Cultural Coherence and Diversity in Afghanistan
The way of life for almost all Afghans creates a cohesive culture throughout the country. With many of them practicing Islam for many years, the country has grown to show a noticeable cohesion within society. The Pashtuns of Afghanistan are noted for their strict Islamic ideals, and questions arise due to thoughts on whether such ideals are ethically or religiously driven. Shiism, the minority of the region, is dominant in central Afghanistan. Radical Islamic fundamentalism is a powerful movement. From the mid-1990s until 2001, most of Afghanistan was controlled by an extremist organization called the Taliban. Although the Taliban was removed from power in 2001, it still controls many rural areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Diversity is created mainly by people from surrounding countries. As seen in the map below, some people come from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Diversity is created mainly by people from surrounding countries. As seen in the map below, some people come from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Origins and History. The population of Afghanistan is comprised mainly of the Pashtun people. These people originally made Afghanistan a country and now are mainly in the southern region of the country. These people helped lead Afghanistan towards cultural diversity because they did not declare Afghanistan under strict Pashtun rule. They left the country open to all different races of people from surrounding areas. Some higher populations of Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras exist throughout the country.
Afghanistan became a country in the 1700s under the leadership of the Pahtun people. The Pashtuns did not attempt to build a nation-state around Pashtun identity because approximately half of it's people lived in Pakistan. In Afghanistan alone, it is estimated that nearly 40 to 60 percent of people speak this language. Pashtun speakers live primarily to the south of the Hindu Kush mountain range. Many people in Afghanistan also speak Dari, Afghanistan's variant of Persian.