Afghanistan and Khaled Hosseini

Regional Map• Afghanistan is a landlocked

country, making the export of goods difficult and expensive.

• It has rugged mountains and plains and is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and drought.

• Temperatures are extreme, as hot as 120° F in the summer and as cold as -15° F in the winter.

• There are limited natural fresh water sources, and most of the land has been overgrazed and deforested, causing desertification and soil degradation, making farming difficult.

Data Information

• Capital: Kabul

• Area: 251,825 sq mi; slightly smaller than Texas• Population: 31,056,997 (July 2006 estimate)

80% Sunni Muslim, 19% Shia Muslim

• Main ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek

• GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2004 estimate)

• Over 80% of labor force is employed in agriculture (farming, sheep, goats)

• Covered by an estimated 5-7 million landmines

• Leading illicit opium producer in 2005 supplying 89% of the opium produced in the world. 1/3 of the GDP comes from opium trade

• Pashtun: largest ethnic group, mostly farmers and Sunni Muslims

• Tajik: live mostly in the northeast, second largest ethnic group, mostly Sunni Muslims

• Hazara: live in the Hindu Kush mountains, primarily Shiite Muslims

• Uzbek: live mostly along the northern border, mostly Sunni Muslims

• Aimaqs: a farming and herding tribe in the west, mostly Sunni Muslims

• Turkmen and Kirghiz: nomadic herders and craftsmen, mostly Sunni Muslims

• Baluch: nomadic tribe living in the southern deserts, Sunni Muslims

Ethnic Groups Map

Afghan War 1978-92

• Conflict between anti-Communist Muslim Afghan guerrillas (mujahidin) and Afghan government and Soviet forces

• 1978 coup de teat- overthrew Afghan president Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan

• Kahn had gained power by ousting the king in 1973

• Kahn was assassinated and a pro-Soviet Communist government under Noor Mohammed Taraki

Change Again???

• 1979- another coup brought Hafizullah Amin to power

• This prompted the Soviet forces to invade December 1979

• Soviets placed Babrak Karmal as president

• Soviet invasion began with 30,000 troops and escalated to 100,000

• The mujahidin were supported by the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia

• In order to avoid war with these countries the money and supplies were funneled though Pakistan and Iran

• Mujahidin operated fairly freely in the mountains and pushed the Soviets out

Again???

• 1986- Karmal resigned and Mohammad Najibullah became leader

• Feb. 1988 Gorbachev announced withdrawl of USSR

• Soviets loss patience with the war due to high casualties and lack of success

• 1992- Najibullah’s government collapsed and 14 years of the People’s Democratic party fell to the mujahidin under Ahmed Shah Massoud

Facts after the War

• Country was left with severe political, economic, and ecological problems

• 1 million Afghans died • 5 million Afghans became refugees in

neighboring countries• 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and 37,000

wounded• Due to the tribes unable to unite the Taliban

was able to take control later in the decade

• After the Soviets pulled out post-government was not set up and caused the Interim Islamic Government of Afghanistan was established in exile

• This caused many groups including refugees and Shiite to be excluded – This gov. never acted as a functional government

• The prolonged conflict caused the nation to be ranked 170 out of 174 nations as the poorest

• US interests halted after USSR left the country• US did not help in reconstruction of Afghanistan

and handed over the interests of the country to its allies Saudi Arabia and Pakistan

• Pakistan took relations with warlords and later the Taliban to insure trade interests and routs

• Due to all but 2% of the forest cover being destroyed the country may never recover

• Country is one of the world’s major suppliers of opium

• “Children born in Afghanistan at the start of the war… have been brought up in war conditions, this is their way of life.” – Captain Tarlan EyvazovLater this was proven true when the Taliban gained

power by Afghan refugees and orphans

Khaled Hosseini

• 1965- Kabul, Afghanistan• Father was a diplomat and mother taught

Farsi and History at a large high school until 1970

• Hosseini was in the 4th grade when the Afghan King was overthrown in a bloodless coup

• 1976 the family had been relocated to Paris• 1980- after a bloody communist coup they

were granted political asylum in the US

• September 1980- family moved to San Jose, CA• Lived on welfare and food stamps for a short time as

all property was lost in Afghanistan• Father worked multiple jobs to get family independent• Graduated from high school in 1984• Santa Clara University- bachelor's degree Biology 1988• University of California- San Diego’s School of

Medicine- 1993• Residency at Cedar’s Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and

began practicing internal medicine in 1996

• First love has always been writing• Good memories of peaceful pre-Soviet era

Afghanistan and of his personal experiences with Afghan Hazaras