history
Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley once held two monumental 6th-century Buddha statues carved into a cliff face, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
Afghanistan
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Population, GDP, and key facts about Afghanistan — updated for 2026.
Capital · KABULContinent · ASIAISO · AFG
Afghanistan quick facts
- Population
- 42,647,492
- Area
- 652,870 km²
- Population density
- 64 people/km²
- GDP
- US$ 17.8 Billion
- GDP per capita
- US$ 416.9
- Capital
- Kabul
- Currency
- Afghan afghani (؋, AFN)
- Minimum wage
- ؋ 5,500/month · 2024 figure
- Languages
- Dari, Pashto, Turkmen
Afghanistan at human scale
Where does Afghanistan rank in the world?
Compare Afghanistan with other countries
🇦🇫 vs 🇳🇵Compare Afghanistan vs Nepal1.4× difference in population🇦🇫 vs 🇲🇻Compare Afghanistan vs Maldives81× difference in population🇦🇫 vs 🇨🇦Compare Afghanistan vs Canada
Compare Afghanistan with any country →Afghanistan's war history
- Government of AfghanistanvsIS
- Government of AfghanistanvsGovernment of United Kingdom, Government of United States of America
- Government of AfghanistanvsNRF, Taleban
Internationalized intrastateInterstate
Wars that reached at least 1,000 battle-related deaths in a year, since 1946 — not a full record of every armed conflict Afghanistan has had. Source: UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset.
See every war since 1946 on the War Timeline →Afghanistan's energy mix
Fossil fuels · 13%Renewables · 87%
- Hydropower76%
- Solar11%
- Oil10%
- Coal3%
Share of Afghanistan's own electricity generation by source, 2024. Source: Our World in Data (Ember Yearly Electricity Data and the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy).
Everything we know about Afghanistan
geography
Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor is a narrow, mountainous panhandle that stretches east to touch China, a border drawn in the 19th century as a buffer between the British and Russian empires.
Countries near Afghanistan
How many countries do you think Afghanistan could fit?
Pour other countries into Afghanistan's own outline, by real area, and see how many it takes to fill it up.
Fill the Country →Frequently asked questions about Afghanistan
What is the capital of Afghanistan?
The capital of Afghanistan is Kabul.
What is Afghanistan's population?
Afghanistan has a population of 42,647,492.
What is Afghanistan's GDP per capita?
Afghanistan's GDP per capita is US$ 416.9.
What is the currency of Afghanistan?
The currency of Afghanistan is the Afghan afghani (AFN).
What is the minimum wage in Afghanistan?
Afghanistan's statutory minimum wage is ؋ 5,500 per month (as of 2024).
Is Afghanistan bigger than Nepal?
Afghanistan is about 4.4× the size of Nepal by land area.
Data from the World Bank, updated November 2026.