Question: What is the population of Afghanistan?

Demographics of Afghanistan



The population of Afghanistan is around 33 million as of 2016,[1] which includes the roughly 3 million Afghan citizens living as refugees in both Pakistan and Iran.[5] The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia. Its largest ethnic group is the Pashtun, followed by Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and a few others.[1][6]
Approximately 46% of the population is under 15 years of age, and 74% of all Afghans live in rural areas.[3] The average woman gives birth to five children during her entire life and 6.8% of all babies die in child-birth or infancy.[3] Life expectancy was reported in 2015 at 60.5 years[2] and only 0.04% of the population has HIV.[1]
Pashto and Dari are both the official languages of the country.[4] 
Dari, which is known as the Afghan Persian, functions as the lingua franca. Pashto is widely used in the region south of the Hindu Kush mountains and the Indus River in neighboring Pakistan. Uzbek and Turkmen are smaller languages spoken in parts of the north.[1] Multilingualism is common throughout the country, especially in the major cities.
Islam is the religion of more than 99% of Afghanistan's citizens. Roughly 90% of the population practice Sunni Islam and belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school, while 7–15% are followers of Shia Islam;[1][7] the majority of whom belong to the Twelver branch, with smaller numbers of Ismailis. The remaining 1% or less practice other religions such as Sikhism and Hinduism. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most People are organized into tribal and other kinship-based groups, who follow their own traditional customs, for instance Pashtuns Pashtunwali. The majority of the country's population lives in rural areas and is involved in agricultural activities.
Population statistics

As of 2016, the total population of Afghanistan is around 33,332,025,[1] which includes the 3 million Afghan nationals living in both Pakistan and Iran.[5] Afghanistan's Central Statistics Organization (CSO) stated in 2011 that the total number of Afghans living inside Afghanistan was about 26 million and by 2017 it reached 29.2 million. Of this, 15 million are males and 14.2 million are females.[8] About 22% of the population is urbanite and the remaining 78% live in rural areas.[5]
The population was reported in 1979 at about 15.5 million.[9][10] From 1979 until the end of 1983, some 5 million people left the country to take shelter in neighboring northwestern Pakistan and eastern Iran. This exodus was largely unchecked by any government. The Afghan government in 1983 reported a population of 15.96 million, which presumably included the exodus.[11]
It is assumed that roughly 600,000 to as high as 2 million Afghans may have been killed during the various 1979–2001 wars.[12] These figures are highly questionable and no attempt has ever been made to verify them.[11] The country's population is expected to reach 82 million by 2050.[13]
Urban areas have experienced rapid population growth in the last decade, which is due to the return of over 5 million expats. The only city in Afghanistan with over a million residents is its capital, Kabul. The other largest cities in the country are shown in the chart below.































vt Largest cities or towns in Afghanistan
2019 estimate[14]RankNameProvincePop.
Kabul

Kandahar1KabulKabul Province4,273,200
Herat

Mazar-i-Sharif2KandaharKandahar Province614,3003HeratHerat Province556,2004Mazar-i-SharifBalkh Province469,2005KunduzKunduz Province356,5006JalalabadNangarhar Province263,2007TaloqanTakhar Province253,7008Puli KhumriBaghlan Province237,9009GhazniGhazni Province183,00010KhostKhost Province153,300
Age structure

0–14 years: 42.3% (male 6,464,070/female 6,149,468)

15–64 years: 55.3% (male 8,460,486/female 8,031,968)

65 years and over: 2.4% (male 349,349/female 380,051) (2011 est.)
Population growth rate
In 1979, the population was reported to be about 15.5 million.[9]
2.32% (2015)[1]

country comparison to the world: 39
Urbanization

urbanization population: 24% of the total population (2008)

rate of urbanization: 5.4% annual rate of change (2005–10)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15–64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female

total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2009)
Vital statistics
UN estimates[15]

Fertility and Births
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):[16]

Structure of the population[17]
Structure of the population (2012.01.07) (Data refer to the settled population based on the 1979 Population Census and the latest household prelisting. The refugees of Afghanistan in Iran, Pakistan,
and an estimated 1.5 million nomads, are not included):


Life expectancy
total population:
60.5 years (2015)[2][18]
country comparison to the world: 214

male: 59.3 years (2013)[2]

female: 61.9 years (2013)[2]

Source: UN World Population Prospects[19]
Development and health indicators


Literacy
Definition: People over the age of 15 that can read and write
Total population:  38.2% (2015)[1]
Male: 52%
Female: 24.2%
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 11 years

male: 13 years

female: 8 years (2014)
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate
0.04% (2015)[1]
HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS
Up to 6,900 (2015 estimate)[1][20]
In 2008, health officials in Afghanistan reported 504[21] cases of people living with HIV but by the end of 2012 the numbers reached 1,327. The nation's healthy ministry stated that most of the HIV patients were among intravenous drug users and that 70% of them were men, 25% women, and the remaining 5% children. They belonged to Kabul, Kandahar and Herat, the provinces from where people make the most trips to neighboring and foreign countries.[22] Regarding Kandahar, 22 cases were reported in 2012. "AIDS Prevention department head Dr Hamayoun Rehman said 1,320 blood samples were examined and 21 were positive. Among the 21 patients, 18 were males and three were females who contracted the deadly virus from their husbands. He said four people had reached a critical stage while three had died. The main source of the disease was the use of syringes used by drug addicts."[23] There are approximately 23,000 addicts in the country who inject drugs into their bodies using syringes
country comparison to the world: 168
HIV/AIDS – deaths
Up to 300 (2015 estimate)[1]
Major infectious diseases
Degree  of risk:  high
Food  or waterborne diseases:  bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vector-borne diseases:  malaria
Animal  contact diseases:  rabies
Note: WH5N1  avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk as of 2009.
Ethnic groups


In August 2017, a nationwide distribution of e-ID cards (e-Tazkiras) is scheduled to begin. The ethnicity of each citizen is to be provided in the application. This process is expected to reveal the exact figures about the size and composition of the country's ethnic groups.[24]
Article Four of the Afghan Constitution mentions a total of 14 ethnic groups. An approximate distribution of the ethnolinguistic groups is shown in the map to the right and listed in the chart below:


The recent estimate in the above chart is some what supported by the below national opinion polls, which were aimed at knowing how a group of about 804 to 8,706 local residents in Afghanistan felt about the current war, political situation, as well as the economic and social issues affecting their daily lives. Ten surveys were conducted between 2004 and 2015 by the Asia Foundation (a sample is shown in the table below; the survey in 2015 did not contain information on the ethnicity of the participants) and one between 2004 and 2009 by a combined effort of the broadcasting companies NBC News, BBC, and ARD.[28][29]


Languages


Pashto and Dari are both the official languages of Afghanistan.[4] Dari, which is recognized as the Afghan Persian, serves as the lingua franca in majority of Afghanistan. It is the language resorted to when people of different ethnic groups need to conduct business or otherwise communicate, and spoken natively by the Tajik, Hazara, and Aimak population; overall 80% of the population can speak Farsi (Dari).[30] Pashto is widely used in south eastern and eastern areas of the country where ethnic Pashtuns are the majority, including by majority of the Afghans in Pakistan. The Afghan National Anthem is recited in Pashto.
Uzbeki and Turkmeni are spoken in certain parts of the northern provinces, mainly among the Uzbek and Turkmen tribes. Smaller number of Afghans are also fluent in Urdu, Balochi, Arabic and other languagees. English is taught in schools and is gradually becoming popular among the younger generation.
An approximate distribution of languages spoken in the country is shown in the line chart below:


Based on information from the latest national opinion polls, up to 51% stated that they can speak or understand Pashto and up to 79% stated that they can speak or understand Dari. Uzbeki was spoken or understood by up to 11% and Turkmen by up to 7%. Other languages that can be spoken are Arabic (4%) and Balochi (2%).[28][29]
Religion



Almost the entire Afghan population is Muslim, with less than 1% being non-Muslim. Despite attempts to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Islam was used as the main basis for expressing opposition to the modernization of Afghanistan by King Amanullah in the 1920s. It was also used by the mujahideen during the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War and by the Taliban today.
Islam: 99.7% of the total population
Sunni Muslim: 84.7–90%[1][7]
Shia Muslim: 7–15%[1][7]
others: less than 1%
Baha'is in the hundreds
Sikhism: In the thousands
Hinduism: In the thousands
Zoroastrianism: Unknown/unreported
Christianity: Unknown
Judaism (one known individual: Zablon Simintov)
Buddhism: Unknown


See also

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
Culture of Afghanistan


Further reading
Banting, Erinn. . Crabtree Publishing Company, 2003. ISBN0-7787-9336-2.
Caroe, Olaf (1958). . Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints. Oxford University Press, 1983. ISBN0-19-577221-0.
Dupree, Nancy Hatch. . 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Air Authority, Afghan Tourist Organization, 1977.
Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1819. . Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and J. Murry, 1819.
Habibi, Abdul Hai. 2003. "Afghanistan: An Abridged History." Fenestra Books. ISBN1-58736-169-8.
Hopkins, B. D. 2008. . Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. ISBN0-230-55421-0.
Reddy, L. R. . APH Publishing, 2002. ISBN81-7648-319-2.
Amy Romano. . The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. ISBN0-8239-3863-8.
Vogelsang, Willem. . Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. Oxford, UK & Massachusette, USA. ISBN0-631-19841-5.






 – Naval Postgraduate School