Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, talc,
barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and
semiprecious stones
Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 46%
forest and woodland: 3%
other: 39%
Irrigated land: 26,600 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much
of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building
materials); desertification
natural hazards: damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains;
flooding
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban;
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life
Conservation
Geographic note: landlocked
People ———
Population: 22,664,136 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 4,972,469; female 4,784,900)
15-64 years: 54% (male 6,377,231; female 5,916,954)
65 years and over: 3% (male 325,808; female 286,774) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 4.78% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 43.03 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)