le: 4 years (2004)

Education expenditures:

NA

Government
Afghanistan

Country name:

conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
conventional short form: Afghanistan
local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan
local short form: Afghanestan
former: Republic of Afghanistan

Government type:

Islamic republic

Capital:

name: Kabul
geographic coordinates: 34 31 N, 69 11 E
time difference: UTC+4.5 (9.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

34 provinces (velayat, singular - velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis,
Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor,
Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar,
Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika,
Paktiya, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan,
Wardak, Zabul

Independence:

19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 19 August (1919)

Constitution:

new constitution drafted 14 December 2003-4 January 2004; signed 16
January 2004

Legal system:

based on mixed civil and Sharia law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Hamid KARZAI (since 7 December 2004); Vice Presidents Ahmad Zia
MASOOD and Abdul Karim KHALILI (since 7 December 2004); note - the
president is both the chief of state and head of government; former
King ZAHIR Shah held the honorific, "Father of the Country," and
presided symbolically over certain occasions but lacked any
governing authority; the honorific is not hereditary; King ZAHIR
Shah died on 23 July 2007
head of government: President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Hamid KARZAI (since 7 December 2004); Vice Presidents Ahmad Zia
MASOOD and Abdul Karim KHALILI (since 7 December 2004)
cabinet: 25 ministers; note - under the new constitution, ministers
are appointed by the president and approved by the National Assembly
elections: the president and two vice presidents are elected by
direct vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); if no
candidate receives 50% or more of the vote in the first round of
voting, the two candidates with the most votes will participate in a
second round; a president can only be elected for two terms;
election last held 9 October 2004 (next