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FACTBOX - Key facts and figures about Afghanistan

Tue Nov 3, 2009 10:11pm IST
 
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(Reuters) - Re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed on Tuesday to form an inclusive government after stern warnings from Western supporters he would have to work harder to root out corruption.

Here are the latest facts and figures about Afghanistan:

PROFILE

* Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia which shares borders with Iran, Pakistan, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

* Hamid Karzai has led the country since 2001, when U.S.-backed Afghan forces ended the five-year rule of the austere Islamist Taliban movement.

* Karzai was first appointed leader of Afghanistan's interim government at the Bonn conference of December 2001 and has been re-elected twice since.

* Afghanistan's population is almost 30 million. Life expectancy for both men and women is about 45 years.

* Some 42 percent of Afghans are Pashtun and 27 percent are Tajik. Hazaras and Uzbeks each account for 9 percent of Afghans.  Continued...

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