Academic and higher technical education opportunities were well-developed
by 1978. The first college of Medicine opened in Kabul in 1932
and later faculties were joined to form Kabul University in 1946;
women were admitted in 1960; and all faculties were brought to
a central campus in 1964. Kabul University extended its facilities
by opening the Nangarhar Faculty of Medicine in Jalalabad in 1963
which formed the nucleus of Ningrahar University in 1964 which
has been called the Ningrahar Islamic University since 1992. In
addition, over the years increasing numbers of students, male
and female, studied abroad.
Support for the university's faculties came from many international
sources, including the United States. In 1969 Prime Minister Alexei
Kosygin opened the Polytechnic Institute in Kabul where the curriculum
included engineering, geology, mineral, oil and gas exploitation,
roads and industrial construction, hydroelectric networks and
city planning. Later, during the tenure of the PDPA governments,
Balkh University (1986), Herat University (1988), and Kandahar
University (1991) were established. In the mid-1990s, institutions
were opened in Baghlan, Takhar and Bamiyan. Most higher education
institutions were still functioning in 1996, albeit in severely
damaged physical facilities, with next to no textbooks, libraries
or laboratories, and hampered by underqualified staff. The Taliban
exclude women from universities in areas under their control.
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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