Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN 

The New Year in Afghanistan, called Nawroz, is celebrated on 21 March which is the first day of spring.

Afghanistan is also rich in natural resources with the main ones being natural gas and oil.

Afghanistan's main source of income comes from agriculture. They produce large amounts of crops that are enough to provide for the people and export as well.

National game is Buzkashi, or in other words, goat-grabbing. It's a sport where the players in two teams try to catch a goat while riding on a horse. It has been played for centuries and it even got sponsors for it nowadays.

The country is rich in the vibrant blue stone, lapis lazuli, which was used to decorate the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun.

Buzkashi

A Blue Mosque at Mazar - Sharif, Afghanisthan

Afghans take pride in making and flying their own kites. They even have kite fights and use wire or glass in their kites to cut the kite strings of rival kite flyers.

Afghanistan celebrates its independence on August 19th from Britain.

British and Afghans fought in three wars in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the Afghans finally defeated the British in 1919 and formed an independent monarchy in 1921.

The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 . In 1996, Soviet troops left Afghanistan and the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States began searching for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and invaded Afghanistan, along with an international coalition to remove the Taliban.

A cliff gap - once Buddha statue stood

A Loya Jirga wrote a new constitution in 2004 and the people elected their first president, Hamid Karzai.

Tea is the favourite Afghan drink and a popular meal is palau, made from rice, sheep and goat meats, and fruit.

Fast Facts

Official name: Republic Of  Afghanistan

Capital: Kabul

People: Afghans        

Currency: Afghani

Official Launguage :Dari and Pashto

Climate : Arid to semi arid, hot summers and cold winters.

Size:251,827 square miles; slightly smaller than Texas

Land Boundaries :   North -Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan

             Northeast- China

            South and  East- Pakistan

           West- Iran