About Afghanistan
By Colby Ness 3N
About Afghanistan
Afghanistan is officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
The capital city is Kabul.
The flag of Afghanistan has a vertical black, red and green stripe.
The black stands for the troubled past, the red stands for the blood shed for independence and the green stands for hope for the future.
The emblem in white located in the middle shows a mosque with its mihrab and minbar.
Geography
The major landforms are the Hindu Kush mountain range that splits the country east to west, Mount Noshaq, the southwest plateau, and the Kyber Pass.
It is a landlocked country with a few rivers and lakes. The major rivers are the Kabul River, and the Amu Darya. Some lakes are Lake Zarkol and Kajaki Reservoir.
Famous landmarks include the Jam Minaret, Khyber Pass, and various mosques.
The country has many mountains and flat fertile desert areas.
Government
Afghanistan is ruled by an Islamic republic.
Ashraf Ghani is the current leader.The country is ruled by a president and two vice presidents. They are directly elected for a five year term.
The citizens vote for representatives and for the president.
There has been many current changes within this system due to years of ongoing war.
Economy
In Afghanistan they use the Afghani money. There is also a lot of use of the US dollar.
The GDP was 20.03 billion U.S. dollars. It is considered a poor country.
Afghanistan's main imports are petroleum, machinery and equipment, food items, and base metals.
Their main exports are agricultural goods (fruits and nuts), carpets (woven products), mined materials.
Many Afghani people lack access to clean drinking water. Their water supply comes mostly from wells that are feed from the rivers.
The life expectancy is 50.49 years.
The birth rate 38/1000.
The literacy rate 28%.
Culture
Traditional clothing would be the mantau chalvar is a long coat worn over trousers. The hijab is the traditional head covering worn by women. Men wear the Perahon Tunbahn. This consists of a knee length shirt and baggy trousers. They also wear caps or turbans.
The language spoken there are Dari and Pashtu.
The main religion is Sunni Muslim and Shia Muslim.
The national dish is Kabuli Palau which is lamb, rice, carrots and raisins with flatbread.
There is also mantu which is dumplings and grilled lamb kabab.
Climate
The temperature varies between 23 degrees and 93 degrees over a year.
The warm season is May - September. The cold season is December - March.
History
Compare and Contrast
Our religions are different. They are mostly Muslim and don't have freedom of religion. In America, we have freedom to choose what religion we want to practice and do.
Our languages are different. They speak Dari and Pashtu. We speak English and Spanish.