As with other sectors, statistics are difficult to confirm. Since
1978, particularly, validated nation-wide data have been impossible
to obtain with the result that official figures on which much
recently published data are based should be employed with great
caution.
Nevertheless, pre-war trends when the literacy rate was estimated
at 11.4 percent ( 18.7 percent male; 2.8 female), persist and
provide useful patterns reflected in the present. Then, as now,
economic, regional and gender bias was very noticeable. Urban-rural
and regional disparities are still valid. In urban settings 25.9
percent (35.5 percent male; 14.8 percent female) of the population
six years old and over were literate, but in rural areas literate
accounted for only 8.8. percent (15.7 percent male; 0.6 percent
female, in some provinces 0.1 percent). Regionally, 32 percent
of the students attending schools in 1978 lived in the Central
region around Kabul, compared with only 3.8 percent living in
the East Central mountains of Bamiyan and Ghor. Contrasting 1993
official figures giving an overall literacy rate of 29.8 percent
(45.2 percent males; 13.5 percent females) assumes that expanded
educational efforts during the intervening years were effective.
In reality the bulk of the students represented in the enrollment
figures remain functionally illiterate.
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
Content
on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility
for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information
published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with
the relevant authorities.
