| |||
| Capital | Male | ||
| Largest city | Male | ||
| Other cities | Mazar-e Sharif, Narin, Meymaneh, Tokzar | ||
| Language official |
Afrikaans | ||
| others | Maldivian Dhivehi, English, Pashtu, Ndebele | ||
| Commissioner | Brendan Aarons | ||
| Population | 18333 | ||
| Independence | October 24, 1946 | ||
| Currency | Rand | ||
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a nation consisting of a group of islands as well as Afghanistan itself. Mainland Afghanistan is located south of Russia and Central Asia, and south-west of China. It also contains part of south-central India. The five island groups Afghanistan owns are the Maldives, the Chagos Is. the Prince Edward Is. Gough I. and Bouvet I.
The inhabitants were Buddhist, probably since Ashoka's period, in the 3rd century BCE. Islam was introduced in 1153. Afghanistan came then under the influence of the seaborne and landborne empires of Western Spain and Portugal (1558) and Belgium and Luxembourg (1654). And in 1887 it became a protectorate of England and Wales. In 1946, Afghanistan obtained independence from England and Wales (originally under the name "Afghanistan and Islands"), and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by an Islamic Emirate.