Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam reached the Afghan area
in AD 642. On the western periphery, the princes of Herat and
Seistan gave way to rule by Arab governors, but in the east cities
submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned
to their old beliefs once the armies passed. Later, in the 9th
century, Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, founder of the local Saffarid
dynasty in the Seistan, swept through the Afghan area conquering
in the name of Islam; in the north the Islamic dynasty of the
Samanids ruling from Bokhara took Balkh in AD 900 and extended
their realm as far as Kandahar. Meanwhile a Turkish slave general
who had been dismissed by the Samanids conquered Ghazni. A successor,
the great Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030), conducted numerous
iconoclastic campaigns into India and returned laden with rich
booty. Ghazni, until then an insignificant fort-town, became one
of the most brilliant capitals of the Islamic world.
Today, approximately 99 percent of Afghans are Muslims. Eighty-five
percent are Sunni of the Hanafi School; the rest are Shia, the
majority of whom are Imami along with smaller numbers of Ismailis.
There is also a strong influence of Sufism among both Sunni and
Shia communities.
Country
name Afghanistan conventional long form Islamic State of
Afghanistan conventional short form Afghanistan local long
form Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan local short form Afghanestan former Republic of Afghanistan
Area
- total: 647,500 sq km land: 647,500 sq km water: 0 sq km
Terrain
- mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Climate
- arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
Geography
- 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)
Waterways
- 1,200 km note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT (2001)
Natural hazards - damaging earthquakes
occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
Information
Courtesy: The Library of Congress - Country Studies
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