The population is 1,441,769. The area is 58,584 square kilometres. Pashtuns are the majority estimated at 92% of the population. There are also Balochs who are in the south. Also there are small numbers of Hazara, Brahui and Tajik.
Ghazni Province
Ghazni () () is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the east of the country. Its capital is Ghazni City.
The major ethnic groups in the province are Hazaras, Pashtuns and Tajiks. There are also some Burki, and Uzbeks. Ghazni is made up of 19 districts.
Some Sikhs and Hindus also live in Ghazni province. During the Taliban regime they fled the country. With the current administration they have returned to Ghazni city.
Band E Sardeh Dam is located in Andar District near the border with Paktika Province. It creates a large water reservoir that is important to the irrigation of the Kahnjoor farming zone.
Ghazni
Ghazni (Persian/Pashto: غزنی - "Ġaznī"; historically known as غزنین / "Ġaznīn" and غزنه / "Ġazna") is a city in central-east Afghanistan. It is the capital of Ghazni Province.
Just like other cities of Afghanistan, Ghazni is very old and has seen many military invasions.
The city has a number of public schools.
Ghazni City is located in an area of extreme drought. In 2007, one of the gates on a fifty-year-old dam on the Jikhai River broke. This worried the people of Ghazni city about the water supply. The dam serves as a good source of irrigation water to Ghazni City and the surrounding agricultural areas. Nearby rivers have a history of flooding and causing severe damage and death, though efforts have begun to fix this.
Pashayi language
Pashayi - also known as Pashai - is a language (or a group of languages) spoken by the Pashai people in parts of Kapisa, Laghman, Nuristan, Kunar, and Nangarhar Provinces in northeastern Afghanistan.
It is spoken by over 216,842 people who are mostly Muslim. Most of them are bilingual in Pashto. Only 25% are able to read. The Pashai language was not written prior to 2003.
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire ( ("Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa"), BHS: "", Parthian: "Kušanxšaθr") was first formed in the early 1st century AD. It was in eastern and northern Afghanistan and the north-west of India.
The Kushan were a branch of the Yuezhi confederation. Previously a nomadic people living in eastern Central Asia, the Yuezhi moved southwest and settled in ancient Bactria.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Maroney (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. She has acted in films for the "X-Men" series and "The Hunger Games" series.
In 2010, Lawrence played Ree Dolly in "Winter's Bone". In 2012, she played Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" franchise. In 2013, she won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. That year, she also won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
Lawrence is of English, Scottish, Irish and German descent. As of August 2013, Lawrence is dating "" and "" co-star Nicholas Hoult. The couple started dating in 2011 after filming "X-Men: First Class", but ended their relationship in January 2013, after 2 years of dating. They reconnected 6 months later in July 2013, after filming "X-Men: Days of Future Past" together.
Lawrence has been the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Award, four Critic's Choice Movie Awards, a Independent Spirit Award, a Venice Film Festival Award, a Palm Springs International Film Festival Award, a Saturn Award, a Satellite Award and several other awards. She was named the Associated Press' Entertainer of the Year for 2013.
Buddhas of Bamiyan
The Buddhas of Bamiyan ( – "but hay-e bamiyan") were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff. They are in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan.
They were dynamited and destroyed in March 2001 by the Taliban. Japan and Switzerland, among others, have said they would help rebuild the statues.
Tahirid dynasty
The Tahirid dynasty () was a Persian dynasty that ruled the Abbasid province of Khorasan from 821 to 873. It also ruled the city of Baghdad from 820 until 891. The capital in Khorasan was first located at Merv. Later it moved to Nishapur.
History of Azerbaijan
The history of Azerbaijan goes back centuries before the USSR was formed. The population of Azerbaijan is a native to the Caucasus area, which are of turk descent.
In the 7th century, Islam was introduced with the Arab conquest, which was important in the formation of a single nation and language in Azerbaijan, when the population became Muslim. A common religion for both Turkic and non-Turkic ethnic groups brought about the formation of common traditions, and the integration between the different ethnic groups living on the territory of Azerbaijan. By the middle of the 9th century, the Turkic ethnic group, the Azerbaijani people became the major ethnic group.
The establishment of a single state in Azerbaijan happened between the 15th century and the 18th century. This period is very important in the history of Azerbaijan. The ruler Shah Ismail Khatai (1501-1524) who was of Azerbaijani origin, united all the territories of Azerbaijan under his control. He founded the Safavid dynasty with Tabriz as its capital. During the rule of the Safavis, the Azerbaijani language also became the only official language. After the Safavid dynasty ended, Nadir Shah Afshar (1736-1747), an Azerbaijani commander founded the Afsharid dynasty (1736-1796) named after himself, and continued to rule over Azerbaijan's territories. He strengthened the borders and in 1739 invaded North India including Delhi. After Nadir Shah's death, his dynasty weakened and in the second part of the 18th century resulted in the formations of new smaller states.
In the late 18th century, then, the government of Iran passed to the Qajar dynasty (1796-1925), who were also of Azerbaijani origin. Their main policy was to unite all the territories once ruled by their ancestors. This gave the start to several long wars between the Qajars and Russia, with both parties aiming to occupy the South Caucasus which Azerbaijan is a part of. Azerbaijan was divided between the two empires. The northern part of Azerbaijan was annexed to Russia, while the south went to Iran. This is the origin of today's political division between "North Azerbaijan" which today has become the Republic of Azerbaijan, and "South Azerbaijan", which today is a part of Iran.
Azerbaijan came under Russian rule after the Persian-Russian wars of 1804-1813. The country gained independence for a short period, however, towards the end of the First World War. After the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, Azerbaijan, together with Armenia and Georgia formed the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. When this republic ended in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence as the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan on May 28, 1918, as the first modern and secular parliamentary republic in the Muslim World. However, the Red Army occupied the territory and annexed it to the newly formed Soviet Union and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was founded on April 28, 1920.