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People
Cultural and Linguistic Demography
The total population of Afghanistan is more than 25 million. Because of Afghanistan's location in Central Asia, the Afghan people are ethnically and linguistically diverse. They are composed of approximately comprise 60 clans of varying size and importance, each of which occupies a particular territory. In Afghanistan, where Pashtun are the predominant ethnic group, the main clans are the Durrani and the Ghilzay. Ethnic groups in Afghanistan also include the Tajiks, the Hazara, the Uzbeks, the Aimaks and the Balochs.
Afghan Persian or Dari is the official language spoken by about half the population. Pashto is another official language spoken by more than a third of the population. Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) are also spoken in Afghanistan. There are also about 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) spoken in Afghanistan.
Religion, Religiosity and Social Life
Almost the entire population is Muslim. Official data suggests that 84 percent of the Afghan population in Afghanistan professes to be Sunni Muslims, 15 percent acknowledge Shi'ia Muslim affiliation, and a remaining one percent claim other religious affiliations. Sikhs and Hindus make up most of this remaining one percent. As such, the religion of Islam has played a central role in unifying the population.
Although Sunni Islam functioned as the predominant religious sect, the emergence of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan the mid-1990s shifted the religious climate in a significant manner. The Taliban's strict and absolutist adherence to the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an; Islamic laws based on the Shar'iah; and the established and customary Islamic practices of the Sunnah, dominated all aspects of lifestyle and beliefs in Afghanistan.
While some Afghans believe strongly that the Taliban administration brought peace, security, safety and morality to Afghanistan, critics claim that the Afghani people suffered a gross erosion of human rights under the Taliban. Indeed, education for women was disallowed, full bodily covering and veiling for women was mandatory, public executions were the norm, and massacres of the population in the northern part of Afghanistan were reported. The Taliban also issued an irreversible edict decreeing that any Muslim who converted to another religion would face the death penalty, and anyone who preached or promulgated another religion would face imprisonment for five years. Still, the Taliban insisted that Afghanistan under its rule was a country that respected full religious freedom, despite criticisms to the contrary.
The Taliban, however, were driven from power by opposition forces after the United States-led strikes in Afghanistan in the months following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. An interim government replaced the Taliban as the ruling body of the country. This was followed by a new form of democratic governance, along with cultural freedom.
In the aftermath of the Taliban retreat, within the urban centers, there was a resumption of public broadcasting on televisions and over radio. As well, people were allowed to watch television and listen to music. Indian music and movies have become an ever-increasing interest to the Afghan people, who have only recently been liberated from a restrictive lifestyle.
The Taliban's retreat also meant that there is no oversight entity (such as the former Taliban Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue) to restrain women from removing their coverings, walking freely in streets without a male companion or, more significantly, from pursuing an education. Reports suggest that while women were now enrolling once again in schools and other institutions of higher learning, they were still modest in their self-presentation, preferring to wear veils in public. Culturally, it would seem that Afghan women prefer an appearance of modesty, especially since many recall the climate of lawlessness that existed prior to the Taliban.
Afghanistan is a predominantly Islamic society and so even under a new, less oppressive and democratically-inclined regime, it is likely that Islamic norms will continue to play a highly influential role in Afghan daily life.
Update:
In February 2020, the U.S. under the Trump administration and the Taliban signed an agreement that led to the withdrawal of international forces in exchange for commitments on counterterrorism and other assurances. With the exit of U.S. forces under the Biden administration, the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August 2021. Since that time, the Taliban has returned its hardline cultural mandates to Afghan cultural life, including banning females from work and school.
Please see the "Political Conditions" of this report for full coverage of the exit of United States forces from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power.
Human Development
Political changes notwithstanding, Afghanistan is a poor country, still suffering the effects of decades-long war and oppression. The socio-economic conditions reflect this reality. The population of Afghanistan has a life expectancy at birth of only 44.65 years (44.45 for males and 44.87 for females) and an infant mortality rate of 151.5 deaths/1,000 live births. With the restrictions on interactions between men and women, as well as the prohibition against working women -- even in the field of medicine -- during the Taliban period, women were especially hard-hit in the realm of health care. In essence, they were prevented from accessing medical facilities or doctor's services, resulting in innumerable deaths and incidences of preventable diseases.
In terms of literacy, 12.6 percent of the female population and 43.1 percent of the male population, age 15 and over, can read and write. The total literacy rate is 28.1 percent. As aforementioned, there has been a marked increase in the number of people (women and men) enrolling for some sort of an education. One can assume that if this trend continues, the low literacy rates will increase over generations.
Meanwhile, however, the ongoing violence and conflict, create a backdrop of conflict and instability, exacerbated by a drought that has persisted for years, and which has collectively resulted in a country struck by great poverty and deficient living conditions. Even in the aftermath of the civil war, much of Afghanistan's food supply continues to be provided by the World Food Organization and other aid programs.
Note: In terms of health and welfare, 7.4 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Generally, access to sanitation and water in this country is adequate only in urban areas but far more problematic in rural areas.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com . See Bibliography for list of research sources.
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