Afghanistan – A Place

Afghanistan is officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It is a country in Southern Asia.

Afghanistan today

Afghanistan is home to over 36 million people. It is an orderly society with a strict law system. The country’s capital is Kabul, and as of 1870, the religion of the state is Islam.

Founded in the early 1700’s, Afghanistan was home to many groups of people. The territory has always been a very popular trade and travel route. It has even been called “a gateway to India.” Because of this, the country has a long past of political turmoil. In fact, humans there can be traced back as early as 50,000 BC. Some of these being the first farming communities in history. The current Constitution of Afghanistan dates to 26 January 2004.

Today, the Afghan people’s lives revolve around rebuilding the state and religion. They live on a diet of roasted meats, fruits, vegetables, rice, and soups. However, food and electricity are scarce in many communities.

Many schools in these areas have been reopened in recent years. The reopening of social events and activities have made daily life more relaxed.

Partly because of the location of the country, many languages are still spoken in Afghanistan today. Afghan Persian and Farsi are the two most used in everyday life. In government and business settings, Dari is widely used. In addition to these, there are hundreds of other languages spoken there as well. This makes bilingualism a very common skill.

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

The people of Afghanistan are largely divided into various ethnic groups. A few of these are the Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazarus, and Uzbeks. Though most men have done away with wearing a turban, they still dress traditionally. This means a pair of loose trousers, a long shirt, and a heavy vest. However, women continue to wear the traditional chador, a full body covering.

Genetics

This section is under development.

mtDNA

Genographic ProjectGeno 2.0 Data

Data from Geno 2.0 is derived from the The National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project — the DAR. The Hg ID is specific to this site and is used to protect the identities of those who take part in Genographic research. Birth Country, Mother's Birth Country, and Maternal Grandmother's Birth Country have been normalized from DAR database fields. The Maternal Origin is determined based on the three previous fields.

Note: Geno 2.0 results currently use Phylotree build 16. I am working on changing results over to build 17.

Hg ID	Hg Build 16	Birth Country	Mother's Birth Country	Maternal Grandmother's Birth Country
Hap10003486	H3	United States	United States	Afghanistan
Hap10035301	H1b1	United States	United States	Afghanistan
Hap10040857	A	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Unspecified
Hap10054315	J1c3b	United States	United States	Afghanistan
Hap10070548	M3a2	Pakistan	Australia	Afghanistan
Hap10082355	U2b1	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Afghanistan
Hap10082422	U2c1	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Afghanistan
Hap10085590	U4b1a1a1	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Unspecified
Hap10092194	U5b1e1a	United States	United States	Afghanistan
Hap10094578	U7a3	Afghanistan	Afghanistan	Afghanistan

Sources and Resources

Background

A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan – PBS
Afghanistan – U.S. Department of State
Afghanistan Population – World-o-Meters

Journal Articles

• Douka, K., Slon, V., Stringer, C., Potts, R., Hübner, M., Meyer, M., Spoor, F., Pääbo, S., Higham, T. (2017). Direct radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis of the Darra-i-Kur (Afghanistan) human temporal bone. Journal of Human Evolution, 107, 86–93.

Genealogy

Asia & The Pacific – Cyndi’s List

Author: Amanda C.