An Introduction to Afghanistan

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An Introduction to Afghanistan

• Compiled by
• Kelly Kara
• ONeil Bredemeyer
• ED 608-01

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Social Studies Introductory UnitonAfghanistan

• for
• 6th, 7th and 8th grades
• Although these are the grades in which
  international subject matter is traditionally
  taught, recent events have made this particular
  topic matter pertinent for all students.
  Teachers of lower grades should consider
  presenting a modified version of this material to
  their students.

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Objective

• After viewing a Powerpoint presentation and doing
• the suggested related activities, students will
• be able to locate Afghanistan on a map.
• know at least two pertinent facts about each of
  the following Afghanistans history, people,
  language, economy, geography, and government.
• be able to define the highlighted terms in the
  presentation with 80 accuracy.

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Materials

• A dictionary for each table.
• An encyclopedia for each table.
• A map of the world.
• Computer access.
• Copies of the daily paper for each class.

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www. Sites to Visit

• For Afghan Culture
• www.afghan-network.net/Culture/
• For links to other sites
• www.aboutafghanistan.com/
• For facts and figures
• www.countrywatch.com/
• www.cia.gov/
• For up-to-date news articles
• http//news.bbc.co.uk
• For geographical information
• www.geographic.org

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Activities

• After viewing the slide presentation, the
  students will copy an outline map of Afghanistan
  and transpose it onto an outline map of Texas
  (drawn to same scale) for comparison.
• Students will use a world map to establish the
  geographic coordinates of Afghanistan and will
  establish what regions of the USA are at the same
  latitude. They should draw appropriate
  comparisons to weather and agriculture between
  the sites.

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Activities

• Students will ascertain which State(s) in the US
  has a population similar to Afghanistans.
• Students will ascertain the life expectancy of
  various American ethnic groups, and will compare
  them with those of Afghanistan. They will then
  research and ultimately draw conclusions as to
  what factors might lead to the low life
  expectancy of Afghans.

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Activities

• Students (boys and girls) will take turns draping
  donated bed sheets over their heads (with an area
  cut-out for vision, like a Burqa) and walking
  around the classroom.
• They will then write a journal entry describing
  the experience. They should discuss whether
  anything was more difficult? Could they find any
  benefits to wearing one? What could be the
  negatives of having to wear a Burqa every day?

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Note to Teachers

• Terms which we recommend for use in unit
• vocabulary lists or for use as further research
• topics have been highlighted throughout the
• presentation.

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The Flag of Afghanistan

• On the coat of arms are 2 Muslim inscriptions
  written in Arabic
• God is Great There is no God but Allah,
  and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.

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What Kind of GovernmentDoes Afghanistan Have?
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The Government

• Afghanistan does not have a functioning central
  government. It is ruled by factions.
• 90 of the country is ruled by the Taliban. The
  United Nations, however, does not recognize the
  Taliban as the official government of
  Afghanistan.
• The capital city is Kabul.
• There are presently 30 Afghan provinces.
• The Constitution of 1964 is no longer in use.

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What Religions do the Citizens of Afghanistan
Practice?
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Religion

• Photo Blue Mosque
• Ninety-nine percent of Afghanistans population
• is Muslim.

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What are the People Like?
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The People

• The people of Afghanistan are called Afghan(s).
• Afghanistans population is 27,000,000.
• The people of Afghanistan have a life expectancy
  of only 45 years.
• Many ethnic groups make up the Afghan population.
  The largest is the Pashtun (38) followed in
  size by the Tajik (25).

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The People
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The Language

• Because of the presence of different ethnic
  groups in
• Afghanistan, several different languages are
  spoken.
• 50 of the people can speak Dari.
• 35 of the people can speak Pashtu.
• 11 of the people can speak one of the Turkic
  languages.
• Additionally there are another 30 minor
  languages spoken.
• There is a high level of bilingualism among the
  population.

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Is Afghanistans Geography Like Ours?
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The Geography

• Afghanistan is about the size of Texas.
• Its 647,500 square miles are landlocked.
• It is located in Southern Asia. It shares
  borders with Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  and Tajikistan, Iran, and China.

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The Geography

• The terrain is mostly rugged mountains, but there
  are plains in the north and southwest portions of
  the country.
• The climate is arid-semiarid. The winters are
  cold and the summers are hot.

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The Geography

• Afghanistan suffers from damaging earthquakes (an
  earthquake killed 5,000 people in Takhar
  Province, in 1998) and from flooding and
  droughts.
• Photo Takhar Province after 1998 earthquake

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What Kind of Economy Do the Afghans Have?
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The Economy

• Afghanistan is a poor country with few modern
  conveniences.
• It depends on farming and livestock raising
  (sheep and goats).
• Due to war and drought during the past 20 years,
  there has been
• a large loss of labor and capital, and the
  disruption of trade and
• transport of goods has had serious effects on the
  lives of many
• Afghans.

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Exports

• Afghanistans main export has been the opium
  extracted
• from the poppy plants grown over much of the
  country. The
• Taliban has recently put a ban on the cultivation
  of poppies.
• Because poppy farmers have little else to fall
  back on, many
• now have to face devastating poverty.

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Exports

• Exports which are still legal
• wheat
• fruits
• nuts
• wool
• mutton
• karakul pelts

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Do the Afghan People Have a History Like Ours?
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The History

• 18th Century The creation of Afghanistan.
• 19th Century The Barakzai Dynasty.
• 1919 Independence from British control.
• 1973 A coup overthrows the King.
• 1979 Invasion by Russian troops.
• 1996 The Taliban take power.

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18th and 19th Centuries

• Todays Afghanistan was created in the early18th
  century by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan general
  of Persian Emperor Nadir Shah Afshar.
• In the early 19th century, the British imposed a
  protectorate. During this period the Barakzai
  Dynasty took the place of the Durrani.
• In 1919, Afghanistan gained independence from
  British control.

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1933 - 1973

• King Zahir Shar (pictured left) sat on the Kobul
  throne for forty years.
• A coup detat led by his cousin in 1973 ended his
  reign.
• He has been living in Rome, Italy since.

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1979 - 1988

• The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with 80,000
  men
• in December, 1979, in an attempt to impose
  control for its puppet Afghan government.
• After losing tens-of- thousands of soldiers, the
  defeated Soviets retreated in 1988.
• 1,000,000 Afghans lost their lives in the fight
  against the Soviet Union.

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1996 - Present

• The Islamic fundamentalist movement known as the
  Taliban began to take political and physical
  control of the country in 1994. With its
  takeover of Kobul in 1996, the Taliban became the
  self-proclaimed government of Afghanistan,
  although it is not recognized as such by the
  United Nations.

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What is Afghanistan Like Today?
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Afghanistan Today

• After more than twenty years of civil war,
• Afghanistans economy and infrastructure lie in
  ruin.

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Afghanistan Today

• The civil war which Afghanistan has been fighting
• continues as the Taliban supporters face the
  forces of
• the Northern Alliance.

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Afghanistan Today

• During the many years of
• fighting, millions of land mines
• were buried in Afghanistans
• countryside. Many of the
• unexploded mines are now
• injuring adults and children
• when they accidentally trip the
• wires. International agencies
• are trying to help the Afghans
• de-mine the land.

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Afghanistan Today

• The Taliban has been ridding
• the country of all non-Islamic
• relics. Two sandstone
• statues of Buddha had stood
• carved in the side of a cliff in
• Bamiyan since around the
• Third Century. They were
• built to 175 and 120 in
• height.

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Afghanistan Today

• But on March 3, 2001, the
• Taliban used rockets and
• mortars to destroy the statues
• in a campaign to rid the
• country of un-Islamic and
• idolatrous representations of
• the human form.

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Afghanistan Today

• Women no longer have as
• many rights as they once
• did. The Taliban does not
• allow women or girls to
• study, work in most jobs, or
• vote. Women have to be
• completely covered when
• walking in public and should
• be accompanied by a male
• from their family.

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The End