Hazara Nation

Ministers from dozens of countries met in Paris on Thursday to pledge funds for Afghanistan and review their development strategy for the fragile Central Asian state.

Here are some key facts about Afghanistan:

GEOGRAPHY - Ringed by Iran, Pakistan and the central Asian states of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, landlocked Afghanistan forms part of an ancient east-west trade route and covers an area of 647,500 sq km (250,000 sq miles).
POPULATION - 32.7 million, according to July 2008 estimates.

CAPITAL - Kabul

ETHNICITY - An estimated 42 percent of the population are Pashtun, 27 percent Tajik, 9 percent Hazara, 9 percent Uzbek, and the rest Turkmen, Baluch and other minorities.

RELIGION - Sunni Muslims make up about 80 percent of the population, Shi'a Muslims about 19 percent.

LANGUAGE - Afghan Persian or Dari, which is spoken by 50 percent of the population, and Pashto, spoken by 35 percent, are the official languages. Eleven percent of the population speak Turkic languages, primarily Uzbek and Turkmen.

ECONOMY/POVERTY - Afghanistan depends on aid for 90 percent of its spending as it tries to rebuild an economy shattered by 30 years of war.

-- In spite of an infusion of international assistance following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, it remains extremely poor. Much of the population suffers from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care and jobs.

-- As much as 53 percent of the population live below the poverty line.

-- Real GDP growth in 2007 was 7.5 percent, and per capita GDP was $1,000. Eighty percent of the workforce are employed in agriculture.

FOOD - Up to 70 percent of the population is considered to have only insecure food supplies by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, and millions have recently been pushed into "high-risk food-insecurity" by high food prices.

INFRASTRUCTURE - Only 40 percent of schools have buildings, and most primary roads need repairs.

LIFE EXPECTANCY - 43 years, compared to an average 59 years for low-income countries worldwide.

DRUGS - Around 92 per cent of the world's heroin comes from poppies grown in Afghanistan, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

SECURITY - The U.N.-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), led by NATO and some 53,000 strong, is assisting Afghan authorities in fighting a Taliban insurgency that has killed 11,000 people in the last two years alone.

-- The United States has a further 14,000 troops in Afghanistan outside ISAF, on Operation Enduring Freedom. Their mission is to pursue al Qaeda in the mountainous eastern region that borders Pakistan.

Sources: Reuters; World Bank (www.worldbank.org.af); UNODC (http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/wdr07/WDR_2007_executive_summary.pdf); CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html) For a news story on the conference, click on [ID:nL12564567] (Writing by Jijo Jacob; Editing by David Cutler)