never completed because of the Soviet invasion; a new Afghan census is scheduled to take place in 2010 (July 2010 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 43.6% (male 6,343,611/female 6,036,673)
15–64 years: 54% (male 7,864,422/female 7,470,617)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 326,873/female 353,520) (2010 est.)
Median age:
total: 18 years
male: 17.9 years
female: 18 years (2010 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.471% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 33
Birth rate:
38.11 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 19
Death rate:
17.65 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 3
Net migration rate:
4.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 23
Urbanization:
urban population: 24% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 5.4% annual rate of change (2005–10 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 151.5 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 2 male: 155.15 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 147.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 44.65 years country comparison to the world: 221 male: 44.45 years
female: 44.87 years (2010 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.5 children born/woman (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 13
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.01% (2001 est.) country comparison to the world: 168
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
animal contact disease: rabies
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
Nationality:
noun: Afghan(s)
adjective: Afghan
Ethnic groups:
Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%,
Baloch 2%, other 4%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim 80%, Shia Muslim 19%, other 1%
Languages:
Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 28.1%
male: 43.1%
female: 12.6% (2000 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 8 years
male: 11 years
female: 5 years (2004)
Education expenditures:
NA
Government ::Afghanistan
Country name:
conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
conventional short form: Afghanistan
local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan
local short form: Afghanestan
former: Republic of Afghanistan
Government type:
Islamic republic
Capital:
name: Kabul
geographic coordinates: 34 31 N, 69 11 E
time difference: UTC+4.5 (9.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
34 provinces (welayat, singular - welayat); Badakhshan, Badghis,
Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor,
Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar,
Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika,
Paktiya, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan,
Wardak, Zabul
Independence:
19
