Related Research Articles
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. According to the World Population review, as of 2023, Afghanistan's population is 43 million. The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020.
Kabul is the capital city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into 22 municipal districts. In 2023 its population was estimated to be 4.95 million people. In contemporary times, Kabul has served as Afghanistan's political, cultural and economical center. Rapid urbanisation has made it the country's primate city and the 75th-largest city in the world.
The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11th attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces, after 20 years of Taliban insurgency, and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education.
Lapis lazuli, or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Originating from the Persian word for the gem, lāžward, lapis lazuli is a rock composed primarily of the minerals lazurite, pyrite and calcite. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in modern northeast Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley civilisation. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania. It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun.
The National Museum of Afghanistan is a two-story building located across the street from the Darul Aman Palace in the Darulaman area of Kabul, Afghanistan. It was once considered to be one of the world's finest museums. There have been reports about expanding the museum or building a new larger one.
The Guimet Museum is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its full name is the National Museum of Asian Arts-Guimet, or Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts.
Buddhism, a religion founded by Gautama Buddha, first arrived in modern-day Afghanistan through the conquests of Ashoka, the third emperor of the Maurya Empire. Among the earliest notable sites of Buddhist influence in the country is a bilingual mountainside inscription in Greek and Aramaic that dates back to 260 BCE and was found on the rocky outcrop of Chil Zena near Kandahar.
Chak is a district in the southern part of Maidan Wardak Province of Afghanistan. Its population was estimated at 83,376 in 2005, the last year for which figures are available. The administrative center of Chak district is the town of Chak.
Tillya tepe, Tillia tepe or Tillā tapa is an archaeological site in the northern Afghanistan province of Jowzjan near Sheberghan, excavated in 1978 by a Soviet-Afghan team led by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi. The hoard found there is often known as the Bactrian gold.
Manouchehr Atashi was a Persian poet, writer, and journalist of Kurdish descent.
Jabal Sarāj or Jabal al-Sirāj is one of the districts of Afghanistan located in the Parwan Province. Jabul Saraj is near Charikar, Gulbahar and the Salang Pass. It is surrounded by the high peaks of mountains. During the summers, many residents of Kabul and other provinces visit Jabal Saraj for site seeing and picnic purposes. The capital of the district is the town of Jabal Saraj.
Mawlawi Shahzada Shahid was elected to represent Kunar Province in Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of its National Legislature, in 2005.
Opium in Iran is widely available, and the country has been estimated to have the highest per capita number of opioid addicts in the world at a rate of 2.8% of Iranians over age 15. The Iranian government estimates the number of addicts at 2 million. Opium and heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan—known collectively as the Golden Crescent—pass through Iran's eastern borders in large amounts. Iran burned 56 tons of Illicit Drugs on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Tepe Fullol is a village in northern Afghanistan where the treasure of Fullol was found, consisting of twenty vessels in gold and silver dated to the Bronze Age. It was accidentally discovered in 1965 by Afghan farmers in a grave cache and provided the first evidence of the Oxus civilization in northern Afghanistan.
The Museum of Islamic Art is a museum located in Ghazni, Afghanistan. It is located in Rauza, a suburb of Ghazni. The museum was first opened by the Italian Archaeological Mission in 1966 in the restored sixteenth-century Mausoleum of Abd al-Razzaq to display artifacts of the Islamic period. Work was halted during the war with the Soviet Union after 1979 in which several of its artifacts were damaged. It was since restored in 2004–2007. A number of artifacts unearthed in the Ghazni area are also found in museums in Kabul.
Shahin Shahbazi is an Iranian composer, musician, and poet. He is mostly renowned for his mastery of the tar and setar and his composition of the complete radif works of maestro Ali Akbar Shahnazi with his band Nafir ensemble.
Golra Sharif Junction Railway Station is located on Golra road in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is part of Pakistan Railways. The Golra Sharif Railway Museum is located at this station.
Omid Nezami is an Afghan singer, reporter and tV presenter at TOLO TV channel. He has anchored a variety of shows on Afghanistan's television including Afghan Star and Bamdad khosh.
The Ai-Khanoum plaque is an ancient Greco-Bactrian disk discovered at the archaeological site of Ai-Khanoum in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. This Hellenistic city served as a military and economic center for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA) until an outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan during the late 1970s. Among the structures excavated by the archaeologists was a sanctuary called the 'Temple of Indented Niches', in which the disk was found. The disk is held in the collection of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul.
