soviet troops were introduced into Afghanistan, by agreement with the country's leadership. This act led to an intensification of the opposition movement and a sharp escalation of tensions in the country. The conflict involved the USA, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and some other countries. The indirect Afghan-Pakistani negotiations that began in 1982 in Geneva concluded on April 14, 1988, with the signing of agreements by the RA, Pakistan, the USSR, and the USA on the political settlement of the situation around Afghanistan. According to the agreements reached, external interference in Afghan internal affairs was to cease. On November 15, 1989, Soviet troops left Afghanistan. At the same time, military and financial-economic assistance to the then Afghan regime continued until January 1, 1992.
After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the efforts of the republic's leadership were primarily directed at containing the pressure of the opposition. However, its armed pressure did not weaken. By the spring of 1992, a UN plan for Afghan settlement was developed, which provided for the resignation of the president of the RA and his cabinet, and the creation of a transitional neutral government. In March 1992, major national-territorial formations under the command of General Dostum, which later united into a single military-political organization - the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, ceased to support the government. As a result, it lost control over strategically important northern provinces of the country. On April 28, the government was forced to surrender power without a fight to the opposition groups that occupied Kabul. The country was proclaimed the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
Power passed to the Council of Jihad (the transitional council of the mujahideen - "fighters for faith," as the opposition called themselves), which in late June transferred the functions of the head of state to the head of the IGA Leadership Council, B. Rabbani, for a period of 4 months. In May 1992, the parliament was dissolved, and all laws contradicting Sharia were repealed.
In this regard, the UN-proposed Afghan settlement plan lost its relevance. At the same time, the opposition groups that came to power immediately began infighting for a leading position in the state. In August 1992, large-scale hostilities began, covering the capital of Afghanistan and several of its districts, between government troops and supporters of G. Hekmatyar. On December 30, 1992, the Plenary Assembly of People's Representatives elected B. Rabbani as the permanent president of the country for a term of 2 years. The Leadership Council of the IGA was dissolved. On January 10, 1993, the Afghan authorities announced the formation of a parliament (205 deputies). In March 1993, several Afghan leaders signed an agreement in Islamabad to cease hostilities. However, its implementation was thwarted due to ongoing deep disagreements among Afghan groups.
Since December 1993, fierce armed struggle between these groups did not cease, in which the Taliban Movement (TM), which opposed the mujahideen (the word "Talib" translates to "student of a madrasa" - a religious educational institution, from which the first units of the Movement were initially formed), became involved from September 1994. It formed in the mid-1980s on the territory of Pakistan with the assistance of the country's intelligence services as a Pashtun-based military-political group of followers of the radical direction in Islam - Sunni Islam, whose activities were aimed at creating a theocratic state in Afghanistan. It was led by Mullah M. Omar. Launching a struggle against the government of B. Rabbani, the Taliban managed to capture Kabul in September 1996, and by the fall of 1998 - the majority of the provinces of the country. However, this did not lead to the cessation of armed confrontation between groups in Afghanistan (in the anti-Taliban resistance, the forces of Ahmad Shah Masoud operating in the north of the country were prominent; he was killed on September 9, 2001).
The UN Security Council resolutions adopted after September 11, 2001, on combating terrorism provided the necessary legal basis for the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. On October 7, 2001, a military campaign "Operation Enduring Freedom" against the Taliban Movement began, which contributed to the overthrow of this regime by the forces of the United Front of mujahideen.
In January 2004, the Constitution of Afghanistan was adopted at the Constitutional Loya Jirga. The president elected in October 2004, Hamid Karzai, formed a new government. In September 2005, parliamentary elections were held in the country.
According to UN statistics, Afghanistan is among the least economically developed countries in the world. The economic backwardness of Afghanistan is largely due to the ongoing civil war for 20 years, the absence of real central authority in the country, and the de facto division of the state into self-governing regions.
A characteristic feature of modern economic life in the country is the growth of the shadow economy, the cultivation and production of narcotic substances. The national economy of Afghanistan is almost entirely dependent on foreign aid.
The country has large reserves of copper, natural gas, gold, beryllium, emeralds, coal, and salt.
The main mode of transport is by road. Traditional export goods include gas, dried fruits, cotton, carpets, and karakul; imports include machinery, equipment, vehicles, petroleum products, and food.
Currently, about 300 newspapers are published in Afghanistan, of which over 100 are in the provinces. State radio and television, as well as several private radio stations and TV channels, broadcast their programs. The official printed publications of Afghanistan include the newspapers "Anis," "Hewad," and "Islah." Among private media, the most influential and authoritative are the newspapers "Irada," "Arman-e Melli," and "Kabul Weekly."