AFGHANISTAN

Economy :
Afghanistan is extremely poor country highly dependent on agriculture although less than 10% of the land is cultivated; a large percentage of the arable land was damaged by warfare during the 1980s and 90s. Largely subsistence crops include wheat and other grains, cotton, sugar beets, fruits, and nuts. Mineral wealth is virtually undeveloped, except for natural gas, which is produced in exportable quantities. As a result of civil war, exports have dwindled to a bare minimum; an illegal trade in opium (Afghanistan is one of the world's major producers) and hashish has continued. During the soviet military occupation, one-third of the population left the country, with Pakistan and Iran sheltering a combined number of more than 6 million refugees. Gross domestic product has fallen considerably over the past 20 years because of the loss of labor and assets and the disruption of trade and transport; severe drought added to the nation's sufferings in 1998-2000. The majority of the population continues to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, and medical care. Inflation remains a serious problem throughout the country. GDP: US$21 billion
GDP per head: US$800
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 53%
Industry: 28.5%
Services: 18.5%
Inflation: unavailable
Unemployment rate: 8%
Labor force: 10 million
Major industries: Textiles and rugs, fruits and nuts, furniture, cement, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, fertilizer, soap, fossil fuels, gemstones, copper, coal, oil and natural gas.
Major trading partners: Former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, EU, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and India.
Exports: $80 million(excluding opium)
Exports - commodities: opium, fruits and nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
Agriculture - products: opium poppies, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, karakul pelts
Imports: $150 million
Imports - commodities: capital goods, food and petroleum products; most consumer goods
Debt - external: $5.5 billion
Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March
Electricity - production: 420 million kWh
Electricity - consumption: 480.6 million kWh
Economic aid - recipient:In 1997, US provided about $70 million in humanitarian aid operation. US continues to contribute to massive aid operations through the UN programs of food aid, land mine removal, immunization, and an extensive range of aid to refugees.
Currency: afghani
Exchange rates: 1 USD = 4750 Afghani


Communications

Telephones: 21,000 main lines in use in Kabul in 1998
Telephones: mobile cellular: NA
Internet service providers (Isp): Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Telephone system: domestic-inadequate telephone and telegraph service, in 1997, telecommunications links were established between Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Kabul through satellite and microwave systems
International- satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); commercial satellite telephone center in Ghazni district.

Televisions: 100,000
Radio broadcast stations: AM 7 (6 are inactive; the active station is in Kabul), FM 1, short-wave 1 (broadcasts in Dari, Pushtu, Urdu, and English)
Radios: 167,000


Transportation

Highways: total: 21,000 km
Paved: 2,793 km
Unpaved: 18,207 km
Railways: total: 24.6 km
Broad gauge: 9.6 km 1.524-m gauge from Gushgy (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi; 15 km 1.524-m gauge from Termiz (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya.

Waterways: 1,200 km
Ports and harbors: Kheyrabad, Shir Khan
Pipelines: petroleum products - Uzbekistan to Bagram and Turkmenistan to Shindand; natural gas 180 km
Airports: 46


Transnational issues

Disputes - international: support to Islamic militants worldwide by some groups; uncertainty over which faction should hold Afghanistan's seat at the UN.

Illicit narcotics: world's largest illicit opium producing country, surpassing Burma (potential production in 1999 - 1,670 metric tons; cultivation in 1999 - 51,500 hectares, a 23% increase over 1998); a major source of hashish; increasing number of heroin-processing laboratories being set up in the country; major political groups in the country profit from the wide network of illicit drug trade.