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Albert Einstein
Resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study
Resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study thumb|upright|Portrait of Einstein taken in 1935 at Princeton On 3 October 1933, Einstein delivered a speech on the importance of academic freedom before a packed audience at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with The Times reporting he was wildly cheered throughout...
Albert Einstein
World War II and the Manhattan Project
World War II and the Manhattan Project thumb|upright=1.4|Facsimile of the Einstein–Szilard letter In 1939, a group of Hungarian scientists that included émigré physicist Leó Szilárd attempted to alert Washington, D.C. to ongoing Nazi atomic bomb research. The group's warnings were discounted. Einstein and Szilárd, a...
Albert Einstein
US citizenship
US citizenship thumb|Einstein accepting a US citizenship certificate from judge Phillip Forman in 1940 Einstein became an American citizen in 1940. Not long after settling into his career at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he expressed his appreciation of the meritocracy in American culture...
Albert Einstein
Personal views
Personal views
Albert Einstein
Political views
Political views alt=Casual group shot of four men and two women standing on a brick pavement.|thumb|Albert Einstein and Elsa Einstein arriving in New York in 1921. Accompanying them are Zionist leaders Chaim Weizmann (future president of Israel), Weizmann's wife Vera Weizmann, Menahem Ussishkin, and Ben-Zion Mossins...
Albert Einstein
Relationship with Zionism
Relationship with Zionism Einstein was a figurehead leader in the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which opened in 1925. Earlier, in 1921, he was asked by the biochemist and president of the World Zionist Organization, Chaim Weizmann, to help raise funds for the planned university. He made sugges...
Albert Einstein
Religious and philosophical views
Religious and philosophical views thumb|Opening of Einstein's speech (11 April 1943) for the United Jewish Appeal (recording by Radio Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina) Per Lee Smolin, Einstein expounded his spiritual outlook in a wide array of writings and interviews. He said he had sympathy for the impe...
Albert Einstein
Love of music
Love of music thumb|Einstein playing the violin, 1927|upright=1.05 Einstein developed an appreciation for music at an early age. In his late journals he wrote: His mother played the piano reasonably well and wanted her son to learn the violin, not only to instill in him a love of music but also to help him assimilat...
Albert Einstein
Death
Death On 17 April 1955, Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which had previously been reinforced surgically by Rudolph Nissen in 1948. He took the draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearance commemorating the state of Israel's seventh annive...
Albert Einstein
Scientific career
Scientific career Throughout his life, Einstein published hundreds of books and articles. He published more than 300 scientific papers and 150 non-scientific ones. On 5 December 2014, universities and archives announced the release of Einstein's papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique documents.Stachel et al (2008...
Albert Einstein
Statistical mechanics
Statistical mechanics
Albert Einstein
Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical physics
Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical physics Einstein's first paperEinstein (1901). submitted in 1900 to Annalen der Physik was on capillary attraction. It was published in 1901 with the title "Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen", which translates as "Conclusions from the capillarity phenomena". Tw...
Albert Einstein
Theory of critical opalescence
Theory of critical opalescence Einstein returned to the problem of thermodynamic fluctuations, giving a treatment of the density variations in a fluid at its critical point. Ordinarily the density fluctuations are controlled by the second derivative of the free energy with respect to the density. At the critical poi...
Albert Einstein
1905 – ''Annus Mirabilis'' papers
1905 – Annus Mirabilis papers The Annus Mirabilis papers are four articles pertaining to the photoelectric effect (which gave rise to quantum theory), Brownian motion, the special theory of relativity, and E=mc2 that Einstein published in the Annalen der Physik scientific journal in 1905. These four works contributed...
Albert Einstein
Special relativity
Special relativity Einstein's "" ("On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies") was received on 30 June 1905 and published 26 September of that same year. It reconciled conflicts between Maxwell's equations (the laws of electricity and magnetism) and the laws of Newtonian mechanics by introducing changes to the laws of...
Albert Einstein
General relativity
General relativity
Albert Einstein
General relativity and the equivalence principle
General relativity and the equivalence principle alt=Black circle covering the sun, rays visible around it, in a dark sky.|thumb|upright|Eddington's photo of a solar eclipse General relativity (GR) is a theory of gravitation that was developed by Einstein between 1907 and 1915. According to it, the observed gravitat...
Albert Einstein
Gravitational waves
Gravitational waves In 1916, Einstein predicted gravitational waves,Einstein (1916).Einstein (1918). ripples in the curvature of spacetime which propagate as waves, traveling outward from the source, transporting energy as gravitational radiation. The existence of gravitational waves is possible under general relativ...
Albert Einstein
Hole argument and Entwurf theory
Hole argument and Entwurf theory While developing general relativity, Einstein became confused about the gauge invariance in the theory. He formulated an argument that led him to conclude that a general relativistic field theory is impossible. He gave up looking for fully generally covariant tensor equations and sear...
Albert Einstein
Physical cosmology
Physical cosmology thumb|right|Robert A. Millikan, Georges Lemaître and Einstein at the California Institute of Technology in January 1933 In 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to the structure of the universe as a whole.Einstein (1917a). He discovered that the general field equations predicted ...
Albert Einstein
Energy momentum pseudotensor
Energy momentum pseudotensor General relativity includes a dynamical spacetime, so it is difficult to see how to identify the conserved energy and momentum. Noether's theorem allows these quantities to be determined from a Lagrangian with translation invariance, but general covariance makes translation invariance in...
Albert Einstein
Wormholes
Wormholes In 1935, Einstein collaborated with Nathan Rosen to produce a model of a wormhole, often called Einstein–Rosen bridges.Einstein & Rosen (1935). His motivation was to model elementary particles with charge as a solution of gravitational field equations, in line with the program outlined in the paper "Do Grav...
Albert Einstein
Einstein–Cartan theory
Einstein–Cartan theory alt=Einstein, sitting at a table, looks up from the papers he is reading and into the camera.|thumb|upright|Einstein at his office, University of Berlin, 1920In order to incorporate spinning point particles into general relativity, the affine connection needed to be generalized to include an a...
Albert Einstein
Equations of motion
Equations of motion In general relativity, gravitational force is reimagined as curvature of spacetime. A curved path like an orbit is not the result of a force deflecting a body from an ideal straight-line path, but rather the body's attempt to fall freely through a background that is itself curved by the presence ...
Albert Einstein
Old quantum theory
Old quantum theory
Albert Einstein
Photons and energy quanta
Photons and energy quanta alt=|thumb|The photoelectric effect. Incoming photons on the left strike a metal plate (bottom), and eject electrons, depicted as flying off to the right. In a 1905 paper, Einstein postulated that light itself consists of localized particles (quanta). Einstein's light quanta were nearly univ...
Albert Einstein
Quantized atomic vibrations
Quantized atomic vibrations In 1907, Einstein proposed a model of matter where each atom in a lattice structure is an independent harmonic oscillator. In the Einstein model, each atom oscillates independently—a series of equally spaced quantized states for each oscillator. Einstein was aware that getting the frequen...
Albert Einstein
Bose–Einstein statistics
Bose–Einstein statistics In 1924, Einstein received a description of a statistical model from Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose, based on a counting method that assumed that light could be understood as a gas of indistinguishable particles. Einstein noted that Bose's statistics applied to some atoms as well as to...
Albert Einstein
Wave–particle duality
Wave–particle duality thumb|upright|Einstein in 1921, by Harris & Ewing studio Although the patent office promoted Einstein to Technical Examiner Second Class in 1906, he had not given up on academia. In 1908, he became a Privatdozent at the University of Bern. In "Über die Entwicklung unserer Anschauungen über das W...
Albert Einstein
Zero-point energy
Zero-point energy In a series of works completed from 1911 to 1913, Planck reformulated his 1900 quantum theory and introduced the idea of zero-point energy in his "second quantum theory". Soon, this idea attracted the attention of Einstein and his assistant Otto Stern. Assuming the energy of rotating diatomic molecu...
Albert Einstein
Stimulated emission
Stimulated emission In 1917, at the height of his work on relativity, Einstein published an article in Physikalische Zeitschrift that proposed the possibility of stimulated emission, the physical process that makes possible the maser and the laser.Einstein (1917b). This article showed that the statistics of absorptio...
Albert Einstein
Matter waves
Matter waves Einstein discovered Louis de Broglie's work and supported his ideas, which were received skeptically at first. In another major paper from this era, Einstein observed that de Broglie waves could explain the quantization rules of Bohr and Sommerfeld. This paper would inspire Schrödinger's work of 1926.
Albert Einstein
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Albert Einstein
Einstein's objections to quantum mechanics
Einstein's objections to quantum mechanics thumb|upright|Newspaper headline on 4 May 1935 Einstein played a major role in developing quantum theory, beginning with his 1905 paper on the photoelectric effect. However, he became displeased with modern quantum mechanics as it had evolved after 1925, despite its acceptan...
Albert Einstein
Bohr versus Einstein
Bohr versus Einstein upright|alt=Two men sitting, looking relaxed. A dark-haired Bohr is talking while Einstein looks skeptical.|thumb|Einstein and Niels Bohr, 1925 The Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of public disputes about quantum mechanics between Einstein and Niels Bohr, who were two of its founders. Their ...
Albert Einstein
Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox
Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox Einstein never fully accepted quantum mechanics. While he recognized that it made correct predictions, he believed a more fundamental description of nature must be possible. Over the years he presented multiple arguments to this effect, but the one he preferred most dated to a debate ...
Albert Einstein
Unified field theory
Unified field theory Encouraged by his success with general relativity, Einstein sought an even more ambitious geometrical theory that would treat gravitation and electromagnetism as aspects of a single entity. In 1950, he described his unified field theory in a Scientific American article titled "On the Generalized...
Albert Einstein
Other investigations
Other investigations Einstein conducted other investigations that were unsuccessful and abandoned. These pertain to force, superconductivity, and other research.
Albert Einstein
Collaboration with other scientists
Collaboration with other scientists thumb|The 1927 Solvay Conference in Brussels, a gathering of the world's top physicists. Einstein is in the center. In addition to longtime collaborators Leopold Infeld, Nathan Rosen, Peter Bergmann and others, Einstein also had some one-shot collaborations with various scientists.
Albert Einstein
Einstein–de Haas experiment
Einstein–de Haas experiment In 1908, Owen Willans Richardson predicted that a change in the magnetic moment of a free body will cause this body to rotate. This effect is a consequence of the conservation of angular momentum and is strong enough to be observable in ferromagnetic materials. Einstein and Wander Johanne...
Albert Einstein
Einstein as an inventor
Einstein as an inventor In 1926, Einstein and his former student Leó Szilárd co-invented (and in 1930, patented) the Einstein refrigerator. This absorption refrigerator was then revolutionary for having no moving parts and using only heat as an input. On 11 November 1930, was awarded to Einstein and Leó Szilárd for ...
Albert Einstein
Legacy
Legacy
Albert Einstein
Non-scientific
Non-scientific thumb|left|Left-right: Heinrich Goldschmidt, Einstein, Ole Colbjørnsen, Jørgen Vogt, and Ilse Einstein at a picnic in Oslo in 1920. While traveling, Einstein wrote daily to his wife Elsa and adopted stepdaughters Margot and Ilse. The letters were included in the papers bequeathed to the Hebrew Universi...
Albert Einstein
Scientific
Scientific In 1999, a survey of the top 100 physicists voted for Einstein as the "greatest physicist ever", while a parallel survey of rank-and-file physicists gave the top spot to Isaac Newton, with Einstein second. Physicist Lev Landau ranked physicists from 0 to 5 on a logarithmic scale of productivity and genius...
Albert Einstein
In popular culture
In popular culture thumb|The famous image of Einstein taken by Arthur Sasse in 1951, sitting in a car on his 74th birthday, having been asked to smile for the camera once again.|224x224px Einstein became one of the most famous scientific celebrities after the confirmation of his general theory of relativity in 1919....
Albert Einstein
Awards and honors
Awards and honors Einstein received numerous awards and honors, and in 1922, he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics . None of the nominations in 1921 met the criteria set by Alfred Nobel, so the 1921 prize was carried forward and awarded to Einstein in 1922. Einsteinium, a synthetic chemical element, was na...
Albert Einstein
Publications
Publications
Albert Einstein
Scientific
Scientific First of a series of papers on this topic. A reprint of this book was published by Edition Erbrich in 1982, . Further information about the volumes published so far can be found on the webpages of the Einstein Papers Project and on the Princeton University Pre...
Albert Einstein
Popular
Popular The chasing a light beam thought experiment is described on pages 48–51.
Albert Einstein
Political
Political Einstein, Albert (September 1960). Foreword to Gandhi Wields the Weapon of Moral Power: Three Case Histories. Introduction by Bharatan Kumarappa. Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House. pp. v–vi. . Foreword originally written in April 1953.
Albert Einstein
See also
See also Bern Historical Museum (Einstein Museum) Einstein notation Frist Campus Center at Princeton University room 302 is associated with Einstein. The center was once the Palmer Physical Laboratory. Heinrich Burkhardt Heinrich Zangger History of gravitational theory List of coupled cousins List of German ...
Albert Einstein
Notes
Notes
Albert Einstein
References
References
Albert Einstein
Works cited
Works cited
Albert Einstein
Further reading
Further reading , or
Albert Einstein
External links
External links Home page of Albert Einstein at The Institute for Advanced Study Einstein and his love of music (archived 2015), Physics World, Jan 2005 including the Nobel Lecture 11 July 1923 Fundamental ideas and problems of the theory of relativity Einstein's declaration of intention for American cit...
Albert Einstein
Archival materials collections
Archival materials collections Albert Einstein Historical Letters, Documents & Papers from Shapell Manuscript Foundation Albert Einstein in FBI Records: The Vault Albert Einstein Archives Online (80,000+ Documents, currently offline) from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (MSNBC coverage in 19 March 2012) The Albe...
Albert Einstein
Digital collections
Digital collections The Digital Einstein Papers An open-access site for The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, from Princeton University Albert Einstein Digital Collection from Vassar College Digital Collections Albert – The Digital Repository of the IAS, which contains many digitized original documents and pho...
Albert Einstein
Table of Content
Short description, Life and career, Childhood, youth and education, Marriages, relationships and children, Assistant at the Swiss Patent Office (1902–1909), First scientific papers (1900–1905), Academic career in Europe (1908–1933), Putting general relativity to the test (1919), Coming to terms with fame (1921–1923), S...
Afghanistan
Short description
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeas...
Afghanistan
Etymology
Etymology Some scholars suggest that the root name Afghān is derived from the Sanskrit word Aśvakan, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush."The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian... " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180. See also: Alexander's Invasion of...
Afghanistan
History
History
Afghanistan
Prehistory and antiquity
Prehistory and antiquity thumb|left|Tents of Afghan nomads in the northern Badghis Province. Early peasant farming villages came into existence about 7,000 years ago. Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities in ...
Afghanistan
Medieval period
Medieval period thumb|right|The Ghurids originated from Ghor Province in central Afghanistan. Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before the arrival of Islam, the region used to be hom...
Afghanistan
Hotak dynasty
Hotak dynasty thumb|upright=1.2|Map of the Hotak Empire at its height in 1728, disputed between Hussain Hotak (centered in Kandahar) and Ashraf Hotak (centered in Isfahan) In 1709, Mirwais Hotak, a local Ghilzai tribal leader, successfully rebelled against the Safavids. He defeated Gurgin Khan, the Georgian governor ...
Afghanistan
Durrani Empire
Durrani Empire After the death of Nader Shah in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani had returned to Kandahar with a contingent of 4,000 Pashtuns. The Abdalis had "unanimously accepted" Ahmad Shah as their new leader. With his ascension in 1747, Ahmad Shah had led multiple campaigns against the Mughal empire, Maratha empire, and ...
Afghanistan
Barakzai dynasty and British wars
Barakzai dynasty and British wars thumb|300px|Map of Afghanistan (Emirate) and surrounding nations in 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War. Dost Mohammad Khan's realm can be seen as the Emirate of Kabul, with the Principality of Qandahar and the Emirate of Herat seen as well. By the early 19th century, the Afghan ...
Afghanistan
Democratic Republic and Soviet war
Democratic Republic and Soviet war thumb|Soviet troops in Gardez, Afghanistan in 1987 In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in a bloody coup d'état against then-President Mohammed Daoud Khan, in what is called the Saur Revolution. The PDPA declared the establishment...
Afghanistan
Post–Cold War conflict
Post–Cold War conflict thumb|upright=1.5|Development of the civil war from 1992 to late 2001 Another civil war broke out after the creation of a dysfunctional coalition government between leaders of various mujahideen factions. Amid a state of anarchy and factional infighting,GUTMAN, Roy (2008): How We Missed the Sto...
Afghanistan
US invasion and Islamic Republic
US invasion and Islamic Republic In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the September 11 attacks, who was a "guest" of the Taliban and was operating his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan.'Trump calls ...
Afghanistan
Second Taliban era
Second Taliban era NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on 14 April 2021 that the alliance had agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May. Soon after NATO troops began withdrawing, the Taliban launched an offensive against the Afghan government and quickly advanced in front of collap...
Afghanistan
Geography
Geography Afghanistan is located in Southern-Central Asia.* The region centered at Afghanistan is considered the "crossroads of Asia", and the country has had the nickname Heart of Asia. The renowned Urdu poet Allama Iqbal once wrote about the country: At over , Afghanistan is the world's 41st largest coun...
Afghanistan
Climate
Climate thumb|upright=1.3|Köppen climate map of Afghanistan Afghanistan has a continental climate with harsh winters in the central highlands, the glaciated northeast (around Nuristan), and the Wakhan Corridor, where the average temperature in January is below and can reach , and hot summers in the low-lying areas of...
Afghanistan
Biodiversity
Biodiversity thumb|The snow leopard is the official national animal of Afghanistan. Several types of mammals exist throughout Afghanistan. Snow leopards, Siberian tigers and brown bears live in the high elevation alpine tundra regions. The Marco Polo sheep exclusively live in the Wakhan Corridor region of north-east ...
Afghanistan
Government and politics
Government and politics thumb|The Arg (the Presidential palace) in Kabul, photographed in 2020 Following the effective collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan during the 2021 Taliban offensive, the Taliban declared the country an Islamic Emirate. A new caretaker government was announced on 7 September. , no o...
Afghanistan
Development of Taliban government
Development of Taliban government On 17 August 2021, the leader of the Taliban-affiliated Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin party, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, met with both Hamid Karzai, the former President of Afghanistan, and Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and former Chief Exec...
Afghanistan
Administrative divisions
Administrative divisions Afghanistan is administratively divided into 34 provinces (wilayat). Each province has a governor and a capital. The country is further divided into nearly 400 provincial districts, each of which normally covers a city or several villages. Each district is represented by a district governor. ...
Afghanistan
Foreign relations
Foreign relations Afghanistan became a member of the United Nations in 1946. Historically, Afghanistan had strong relations with Germany, one of the first countries to recognize Afghanistan's independence in 1919; the Soviet Union, which provided much aid and military training for Afghanistan's forces and includes the...
Afghanistan
Military
Military The Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan captured a large amount of weapons, hardware, vehicles, aerocrafts, and equipment from the Afghan National Security Forces following the 2021 Taliban offensive and the Fall of Kabul. The total value of the captured equipment has been estimated at US$83 bi...
Afghanistan
Human rights
Human rights Homosexuality is taboo in Afghan society; according to the Penal Code, homosexual intimacy is punished by up to a year in prison. Under Sharia law offenders can be punished by death. However, an ancient tradition involving male homosexual acts between children and older men (typically wealthy warlords or ...
Afghanistan
Economy
Economy thumb|Workers processing pomegranates (anaar), for which Afghanistan is famous in Asia Afghanistan's nominal GDP was $20.1 billion in 2020, or $81 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP). Its GDP per capita is $2,459 (PPP) and $611 by nominal. Despite having $1 trillion or more in mineral deposits, it remain...
Afghanistan
Agriculture
Agriculture thumb|Afghan saffron Agricultural production is the backbone of Afghanistan's economy and has traditionally dominated the economy, employing about 40% of the workforce as of 2018. The country is known for producing pomegranates, grapes, apricots, melons, and several other fresh and dry fruits. Afghanistan ...
Afghanistan
Mining
Mining thumb|Lapis lazuli stones The country's natural resources include: coal, copper, iron ore, lithium, uranium, rare earth elements, chromite, gold, zinc, talc, barite, sulfur, lead, marble, precious and semi-precious stones, natural gas, and petroleum. In 2010, US and Afghan government officials estimated that u...
Afghanistan
Energy
Energy thumb|Afghanistan electricity supply (1980–2019) According to the World Bank, 98% of the rural population have access to electricity in 2018, up from 28% in 2008. Overall the figure stands at 98.7%. As of 2016, Afghanistan produces 1,400 megawatts of power, but still imports the majority of electricity via tra...
Afghanistan
Tourism
Tourism thumb|Band-e Amir National Park Tourism is a small industry in Afghanistan due to security issues. Nevertheless, some 20,000 foreign tourists visit the country annually as of 2016. In particular an important region for domestic and international tourism is the picturesque Bamyan Valley, which includes lakes, ...
Afghanistan
Communication
Communication Telecommunication services in Afghanistan are provided by Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, MTN Group, and Roshan. The country uses its own space satellite called Afghansat 1, which provides services to millions of phone, internet, and television subscribers. By 2001 following years of civil war...
Afghanistan
Transportation
Transportation thumb|left|The Salang Tunnel Due to Afghanistan's geography, transport between various parts of the country has historically been difficult. The backbone of Afghanistan's road network is Highway 1, often called the "Ring Road", which extends for and connects five major cities: Kabul, Ghazni, Kandahar,...
Afghanistan
Demographics
Demographics thumb|upright=1.3|A Cold War-era CIA map showing traditional Afghan tribal territories. Pashtun tribes form the world's largest tribal society.
Afghanistan
Population
Population The population of Afghanistan was estimated at 35.7million as of 2024 by the Afghanistan National Statistics and Information Authority, whereas the UN estimates over 42.0million. In 1979 the total population was reported to be about 15.5million."United Nations and Afghanistan". UN News Centre. About 25.3...
Afghanistan
Fertility rate
Fertility rate Afghanistan 2024 total fertility rate has been estimated at 4.4. In 2022 it was 4.5, about twice the world average rate. The rate has fallen since the early 1980s.
Afghanistan
Urbanization
Urbanization As estimated by the CIA World Factbook, 26% of the population was urbanized as of 2020. This is one of the lowest figures in the world; in Asia it is only higher than Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Urbanization has increased rapidly, particularly in the capital Kabul, due to returning refugees from Pakista...
Afghanistan
Ethnicity and languages
Ethnicity and languages thumb|upright=1.3|Ethnolinguistic map of Afghanistan (2001) Afghans are divided into several ethnolinguistic groups. According to research data by several institutions in 2019, the Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group, comprising 42%, followed by Tajiks, comprising 27% of the country's popula...
Afghanistan
Religion
Religion thumb|Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif is the largest mosque in Afghanistan. The CIA estimated in 2009 that 99.7% of the Afghan population was Muslim and most are thought to adhere to the Sunni Hanafi school. According to Pew Research Center, as much as 90% are of the Sunni denomination, 7% Shia and 3% non-deno...
Afghanistan
Education
Education thumb|upright=1.3|UNESCO Institute of Statistics Afghanistan Literacy Rate among population aged 15+ (1980–2018) Education in Afghanistan is overseen by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. There are over 16,000 schools in the country and roughly 9 million students. Of this, about...
Afghanistan
Health
Health thumb|The Daoud Khan Military Hospital in Kabul is one of the largest hospitals in Afghanistan. According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the 15th least developed country in the world. The average life expectancy is estimated to be around 60 years. The country's maternal mortality rate is 396 de...
Afghanistan
Culture
Culture thumb|An Afghan family near Kholm, 1939 – most Afghans are tribal. Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between the regions of Afghanistan, each with distinctive cultures partly as a result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Family is the mainstay of Afghan society an...
Afghanistan
Architecture
Architecture thumb|upright=1.2|Kabul skyline, displaying both historical and contemporary buildings The nation has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. Afghanistan contains many remnants from all ages, including Greek and Buddhist stupas...
Afghanistan
Art and ceramics
Art and ceramics thumb|A traditional Afghan embroidery pattern Carpet weaving is an ancient practice in Afghanistan, and many of these are still handmade by tribal and nomadic people today. Carpets have been produced in the region for thousands of years and traditionally done by women. Some crafters express their fee...
Afghanistan
Literature
Literature Classic Persian and Pashto poetry are a cherished part of Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in the region, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. One of the poetic styles is called landay. A popular theme in Afghan folklore and mythology are Divs, ...
Afghanistan
Music
Music thumb|left|The Afghan rubab Afghan classical music has close historical links with Indian classical music and use the same Hindustani terminology and theories like raga. Genres of this style of music include ghazal (poetic music) and instruments such as the Indian tabla, sitar and harmonium, and local instrumen...