Quick Facts

Capital: Kabul
Population: Approximately 25,838,797
Climate: Arid to semi-arid; cold winters and hot summers
Ethnic Groups: Pashtun 38 percent, Tajik 25 percent, Hazara 19 percent, minor ethnic groups (Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others) 12 percent, Uzbek 6 percent

Language: There are some 32 language and dialects spoken. Dari, a form of Persian, is spoken widely. Pashto, Uzbeki and Turkic languages are also spoken; smaller ethnic groups speak their own languages.

Religions: Almost all Afghans are Muslims: Sunni Muslim 84%, Shi'a Muslim 15%, other 1%.
Currency : Afghanistan's currency is called the "afghani"

Flora and Fuana of Afghanistan

Plants
Even though much of the landscape in afghanistan is made up of rocky plains, mountains or desert, there is a wide variety of plant life. Common trees in the mountains are evergreens, oaks, poplars, wild hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Common plants in the arid regions include camel thorn, locoweed, spiny restharrow, mimosa, and wormwood, which is a variety of sagebrush.

Animals
The wild animals of afghanistan include 123 mammal species, some of which are nearing extinction. The most seriously endangered are the goitered gazelle, leopard, snow leopard, markor goat, and bactrian deer. Other wild animals of afghanistan include marco polo sheep, urials, ibex, bears, wolves, foxes, hyenas, jackals and mongooses. Wild boar, hedgehogs, shrews, hares, mouse hares, bats and various rodents also live there. About 460 bird species are found in afghanistan. Flamingo and other aquatic fowl breed in the lake areas south and east of ghazni. Ducks and partridges are also common, but all birds are hunted widely and many are becoming uncommon, including the endangered siberian crane.

Stacking Your Postcards

Masjet-e-jam:
The friday mosque or masjet-e-jam is herat number one attraction and among the finest islamic buildings in the world, certainly the finest in afghanistan. "masjet-e-jam" is the largest building in this region and is known for its beautiful tile and mosaic decoration. Ghorid sultan ghiyas-ud-din originally laid out the form in which it stands today on the site of an earlier 10th century mosque in year 1200. The mosque is an exciting example of the artistic sophistication of the ghorid. The various artworks in this mosque also provide the visitors an opportunity to compare the ghorid and timurid tiles work. The restoration work on this mosque started in 1943 as an effort to return it back to its past glory. Besides the artwork, other attractions in this mosque are the huge bronze cauldron, which used as a receptacle for sherbet (a sweet drink) but now a day it is used for collection of donations, the unadorned tomb of sultan ghiyas-ud-din, and a tall pillar in the garden that was erected to commemorates afghanistan's fallen soldiers.

Bande Amir lakes:
It is the unspoiled natural beauty of afghanistan that forms the visitor's first and most enduing impression of the country. But of the entire natural wonders of afghanistan, the lakes of bande amir are perhaps the most outstanding. Situated in the mountainous hazarajat at an altitude of approx 300m, 75 km from bamiyan, these majestic blue lakes are of legendary beauty.

A series of five clear blue lakes is formed by the flow of water over a succession of natural dams, running from higher to the next one below. According to local tradition, the dams were the creation of hazrat ali (caliph ali), and the word "amir" (king or commander) refers to the caliph, not to any afghan ruler. Bande amir is also the name of a river which rises in the bande amir lakes and runs through yakowlang valley in a southwest direction until it turns northeast, at that point it is known as the balkab, finally it turns north and dissipates in the turkestan plains.

Mazar-I-Sharif:
Mazar-i-sharif means "the noble grave" is one of the most prestigious and religious cities in afghanistan that is located in northern part of the country. Based on the historical facts and local suggestions; the tomb of hazrat ali (caliph ali), cousin and son-in-law of holy prophet muhammad (pbuh) is located in this city. Each year thousands of people come to this city to attend the new year celebration of nowroz and visit the grandiose mosque of roza mubarik.

The main ethnic group of population of mazar-i-sharif is uzbeks who form around 9% of afghan population. It is the capital town of balkh province and a major trading center famous for karakul, a great variety of traditional turkmen carpets and high quality, long staple cotton.

Mausoleum of Ahmed Shah Durrani:
Ahmed shah durrani, the founder of sadozy dynasty has ruled afghanistan from 1747 to 1772 a.d. in october 1747, an assembly of pashtun chiefs elected him king of afghanistan. The pashtun tribesmen rallied to his banner, and ahmed shah led them on nine campaigns into indian in search of booty and territorial conquest. He added kashmir, sindh and western punjab to his domains and founded an empire that extended from eastern persia to northern india and from amu darya to the indian ocean. Ahmad shah appointed his son timur as his successor and died of a natural death in april 1772. His mausoleum is known to be an important historical monument in kandahar and an example pf artwork.

Chihlzina (forty steps):
It is about 04 km away from kandahar on herat road. The chihlzina is a rock-cut chamber high above the plain at the end of rugged chain of mountains forming the western defense of kandahar's old city. The construction of this chamber was started in 1522 on the order of moghul emperor babur and completed in 1531 a.d. inside the chamber is the history of domain of emperors. Forty steps, about, lead to the chamber, which is guarded by 02-chained lions, defaced and inscribed with an account of moghuls conquest.

Kabul bala hisar:
The bala-hisar means a citadel or fortress within a walled town on top of a ridge or hill. Bala-hissar as town's main defensive complex has served as residence of afghan rulers. Most of afghan historic cities have a bala-hissar. The famous emperors like babor shah and timor lang are said to have resided in it. This 06th century old fortress has witnessed most of the exciting events of the century's history until 1880 when it was destroyed during the second anglo afghan war. Nadir shah started the process of reconstruction and since 1939 it served as military college until it was left in ruin by the bombardments & skirmishes.

Shahr-e-gholgola (town of noise):
The cave town of shahr-e-gholgola is located in central part of afghanistan. These are the ruins of a once prosperous city of 05th to 07th a.d., which was demolished by genghis khan during his invasion in bamiyan valley in 1221 a.d. the name is derived from persian and means the "city of noise". Others refer to it as "silent city" or "screaming city". The mongols themselves have called this city "mao balegh", meaning the "cursed city". Infact when genghis khan brought the defenders of this town to their knees where upon he entered the citadel to fulfill a vow to kill everybody including man, woman, child, bird and animal in the valley. The scream that accompanied the final massacre gave the citadel the name by which it is known today.

Destination Guides

Ghazni
Ghazni is a famous city in Afghanistan, the seat of an extensive empire under two medieval dynasties, and again of prominent interest in the modern history of British India. Ghazni stands on the high tableland of central Afghanistan, in 68 18 E. long., 33 44 N. lat., at a height of 7280 ft. above the sea, and on the direct road between Kandahar and Kabul, 221 m. by road N.E. from the former, and 92 m. S.W. from the latter. A very considerable trade in fruit, wool, skins, &c.,is carried on between Ghazni and India by the Povindah kafilas, which yearly enter India in the late autumn and pass back again to the Afghan highlands in the early spring. The Povindah merchants invariably make use of the Gomal pass which leads to the British frontier at Dera Ismail Khan. The opening up of this pass and the British occupation of Wana, by offering protection to the merchants from .Waziri blackmailing, largely increased the traffic.

Kabul
The capital of war torn afghanistan is one of the oldest cities in central asia. Kabul is situated on the kabul river and is one of the highest capital cities (1800 m - above sea level) in the world. The history of kabul dates back to the legendary times of epic ramayana when kubha is mentioned as the founder of the city. Kabul is once more a city on the move. It largely sat out the soviet occupation, but suffered terribly during the civil war and under taliban rule. The worst destruction of the war years is found mainly in south and west kabul, and despite the damage there is still plenty to see.

The city of kabul, which used to be a tourist attraction, has lost its charm during the last 24 years of its history. Infrastructures such as roads and traffic system, telephone and electricity system, water sanitation, renovation of buildings is in shambles and the need for reconstruction is very much needed to bring back the city to a better place for living Herat

Herat , city (1984 est. pop. 161,000), capital of Herat prov., NW Afghanistan, on the Hari Rud. The fertile river valley is renowned for its fruits, especially grapes. Herat has textile weaving and carpet industries and is a market for wool, carpets, dried fruits, and nuts. The city walls are gone, but the great earthwork of the citadel remains. Herat, whose inhabitants are mainly Tajiks, is also noted for its bazaars and its highly decorated gharries (horse-drawn cabs). Landmarks include the Great Mosque (first built 12th cent.) and several exquisite minarets. Paved roads lead to the Turkmenistan border

Balkh
Balkh, today only a small town, is very famous for its glorious past. Zoroaster preached here sometime between 1000 and 600. Rites celebrated at the shrine to Anahita, Goddess of the Oxus, attracted thousands during the 5th Century and Alexander the Great chose it for his base in the 4th Century B. C. Under the Kushans, when Buddhism was practiced throughout Afghanistan, many holy temples flourished in Balkh. The Arabs called Balkh the mother of cities. By the 9th Century, during the rule of the Samanid Dynasty, about 40 Friday Mosques stood within the city.

Balkh is also known as the home of rabia balkhi, the first woman poet of islam period and of mauwlana jalal-ud-din balkhi (rumi), perhaps the most distinguished sufi poet. His masnawi is considered as the greatest poem ever written in persian language. Balkh's glorious history closed in 1220 a.d. when the mounted men of genghis khan rode through and left in utterly devastated. The city, nevertheless, lying on an important trade route recovered under the enlightened rule of shah rukh and his queen gawhar shad of heart

Bamiyan
Bamiyan is a province in central afghanistan with an area of about 6700 sq.m and a population of about 280,00 in 1992. A town of the same name is the administrative center of this province. Bamiyan is counted one of the poorest regions of afghanistan because of its geographic location and its isolation from other regions.

The village of bamiyan with its archeological remains is the most conspicuous site of afghanistan. The village lies about 2500m above sea level and some 240 km west of kabul. The exquisite beauty of this valley is embraced by the snow-capped range of koh-e-baba mountains in the south and in the north by the steep cliffs in which images of buddhas were carved. The pastel colors of its surroundings give visitors an impression of the magnificence and serenity of nature.