Essay On Afghanistan Culture

Afghanistan Culture Awareness Afghanistan is a country inside a region of Central Asia that is often referred to as the Middle East. Its war stricken lands are home to a culture of people who are equally as barbaric as they are generous and loyal. Over the past 30 years we have seen a war that began with the Soviet invasion and led to several civil wars before finally the rise and fall of the Taliban regime that had brought the country and its people to their knees. While Afghanistan is still a work in progress, the improvement often seems so slow that many wonder if it is worth the fight. Afghanistan has a very diverse culture with several different languages and dialects; however 85% of the country speaks either Pashto or Dari. Pashto and Dari are the official languages of the nation. Turkic languages make up 11% of the spoken language while the remaining populations speak languages and dialects localized by tribal

They consider themselves members of local tribes rather than members of a country. Subcultures are much more pronounced than nationalities. One of the largest ethnic groups is the Pashtuns. Pashtuns are a sub culture people who are divided into several tribes and sub clans or tribal confederations. The Durrani are the most dominant confederation of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan and are where a majority of the Taliban are from. Tajik is the second largest group made up mainly of Sunni Muslim and few Shi'a. Unlike the Durrani they are divided by geography, not tribes. The Hazara are a rural tribe mainly interested in land reform. They are Shi'a Muslim and are notoriously persecuted by the Pashtuni (Ethnic Groups, 88-103). The subculture of Afghanistan is made up of hundreds of tribes, clans, and subgroups that are all united together by one religion. "The strongest tie among these various groups is their Islamic religion"