Annual population growth rate (2009 est.): 2.629%.

 

Main ethnic groups: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%

 

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1%.

 

Main languages: Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism.

 

Education: Approximately 6 million children, of whom some 35% are girls.

 

Health: Infant mortality rate (2009 est.)--151.95 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2009 est.)--44.47 yrs. (male); 44.81 yrs. (female).

 

Executive Branches: chief of state: President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid KARZAI (since 7 December 2004); First Vice President Mohammad FAHIM Khan (since 19 November 2009); Second Vice President Abdul Karim KHALILI (since 7 December 2004) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; former King ZAHIR Shah held the honorific, "Father of the Nation," and presided symbolically over certain occasions but lacked any governing authority; the honorific is not hereditary; King ZAHIR Shah died on 23 July 2007

Judicial Branches: Supreme Court, High Courts, and Appeals Courts.

 

Political subdivisions: 34 provinces (welayat, singular - welayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktiya, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Zabul

 

Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.

 

Natural Resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromites, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones

 

Currency: Afghani 1 = 100 pols

 

Internet domain: .af

1919 - Afghanistan regains independence after third war against British forces trying to bring country under their sphere of influence.

 

1926 - Amanullah proclaims himself king and attempts to introduce social reforms leading to opposition from conservative forces.

 

1929 - Amanullah flees after civil unrest over his reforms.

 

1933 - Zahir Shah becomes king and Afghanistan remains a monarchy for next four decades.

 

1953 - General Mohammed Daud becomes prime minister. Turns to Soviet Union for economic and military assistance. Introduces a number of social reforms, such as abolition of purdah (practice of secluding women from public view).

 

1963 - Mohammed Daud forced to resign as prime minister.

 

1964 - Constitutional monarchy introduced - but leads to political polarisation and power struggles.

 

1973 - Mohammed Daud seizes power in a coup and declares a republic. Tries to play off USSR against Western powers. His style alienates left-wing factions who join forces against him.

 

1978 - General Daud is overthrown and killed in a coup by leftist People's Democratic Party. But party's Khalq and Parcham factions fall out, leading to purging or exile of most Parcham leaders. At the same time, conservative Islamic and ethnic leaders who objected to social changes begin armed revolt in countryside.

 

1979 - Power struggle between leftist leaders Hafizullah Amin and Nur Mohammed Taraki in Kabul won by Amin. Revolts in countryside continue and Afghan army faces collapse. Soviet Union finally sends in troops to help remove Amin, who is executed.

 

1980 - Babrak Karmal, leader of the People's Democratic Party Parcham faction, is installed as ruler, backed by Soviet troops. But anti-regime resistance intensifies with various mujahideen groups fighting Soviet forces. US, Pakistan, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia supply money and arms.

 

1985 - Mujahideen come together in Pakistan to form alliance against Soviet forces. Half of Afghan population now estimated to be displaced by war, with many fleeing to neighbouring Iran or Pakistan. New Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says he will withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

 

1986 - US begins supplying mujahideen with Stinger missiles, enabling them to shoot down Soviet helicopter gunships. Babrak Karmal replaced by Najibullah as head of Soviet-backed regime.

 

1988 - Afghanistan, USSR, the US and Pakistan sign peace accords and Soviet Union begins pulling out troops.

 

1989 - Last Soviet troops leave, but civil war continues as mujahideen push to overthrow Najibullah.

 

1991 - US and USSR agree to end military aid to both sides.

 

1992 - Resistance closes in on Kabul and Najibullah falls from power. Rival militias vie for influence.

 

1993 - Mujahideen factions agree on formation of a government with ethnic Tajik, Burhanuddin Rabbani, proclaimed president.

 

1994 - Factional contests continue and the Pashtun-dominated Taliban emerge as major challenge to the Rabbani government.

 

1996 - Taleban seize control of Kabul and introduce hard-line version of Islam, banning women from work, and introducing Islamic punishments, which include stoning to death and amputations. Rabbani flees to join anti-Taliban northern alliance.

 

1997 - Taliban recognised as legitimate rulers by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Most other countries continue to regard Rabbani as head of state. Taliban now control about two-thirds of country.

 

1998 - Earthquakes kill thousands of people. US launches missile strikes at suspected bases of militant Osama bin Laden, accused of bombing US embassies in Africa.

 

1999 - UN imposes an air embargo and financial sanctions to force Afghanistan to hand over Osama bin Laden for trial.

 

2001 January - UN imposes further sanctions on Taliban to force them to hand over Osama bin Laden.

 

2001 March - Taliban blow up giant Buddha statues in defiance of international efforts to save them.

 

2001 April - Mullah Mohammad Rabbani, the second most powerful Taliban leader after the supreme commander Mullah Mohammad Omar, dies of liver cancer.

 

2001 May - Taliban order religious minorities to wear tags identifying themselves as non-Muslims, and Hindu women to veil themselves like other Afghan women.

 

2001 September - Eight foreign aid workers on trial in the Supreme Court for promoting Christianity. This follows months of tension between Taliban and aid agencies.

 

2001 - Ahmad Shah Masood, legendary guerrilla and leader of the main opposition to the Taliban, is killed, apparently by assassins posing as journalists.

 

2001 October - US, Britain launch air strikes against Afghanistan after Taliban refuse to hand over Osama bin Laden, held responsible for the September 11 attacks on America.

 

2001 November - Opposition forces seize Mazar-e Sharif and within days march into Kabul and other key cities.

 

2001 5 December - Afghan groups agree deal in Bonn for interim government.

 

2001 7 December - Taliban finally give up last stronghold of Kandahar, but Mullah Omar remains at large.

 

2001 22 December - Pashtun royalist Hamid Karzai is sworn in as head of a 30-member interim power-sharing government.

 

2002 January - First contingent of foreign peacekeepers in place.

 

2002 April - Former king Zahir Shah returns, but says he makes no claim to the throne.

 

2002 May - UN Security Council extends mandate of International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) until December 2002.

 

Allied forces continue their military campaign to find remnants of al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the south-east.

 

2002 June - Loya Jirga, or grand council, elects Hamid Karzai as interim head of state. Karzai picks members of his administration which is to serve until 2004.

 

2003 August - Nato takes control of security in Kabul, its first-ever operational commitment outside Europe.

 

2004 January - Grand assembly - or Loya Jirga - adopts new constitution which provides for strong presidency.

 

2004 October-November - Presidential elections: Hamid Karzai is declared the winner, with 55% of the vote. He is sworn in, amid tight security, in December.

 

2005 September - First parliamentary and provincial elections in more than 30 years.

 

2005 December - New parliament holds its inaugural session.

 

2006 July onwards - Nato troops take over the leadership of military operations in the south. Fierce fighting ensues as the forces try to extend government control in areas where Taliban influence is strong.

 

2006 October - Nato assumes responsibility for security across the whole of Afghanistan, taking command in the east from a US-led coalition force.

 

2007 July - Former king Zahir Shah dies.

 

2009 March - President Barack Obama unveils a new US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat what he calls an increasingly perilous situation. An extra 4,000 US personnel will train and bolster the Afghan army and police, and there will also be support for civilian development.

 

2009 August – Second Presidential and provincial elections are held.

 

2009 October - Hamid Karzai is declared winner of the August presidential election, after second-placed opponent Abdullah Abdullah pulls out before the second round. Preliminary results had given Mr Karzai 55% of the vote, but so many ballots are found to be fraudulent that a run-off was called.

 

2010 February - Nato-led forces launch major offensive, Operation Moshtarak, in bid to secure government control of southern Helmand province.