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Afghanistan

Population: 32 822 848

Armed Forces: 5 555 55

GDP: 20 650 000 000.00 $

Military Budget: 1 500 000 000.00 $

Description

Ahmad Shah Dгurrani unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-communist mujahedin rebels.

A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama Bin Laden. The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005.

In December 2004, Hamid Karzai became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan and the National Assembly was inaugurated the following December. Karzai was re-elected in August 2009 for a second term. Despite gains toward building a stable central government, a resurgent Taliban and continuing provincial instability - particularly in the south and the east - remain serious challenges for the Afghan Government.

Population

Population: 31,822,848 (2014)

Nationality: noun: Afghan(s) adjective: Afghan

Ethnic groups: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%.

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, but Dari functions as the lingua franca. note: the Turkic languages Uzbek and Turkmen, as well as Balochi, Pashai, Nuristani, and Pamiri are the third official languages in areas where the majority speaks them.

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shia Muslim 19%, other 1%.

Armed Forces

Total Personnel	Army	Air Foces
190848	174645	5872

GDP

GDP: $ 20 650 000 000 (2014)

Military Budget

$ 1500 000 000,00 (2014)

Governmental Structures

Ministry of Foreign Affairs - http://mfa.gov.af/en

Ministry of Defense - http://mod.gov.af/fa

Military Organization

Afghan Armed Forces: Afghan National Army (ANA, includes Afghan Air Force (AAF))

Military Equipment

AIR FORCES

Fixed Wing

№	Denomination	Manufacturer	Type	Quantity Total	Quantity In Service	Date of the Delivery	Comments
1	An-32	OKB Antonov	Transport	2	2	2008	Delivered from Ukraine in 2008-2009
2	C-130H Hercules	Lockheed	Transport	2	2	2013
3	G222 (C-27 A)	Alenia	Transport	18	14	2009	Ex-Italian Air Force
4	G222 (C-27 A)	Alenia	VIP Transport	2	2	2009	Ex-Italian Air Force
5	L-39	Aero Vodochody as	Trainer	2	2
6	T182T Turbo Skylane	Cessna	Trainer	6	6	2011
7	208B Grand Caravan	Cessna	Light Transport / Trainer and Reconnaissance / Surveillance	26	22	2011

Rotary Wing

№	Denomination	Manufacturer	Type	Quantity Total	Quantity In Service	Date of the Delivery	Comments
1	Mi-35 (Mi-24) «Hind»	Mil	Attack	n/a	11	n/a	Iincluding 6 Czech Mi-24V «Hind-E» delivered in 2008-09.
2	Mi-17 «Hip»	Mil	Multirole	n/a	48	n/a
3	MD 530F	MD Helicopters	Training	6	6	2011

ARMY

Armoured Equipment

№	Denomination	Manufacturer	Type	Quantity Total	Quantity In Service	Date of the Delivery	Comments
1	T-62	Nizhnyi Tagil	Main Battle Tank	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
2	T-55	Former USSR factories	Main Battle Tank	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
3	BRDM-1	Arzamas Machinery Plant	Reconnaissance Vehicle	n/a	50	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
4	BRDM-2	Arzamas Machinery Plant	Reconnaissance Vehicle	n/a	50	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
5	BMP-2	Former USSR factories	Infantry Fighting Vehicle	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
6	BTR-60	Arzamas Machinery Plant	Armoured Personnel Carrier	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
7	BTR-70	Arzamas Machinery Plant	Armoured Personnel Carrier	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
8	BTR-80	Arzamas Machinery Plant	Armoured Personnel Carrier	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
9	BTR-152	Former USSR factories	Armoured Personnel Carrier	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
10	M112A2	BAE Systems	Armoured Personnel Carrier	n/a	173	2005
11	M577	BAE Systems	Command Post Vehicle	16	16	2005

Artillery

№	Denomination	Manufacturer	Type	Quantity Total	Quantity In Service	Date of the Delivery	Comments
1	155 mm	n/a	Howitzer	24		2007	Provided by Turkey
2	D-30	Joint Stock Company Spetstehnika	Howitzer	n/a	74		24 units delivered from Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2011
3	152 mm M1943 (D-1)	Joint Stock Company Spetstehnika	Howitzer	n/a	n/a	n/a
4	130 mm M-46	Motovilikha Plants Corporation	Field Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
5	122 mm BM-21	Splav Scientific Production Concern	Multiple Rocket Launcher	n/a	n/a	n/a
6	82 mm	Former USSR factories	Mortar	n/a	n/a	n/a	Including delivery from Bulgaria, Norway and Sweden
7	107 mm M38	Former USSR factories	Mortar	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
8	120 mm M1943	Former USSR factories	Mortar	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR
9	160 mm M1943	Former USSR factories	Mortar	n/a	n/a	n/a	Delivery during cooperation with USSR

Anti-Tank Weapons

№	Denomination	Manufacturer	Type	Quantity Total	Quantity In Service	Date of the Delivery	Comments
1	73 mm SPG-9 «Kopye»	KBP Instrument Design Bureau	Anti-Tank Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
2	82 mm RCL B-10	Former USSR factories	Recoilless Rifle	n/a	n/a	n/a
3	9M14 Malyutka (AT-3 «Sagger» )	Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya	Anti-Tank Guided Weapon	n/a	n/a	n/a
4	RPG-7	n/a	Rocket Launcher	n/a	n/a	n/a
5	RPG- 1 6	n/a	Light Anti-Armour Weapon	n/a	n/a	n/a

Air Defence Weapons

№	Denomination	Manufacturer	Type	Quantity Total	Quantity In Service	Date of the Delivery	Comments
1	9K32/9K32M Strela-2/2M (SA-7a/b «Grail»)	Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya	Man-Portable Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
2	9K310 Igla-1 (SA-16 «Gimlet»)	Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya	Man-Portable Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
3	9K310 Igla-1 /1E (SA-16 «Gimlet»)	Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya	Man-Portable Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
4	9K36 Strela-3	Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya	Man-Portable Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
5	HN-5A	NORINCO	Man-Portable Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
6	9K35 Strela-10 (SA-1 3 «Gopher»)	Saratovskiy Zenit Machine Plant	Self-Propelled Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
7	FI M-92A Stinger	Raytheon	Man-Portable Surface-to-Air Missile	n/a	n/a	n/a
8	23 mm ZSU-23-4	Former USSR factories	Self-Propelled Anti- Aircraft Gun (Quad)	n/a	n/a	n/a
9	12.7 mm M53	Czech factories	Mounted Anti- Aircraft Gun (Quad)	n/a	n/a	n/a	For mounting in the rear of the BTR-152 (APC 6x6)
10	14.5 mm ZPU-1	Former USSR factories	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
11	14.5 mm ZPU-2	Former USSR factories	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
12	14.5 mm ZPU-4	Former USSR factories	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
13	23 mm ZU-23-2	Former USSR factories	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun (Twin)	n/a	n/a	n/a
14	57 mm S-60	GPO Aleksinskiy Khimkombinat	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
15	85 mm M1939 (KS-12)	Former USSR factories	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a
16	100 mm KS-1 9	Former USSR factories	Towed Anti-Aircraft Gun	n/a	n/a	n/a

Infantry Weapons

№	Denomination	Type
1	9 mm Makarov	Pistol
2	7.62 mm TT-33	Pistol
3	7.65 mm CZ vz-61	Sub-Machine Gun
4	5.45 mm AK-74	Rifle
5	5.45 mm AKS 74U	Rifle
6	7.62 mm AMD	Rifle
7	7.62 mm Vz 58	Rifle
8	7.62 mm Simonov SKS	Rifle
9	5.56 mm M16A2	Assault Rifle
10	7.62 mm AK-47/AKM	Assault Rifle
11	7.62 mm RPD	Machine Gun
12	7.62 mm RPK	Machine Gun
13	7.62 mm PKlPKM	Machine Gun
14	12.7 mm DShK	Machine Gun
15	14.5 mm KPV	Machine Gun
16	5.56 mm M249	Machine Gun
17	30 mm AGS-17	Grenade Launcher

Conflicts and Disputes

Afghan, Coalition, and Pakistan military meet periodically to clarify the alignment of the boundary on the ground and on maps; Afghan and Iranian commissioners have discussed boundary monument densification and resurvey; Iran protests Afghanistan's restricting flow of dammed Helmand River tributaries during drought; Pakistan has sent troops across and built fences along some remote tribal areas of its treaty-defined Durand Line border with Afghanistan which serve as bases for foreign terrorists and other illegal activities; Russia remains concerned about the smuggling of poppy derivatives from Afghanistan through Central Asian countries.

Internally displaced persons: 818,163 (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in the south and west due to drought and instability) (2015).

Afganistan is world's largest producer of opium; poppy cultivation increased 7 percent, to a record 211,000 hectares in 2014 from 198,000 hectares in 2013 while eradication dropped sharply; relatively low opium yields due to poor weather kept potential opium production—6,300 metric tons—below the record set in 2007; the Taliban and other antigovernment groups participate in and profit from the opiate trade, which is a key source of revenue for the Taliban inside Afghanistan; widespread corruption and instability impede counterdrug efforts; most of the heroin consumed in Europe and Eurasia is derived from Afghan opium; Afghanistan is also struggling to respond to a burgeoning domestic opiate addiction problem; vulnerable to drug money laundering through informal financial networks; illicit cultivation of cannabis and regional source of hashish.

Geographical Information and Map

Capital: Kabul

Location: Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran.

Landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor)

Geographic coordinates:

33 00 N, 65 00 E

Area:

total: 652,230 sq km

land: 652,230 sq km

water: 0 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 5,987 km

border countries: China 91 km, Iran 921 km, Pakistan 2,670 km, Tajikistan 1,357 km, Turkmenistan 804 km, Uzbekistan 144 km.

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.