World Flag Coloring Pages

I searched the interwebs and happened to find a wonderful resource that would be great for coloring fun all while getting a geography education. A digital image collection provided by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT) — part of the College of Education at the University of South Florida — ClipArt ETC houses over 200 black and white world flags (↗) that could be used as printable coloring pages. If you know about all the world's countries, you might notice some countries' flags are missing — including AFGHANISTAN, HAITI, KAZAKHSTAN, LIECHTENSTEIN, LUXEMBOURG*, MALTA, and ZAMBIA. Nevertheless, lots of coloring fun can be had since the website's images are easy to copy/paste into a document and print. For educational, classroom, and non-profit uses, ClipArt ETC grants you "permission to use a maximum of fifty (50) clipart items in any non-commercial, educational project (report, presentation, display, website, etc.)" although there are some reasonable restrictions. More information about the free (and commercial) licensure options can be found on the ClipArt ETC website (↗). If you are a teacher, you could let your students choose a flag to color and instruct them to create a poster or PowerPoint presentation involving the flag's country. Enjoy, and kudos to FCIT for a wonderful website!

* The NETHERLANDS' flag can be used as a substitute due to three-stripe similarity.

Independence Day Recently Celebrated in Afghanistan

People all across AFGHANISTAN celebrated their country's Independence Day on Wednesday, August 19th. Afghanistan achieved independence from The United Kingdom in 1919 — over 100 years ago! Happy belated Independence Day!

Afghanistan Exports

The following produce and materials are major exports of AFGHANISTAN: cotton, fruit, gemstones, handwoven carpet and rugs, hides and pelts (particularly of sheep), nuts, opium, and wool. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries buying and importing most of those exports in 2016 include Belarus, China, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

Afghanistan's Natural Resources

Major extracted natural resources in AFGHANISTAN include barites, chromite, coal, copper, gemstones (emeralds, lapis lazuli, garnets, rubies, etc.), iron ore, lead, natural gas and petroleum, salt, sulfur, talc, and zinc.

Provinces of Afghanistan

Its name meaning Land of the Afghani, AFGHANISTAN virtually has the same border for about a century or so. However, Afghanistan's provinces (Afghan singular and plural word: velayat) have changed often. In fact, four provinces have been created since the publishing of Gwillim Law's 1999 book (citation below). In the early twenty-first century, Daykundi was created from northern Oruzgan Province, Khost (Khowst) was formed from eastern Paktia, Nuristan (Nurestan) existed as a region for quite awhile before being converted into a province in 2002, and Panjshir was created in what was formerly northeast Parvan.

Below is a summarized list of Afghanistan's administrative divisions. Alternative spellings are in parentheses.
Badakhshan
Badghis (Badghes and Badghisat)
Baghlan (Kataghan)
Balkh (Mazar-i-Sharif)
Bamian (Bamiyan and Bamyan)
Farah
Faryab (Fariab)
Ghazni
Ghowr (Ghor, Ghore, and Ghur)
Helmand
Herat
Jowzjan (Jawzjan, Jouzjan, and Jozjan)
Kabul (Kabol)
Kandahar (Qandahar)
Kapisa
Konar (Konarha and Kunarha)
Konduz (Kondoz, Kunduz, and Qonduz)
Laghman
Lowgar (Logar)
Nangarhar (Ningrahar)
Nimruz (Nimrooz and Nimroze)
Oruzgan (Uruzgan)
Paktia (Paktiya and Paktya)
Paktika
Parvan (Parwan)
Samangan
Sar-e Pol (Saripol)
Takhar
Vardak (Maidan Wardak and Wardak)
Zabol (Zabul)

Info Source
Law, Gwillim. Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: a Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 1999. Print.

Afghanistan Flag

AFGHANISTAN, the landlocked Middle Eastern country having the Hindu Kush mountain range in the northeast and deserts like Margo and Rigestan in the south, had a variety of flag designs throughout its history. The current flag has been existence since the beginning of the 21st century, being adopted in 2004. The flag in 2002 through 2004 was generally similar, but had subtle changes in the central emblem and a different flag ratio (1:2 versus the current 2:3). The flag features three vertical stripes: black, red, and green from left to right. Afghanistan's national emblem is colored white and is centered over the middle red stripe.

Afghanistan Endangered Species

If you have not explored this website before, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ contains information about endangered and threatened species around the world. At the crossroads of the Middle East and Central Asia, AFGHANISTAN has at least 70 species that are near-threatened, vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. Near-threatened is the lowest concern out of those four categories, while critically endangered means that species are at a large risk of facing extinction. Four bird species are critically endangered. They are the Long-Billed Vulture, Snow Crane, Sociable Plover (a perfect name if these birds like to have great friends and companions around!), and the White-rumped Vulture. While population numbers are relatively small, the White-rumped Vulture lives in a large geographical range from Afghanistan all the way east through countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Afghani brook salamander (with this binomial nomenclature: Paradactylodon mustersi) is a critically endangered amphibian because it lives in a very small area (10 sq. kilometers) and the quality of its habitat is diminishing.

"Stan" Countries in the World

Have you noticed that many Central and South Asian countries have the suffix of -stan? This generally means 'country' and is added to the ethnic group that makes each 'Stan Country' unique. For example, -stan is added to Uzbek, the largest ethnic group in UZBEKISTAN. The remaining 'Stan Countries' are AFGHANISTAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, PAKISTAN (unlike the others, Pakistan's name isn't derived from ethnic group + stan; people are called Pakistanis, not Pakis or Paks), TAJIKISTAN, and TURKMENISTAN.

Afghanistan

Officially known as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, AFGHANISTAN is a country infamously torn by internal unrest and ravaged by a recent long war. While the War in Afghanistan officially lasted from 2001 to 2014, Afghanistan still experiences terrorist attacks and events of civil strife — but surely hope lives on throughout the nation. The countries that border Afghanistan are China to the northeast (through the Wakhan Corridor), Iran to the west, Pakistan to the southeast, Tajikistan to the northeast, Turkmenistan to the north, and Uzbekistan to the north. The currency is the Afghani, subdivided into 100 pul — although as of 2018 and decades before, there are no pul coins or banknotes. The Afghani currency's ISO 4217 code is AFN.

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ● According to Encyclopædia Britannica, Afghanistan's population in the year 2020 is about 32,741,000 and is ranked 42nd among populations of the whole world’s countries, dependencies, and territories. Afghanistan's capital is Kabul (Kābul), home to over 4.2 million residents (2018 population estimate) in east-central Afghanistan. Other cities and communities throughout Afghanistan include Baghlan, Balkh, Farah, Feyzabad, Ghazni ("Jewel"), Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Khost, Konduz (Kunduz), Mazar-e Sharif ("Noble Shrine"), Meymaneh, and Sheberghan.

Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashto are the official and most widely spoken languages of Afghanistan. According to Ethnologue, at least 41 languages are used for communication in Afghanistan. Other languages beside Dari and Pashto include Aimaq, Balochi, Brahui, Hazaragi, Kati, Munji, Pashai, Shughni, Turkmen, and Uzbek. Several languages are "nearly extinct" or threatened: Gawar-Bati (32,000 people), Gujari (15,000), Ishkashimi (2,500), Ormuri (only about 50), Tajiki-spoken Arabic (less than 5,000), and Tirahi (only about 100 or less). Bilingualism is relatively common.

As of 2017, the literacy rate is still one of the lowest in the world at 32%. Ethnic groups include Pashtun (largest), Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, and Baloch. Sunni Islam is the main religion, with about 80% of Afghans adhering to its tenets. Shīʿite (Shīʿa) Muslims comprise about 20% of the population. Alternative religions comprising only about 1% of the population include Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Bahá'í, Christianity, and Sikhism.

● ● ● ● ●  Land Features  ● ● ● ● ● This section of additional info will come soon.

This post was updated with more information on August 10th, 2018.