1. Afghanistan

2. Objectives Identify Pakistan and Afghanistan on a blank map of Asia. Explain the importance of the Khyber Pass. Discuss the role of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Discuss the life of women under the Taliban. Compare Pakistan to Afghanistan. Name the source of illegal income that is widespread in Afghanistan.

3. Terms and People Indus River is the great river of Pakistan. The Taliban is a group that took over Afghanistan and which was particularly brutal to women. The Khyber Pass is a narrow gap in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan, a city ruined by war. Reconstruction is the rebuilding after a war or other catastrophe.

4. Compare the elevation map at left with the temperature map below. The mountains called the Hindu Kush form the backbone of Afghanistan. Most Afghans live in fertile valleys at the foot of the mountains, and not on the semiarid plains to the north or in the deserts to the south

5. Iran Iraq Former Soviet Republics Pakistan Afghanistan In the 1970s, the Soviet Union tried to take over Afghanistan. The United States helped fund and arm the Afghanis against the Soviets.

6. They allowed Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian, to use Afghanistan as a base for his terrorist group, al Qaeda. After his attack on New York City, the United States invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban government. A group called the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

7. Women were horribly mistreated under the Taliban’s rule. They had to wear clothing that covered their entire bodies. National Geographic published this famous photo of a girl in a refugee camp, fleeing the Taliban. This girl had her nose cut off. She was able to have reconstructive surgery in the United States.

8. The Taliban did not allow girls or women to be educated.

9. Women were not allowed to have jobs. The men were supposed to work, but if women were widowed, they were forced to beg. When the United States overthrew the Taliban, the lives of women began to improve.

12. The Taliban also destroyed works of art that they considered idols – many of them were extremely old.

14. On this map, the word “insurgency” means areas where the Taliban has regained some power. Compare areas where the Taliban has power with the areas where poppies are grown. What possible connection is there? Afghanistan is the greatest source of opium poppies in the world. These poppies are used to make heroin, one of the world’s most dangerous drugs. Export of heroin

15. Examine this chart. What two factors does it compare? What information does this chart give about Afghanistan? How does Afghanistan compare to other Asian nations?

16. The population of Afghanistan is moderate for this region. 73m 173m 34m 5m 16m 28m 6m 5m 74m The population of Pakistan is much higher. Many people are concerned that the radical ideas of Afghanistan are migrating into Pakistan.

17. UZBEKISTAN TAJIKISTAN This concern is deepened because Iranian ethnic groups live in both – the areas where people live don’t match the national boundaries. Not only do the Iranian groups (brown) spill over into Pakistan, but the Turkic groups (purple and dark red) cross national borders into Afghanistan from Turkic nations to the north.

20. Pakistan is mostly desert, except where the Indus River flows. The Indus River drains the ice and snow from the Himalayan Mountains and empties into the Arabian Sea. The fertile Indus River valley contains most of the country’s agricultural areas as well as its hydroelectric power stations. Most people in Pakistan live in farming villages along the Indus Valley. Almost all Pakistanis are Muslims.

21. Please read “Pakistan: An Economy Based on Agriculture.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. Pg. 190. And “Warfare and Unrest in Afghanistan.” World Studies: Asia and the Pacific. Pearson-Prentice- Hall, 2005. Pg. 208-209.

22. Describe the Taliban.

23. 5 Yr Old Terrorists Training At Taliban Camp http://youtu.be/uk6TgxiaQIA

24. Ethnic Groups Both Pashtun and Tadjik are Persian-speaking people of Iranian origin. Repeated invasions and migrations led to many ethnic groups living in Afghanistan.