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Capital: Kabul
Airports: Kabul
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With the current hostilities in Afghanistan, we recommend you check our links to travel advisories |
Currency: The afghani (AF) is the basic monetary unit. For the current rate of exchange visit the Olson and Anderson web site.
Time Zones: Current local time. Standard time is four hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Languages: Pashtu, Afghan Persian, Turkic and several minor tribal languages
Visit the CIA World Fact Book for a large variety of particulars regarding Afghanistan.
Travel Advisories: Travelers should check the web sites listed on our international pages that provide advice of possible security and health risks when visiting this region.
Afghanistan On Line and Afghanistan's Web Site are sources of information about Afghanistan life, culture and current events. The web site for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Aghanistan (RAWA) sheds a light on an important aspect of life in Afghanistan.
UNESCO has two properties in Afghanistan on its World Heritage List.
The page for Afghanistan on the Interactive Central Asia Research Project (ICARP) is an excellent resource for information on a variety of topics.
Recommended Reading: Afghanistan: A Short History of its People and Politics by Martin Ewans examines the troubled history from the 7th Century to the present.
Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban by Larry P. Goodson is a history of Afghanistan's last two decades and its importance as a linchpin relative to the oil trade and political and cultural affairs in the region.
Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia by Karl E. Meyer and Sharon Blair Brysac chronicles the history of the many forces competing to dominate this region.
Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid is regarded as one of the most authoritative historical accounts of the Taliban and its impact on present-day Afghanistan.
War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet by Eric S. Margolis provides an authoritative view of this region's political landscape based on his long experience as a journalist in this area.
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot who gained his first experience in Afghanistan as a college student under fire with the mujaheddin. This book relates his observations after his return and the Taliban rose to power.
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll brings to light the covert operations of international intelligence agencies active in Afghanistan.
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliott takes a poignant look at this country that combines travelogue with historical views.
The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron was written in 1933. Byron documents his journey through the Middle East to the river Amu Darya, the river that forms much of Afghanistan's northern border. The book still commands respect as one of the best books written by a Westerner about this region.
The State, Religion and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan (Editors) Ali Banuazizi and Myron Weiner. This book presents a collection of papers written by recognized scholars and presented to a conference on 'Islam, Ethnicity and the State in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan' in 1982.