Demography of Afghanistan

This article is about the "citizens of Afghanistan". For ethnic Afghans, see Pashtun people.

The 2011 Afghan Youth Voices Festival at the Gardens of Babur in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2011,^[1] which is unclear if the refugees living outside the country are included or not. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia. The majority of Afghanistan's population consist of the Iranic peoples, notably the Pashtuns and Tajiks. The Pashtun is the largest group followed by Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and others.^[2]

Pashto and Dari (Persian) are both the official languages of the country. Persian is spoken by about half of the population and serves as a lingua franca for the majority. Pashto is spoken widely in the south, east and south west of the country as well as in neighboring western Pakistan. Uzbek language and Turkmen language are spoken in parts of the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 30 other languages and numerous dialects.^[3]

Islam is the religion of 99.7% of Afghanistan. An estimated 80-89% of the population practice Sunni Islam and belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school while 10-19% are Shi'a,^[4][5][6][7] majority of the Shia follow the Twelver branch with smaller numbers of Ismailis. The remaining 1% or less practice other religions such as Sikhism and Hinduism. Despite attempts during the 1980s to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as the principal basis for expressing opposition to the Soviet invasion. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most Afghans are organized into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow their own traditional customs: for instance Pashtunwali.

Population statistics

Further information: Afghan diaspora

As of 2011, the population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392^[1], but is unknown if the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and Iran are included or not. A 2009 United Nations estimate showed that the population was 28,150,000^[8] and a 2009–2010 nationwide survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Afghanistan has put it at 26 million but not counting some parts of the country due to insecurity.^[9]

A partial census conducted in 1979 showed roughly 15.5 million people living in the country.^[10] The Statistical Yearbook published in 1983 by the Babrak Karmal government claimed a total population of 15.96 million for 1981–82.^[11] Between 600,000 to 2 million Afghans were killed during the various 1979–2001 wars, majority of them during the Soviet war in the 1980s.^[12] At least 5 million more fled the country to neighboring countries. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the Afghan population is estimated to increase to 82 million by 2050.^[13]

The only city in Afghanistan with over a million residents is its capital, Kabul. The other major cities in the country are, in order of population size, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif, Jalalabad, Ghazni and Kunduz. Urban areas are experiencing rapid population growth since the Karzai administration began in late 2001, which is mainly due to the return of over 5 million expats.

Age structure

0–14 years: 44.5% (male 7,064,670; female 7,300,446)
15–64 years: 53% (male 9,147,846; female 8,679,800)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 394,572; female 422,603) (2009 est.)

Population growth rate

2.471% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 33

Births and deaths ^[14]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	450 000	313 000	136 000	52.9	36.9	16.0	7.70	275.0
1955-1960	489 000	322 000	168 000	52.9	34.8	18.1	7.70	260.6
1960-1965	538 000	333 000	205 000	52.8	32.7	20.2	7.70	245.4
1965-1970	596 000	343 000	253 000	52.6	30.3	22.4	7.70	228.1
1970-1975	664 000	356 000	308 000	52.1	27.9	24.2	7.70	211.4
1975-1980	713 000	354 000	360 000	51.5	25.6	26.0	7.70	194.5
1980-1985	694 000	323 000	372 000	51.8	24.1	27.7	7.80	182.8
1985-1990	669 000	291 000	378 000	52.2	22.7	29.5	7.90	171.9
1990-1995	863 000	352 000	512 000	52.6	21.4	31.2	8.00	161.8
1995-2000	1 118 000	429 000	688 000	52.4	20.1	32.3	8.00	152.3
2000-2005	1 221 000	463 000	759 000	48.4	18.3	30.1	7.35	143.7
2005-2010	1 332 000	496 000	836 000	45.1	16.8	28.3	6.62	136.0

CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Urbanization

urbanization population: 24% of the total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 5.4% annual rate of change (2005–10 est.)

Literacy

Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 28%

Male: 43.1%

Female: 12.6% (2000 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 8 years
male: 11 years
female: 4 years (2004)

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: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 44.64 years
country comparison to the world: 214
male: 44.47 years
female: 44.81 years (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate

0.01% (2001 est.)

According to Afghanistan's National Aids Control Program (NACP), as of late 2008, 504 cases of HIV/AIDS have been documented.^[15] In the same year it was estimated that up to 2,500 people may be infected nationwide.^[16]

country comparison to the world: 168

HIV/AIDS – deaths

one^{[citation needed]}

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria
animal contact diseases: rabies
note: H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

Ethnolinguistic groups in Afghanistan

Because a systematic census has not been held in the nation in decades, exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnic groups are unvailable. An approximate distribution of the ethnic groups is shown in the chart below:

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

Ethnic group	Image	World Factbook / Library of Congress Country Studies estimate (2004–present)[2][6]	World Factbook / Library of Congress Country Studies estimates (pre-2004)[17][18][19]
Pashtun		50%	50 percent
Tajik		27%	27% (of this 1% are Qizilbash)
Hazara		9%	10–19 percent
Uzbek		9%	6–8% percent
Aimak		4%	500,000 to 800,000
Turkmen		2.5%	2.5 percent
Baloch		2%	100,000
Others (Pashai, Nuristani, Arab, Brahui, Pamiri, Gujjar, etc.)		4%	6.9 percent

The 2004–present suggested estimations in the above chart are supported by recent national opinion polls, which were aimed at knowing how a group of 7,760 Afghan citizens felt about the current war, political situation, as well as the economic and social issues affecting their daily lives. Two of the surveys were conducted between 2006 to 2010 by the Asia Foundation (with technical assistance by the Indian Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and the Afghan Center for Socio-economic and Opinion Research) and one between 2004 to 2009 by a combined effort of the broadcasting companies NBC News, BBC, and ARD.^[20][21][22]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Afghanistan

Pashto and Dari (Persian) are both the official languages of Afghanistan. Dari (also known as Farsi) has always been the prestige language, it is the lingua franca, the language resorted to when people of different ethnic groups need to conduct business or otherwise communicate. Sources before 1996 state that Pashto is the native tongue of 35-55% of the population and Persian being of 25-50%, although it is the most widely used language in the country by different ethnic groups.^[23] A fair number of Afghans can also speak and understand especially Urdu, which uses the same persian script. Other languages include Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu and English.^[24] The Afghan National Anthem is only in the Pashto language. An approximate distribution of languages spoken in the country is shown in the line chart below:

Languages of Afghanistan

Language	World Factbook / Library of Congress Country Studies (1992-present estimate)[3][6]	Ethnologue / World Factbook / Iranica (pre-1992 estimates)[18][23][25]
Persian (officially called Dari)	50%	25-50%
Pashto	35%	35-55%
Uzbek	8.5%	9%
Turkmen	2.5%	500,000 speakers
30 others (Balochi, Nuristani, Pashayi, Brahui, Hindko, Pamiri, Kyrgyz, Gujari, etc.)	4%	4%

According to the 2006 and 2010 Asia Foundation "A survey of the Afghan people", Dari (Persian) was the first language of 36-49% of the polled people, while additional 37% spoke it as a second language (combined 73-86%). Pashto was the first language of 29-40% of the polled people, while additional 27% knew the language (combined 56-67%). Uzbeki was spoken or understood by 2-6% and Turkmen by 1-3%. About 6% of the interviewed people could also speak English.^[21][20] In the survey "Afghanistan: Where Things Stand" (average numbers from 2005 to 2009), 69% of the interviewed people preferred Dari, while 31% preferred Pashto. Additionally, 45% of the polled people said that they can read Dari, while 36% said that they can read Pashto.^[22]

Religions

Main article: Religion in Afghanistan

Abdul Rahman Mosque in Kabul, which is the largest mosque in Afghanistan.

• Islam: 99.7% of the total population
  • Sunni Muslim: 80-89%^[4][5][6][7]
  • Shi'a Muslim: 10-19%^[4][5][6][7]
• Other: less than 1%
  • Sikhism: In the thousands
  • Hinduism: In the thousands
  • Zoroastrianism: Unknown
  • Christianity: In the thousands
  • Judaism (one known individual: Zablon Simintov)
  • Buddhism: Unknown

See also

• Culture of Afghanistan
• Demography of Pakistan
• Demography of Central Asia

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Population of Afghanistan". Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The World Factbook. 2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af. Retrieved 2010-10-12. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Ethnic groups: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%". CIA. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Languages of Afghanistan". CIA. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population". Pew Research Center. October 7, 2009. http://pewforum.org/Muslim/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population%286%29.aspx. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Miller, Tracy, ed (October 2009) (PDF). Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Country Profile: Afghanistan". Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan. Library of Congress. August 2008. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shia Muslim 19%, other 1%". CIA. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
8. ^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009) (PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.1. 2008 revision. United Nations. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-12. 
9. ^ "CSO census puts population at 26 million". Rahmatullah Afghan. Pajhwok Afghan News. August 4, 2010. http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2010/08/04/cso-census-puts-population-26-million. Retrieved August 16, 2010. 
10. ^ "Chapter 2. The Society and Its Environment" (pdf). Afghanistan Country Study. Illinois Institute of Technology. pp. 105–06. http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/Afghanistan-Chapter2.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-12. 
11. ^ "Population". U.S. Library of Congress. 2008. http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/36.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-12. 
12. ^ "Afghanistan (1979–2001)". http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm#Afghanistan. Retrieved 2010-10-12. 
13. ^ "Afghanistan – Population Reference Bureau". Population Reference Bureau. http://www.prb.org/Countries/Afghanistan.aspx. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 
14. ^ World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
15. ^ Children at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan. December 1, 2008.
16. ^ Number Of New HIV Cases Reported In Afghanistan Increasing, Health Ministry Says. July 11, 2008.
17. ^ "Ethnic Groups". Library of Congress Country Studies. 1997. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0037). Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
18. ^ ^{a b} "The World Factbok – Afghanistan". The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agency. University of Missouri. October 15, 1991. http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact90/world12.txt. Retrieved 2011-03-20. "_#_Ethnic divisions: Pashtun 50%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 9%, Hazara 12-15%; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and other" 
19. ^ "PEOPLE – Ethnic divisions:". The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agency. University of Missouri. January 22, 1993. http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact92/wf930006.txt. Retrieved 2011-03-20. "Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 19%; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others" 
20. ^ ^{a b} "Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. 2010. pp. 225–226. http://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2010survey.pdf. Retrieved 2011-03-20. "D-9. Which ethnic group do you belong to? SINGLE RESPONSE ONLY Pashtun 42%, Tajik 31%, Uzbek 9%, Hazara 10%, Turkmen 2%, Baloch 1%, Nuristani 1%, Aimak 2%, Arab 2%" 
21. ^ ^{a b} "Afghanistan in 2006 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. 2006. p. 128. http://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/AG-survey06.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-29. "D-8.* Which ethnic group do you belong to? SINGLE RESPONSE ONLY Pashtun 41%, Tajik 37%, Uzbek 9%, Hazara 9%, Turkmen 2%, Baloch 1%, Nuristani 0%, Aimak 0%, Arab 1%, Pashaye 0%, Other 0%." 
22. ^ ^{a b} "ABC NEWS/BBC/ARD poll - Afghanistan: Where Things Stand" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. February 9, 2009. pp. 38–40. http://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-29. 
23. ^ ^{a b} "AFGHANISTAN v. Languages". Ch. M. Kieffer. Encyclopædia Iranica. http://www.iranica.com/articles/afghanistan-v-languages. Retrieved 2010-10-10. "A. Official languages. Paṧtō (1) is the native tongue of 50 to 55 percent of Afghans... Persian (2) is the language most spoken in Afghanistan. The native tongue of twenty five percent of the population, it is split into numerous dialects." 
24. ^ "The Afghans – Language and Literacy". Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). June 30, 2002. http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/alang.html. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
25. ^ "Languages of Afghanistan". SIL International. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_country.asp?name=Afghanistan. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).

Further reading

• Jawad, Nassim (1992). Afghanistan: A Nation of Minorities. London: Minority Rights Group International. ISBN 0-946690-76-6. 

External links

• Afghanistan's Provinces
• Afghanistan Information Management Services
• Central Statistics Organization of Afghanistan
• Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation & Development of Afghanistan
• Afghanistan – Naval Postgraduate School
• Population cartogram of Afghanistan