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.

http://youtu.be/lXQixsZyriM

The Taliban also destroyed works of art that they considered idols – many of them were extremely old.

http://youtu.be/RYPjOeJyNDI

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.

http://youtu.be/sltjEC1WmqU

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.