Country
The country of Afghanistan was founded in 1747 after the unification of the Pashtun tribes by the leader Ahmad Shah DURRANI. Since its beginning it has served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from national British control in 1919.
Afghanistan is considered a landlocked country. All of its total perimeter (652,230 sq km) is land. The make-up of this land is considered mostly rugged mountains with plains in the north and southwest.
It is surrounded by China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Southern Asia.
Some facts:
Afghanistan has been ranked as the worst place to live by woman by both CBS news (2011), Femininist eZine (2013), and The Independent (2013).
Afghanistan has 9th highest fertility rate in the world (5.6 children born per woman), yet with a low life expectancy of 44.5 years old for men and woman 44 years old.(World Food Programme, 2013;PBS, 2013)
Woman were historically banned under Taliban rule from attending school, but even with a new reformation around 70% of woman still don’t attend school and only 14% of women are literate (men 43%). Prior to 2001, the Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, ruled Afghanistan under Islamic law. During this time, women had virtually no rights and received no education. Watching television and listening to music were forbidden, as were playing games and sports. (PBS, 2013)