Post on 22-Dec-2015
Afghanistan
Objectives
• Identify Pakistan and Afghanistan on a blank map of Asia.
• Explain the importance of the Khyber Pass.
• Discuss the role of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
• Discuss the life of women under the Taliban.
• Compare Pakistan to Afghanistan.
• Name the source of illegal income that is widespread in Afghanistan.
Terms and People
Indus River is the great river of Pakistan.
The Taliban is a group that took over Afghanistan and which was particularly brutal to women.
The Khyber Pass is a narrow gap in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan, a city ruined by war.
Reconstruction is the rebuilding after a war or other catastrophe.
Compare the elevation map at left with the
temperature map below.
The mountains called the Hindu Kush form the
backbone of Afghanistan. Most Afghans live in
fertile valleys at the foot of the mountains, and not on the semiarid plains to
the north or in the deserts to the south
Iran
Iraq
Former Soviet Republics
Pakistan
Afghanistan
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union tried
to take over Afghanistan.
The United States helped fund and arm the Afghanis against
the Soviets.
They allowed Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian, to use Afghanistan as
a base for his terrorist group, al
Qaeda.
After his attack on New York City, the United States
invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban
government.
A group called the Taliban took over
Afghanistan.
Women were horribly mistreated
under the Taliban’s rule.
They had to wear clothing that covered their entire bodies.
National Geographic published this famous
photo of a girl in a refugee camp, fleeing the Taliban.
This girl had her nose cut off.
She was able to have reconstructive surgery in the United
States.
The Taliban did not allow girls or women to be educated.
Women were not allowed to have jobs.
The men were supposed to work, but
if women were widowed, they were
forced to beg.
When the United States overthrew the Taliban,
the lives of women began to improve.
The Taliban also destroyed works of art that they considered idols – many of them were extremely old.
On this map, the word “insurgency” means areas where the Taliban has
regained some power.
Compare areas where the Taliban has power with the areas where
poppies are grown. What possible connection is there?
Afghanistan is the greatest source of opium poppies in the world.
These poppies are used to make heroin, one of the world’s most
dangerous drugs. Export of
heroin
Examine this chart. What two
factors does it compare?
What information does this chart give
about Afghanistan?
How does Afghanistan compare to other Asian
nations?
The population of Afghanistan is moderate
for this region.
73m
173m
34m
5m
16m
28m
6m
5m
74m
The population of Pakistan is
much higher.
Many people are concerned that the
radical ideas of Afghanistan are migrating into
Pakistan.
UZBEKISTAN TAJIKISTAN
This concern is deepened because
Iranian ethnic groups live in both – the
areas where people live don’t match the
national boundaries.
Not only do the Iranian groups
(brown) spill over into Pakistan, but the Turkic groups (purple and dark
red) cross national borders into
Afghanistan from Turkic nations to the
north.
Pakistan is mostly desert, except where the Indus River flows.
The Indus River drains the ice and snow from the Himalayan Mountains
and empties into the Arabian Sea.
The fertile Indus River valley contains most of the country’s agricultural areas as well as its hydroelectric power stations.
Most people in Pakistan live in farming villages along the Indus Valley.
Almost all Pakistanis are Muslims.
Please read “Pakistan: An Economy Based on Agriculture.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. Pg. 190.
And
“Warfare and Unrest in Afghanistan.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. Pg. 208-209.
Describe the Taliban.
5 Yr Old Terrorists Training At Taliban Camp
http://youtu.be/uk6TgxiaQIA
Ethnic Groups
Both Pashtun and Tadjik are Persian-speaking
people of Iranian origin.
Repeated invasions and migrations led to many ethnic groups living in Afghanistan.