Nit. Pashtun aren't the majority in Afghanistan.
Hi Doug,
The tribal groups included Tajiks, Uzbecks both of who were suspicious of the majority Pashtuns (and remain so today).I don't know about the case in 1747, but the Pashtun aren't the majority in Afghanistan today. (I note that you're not saying they are. Your post is just a convenient place to make this point. :-) I think it needs to be made because much of the US press is reporting that the Pashtun is the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan today.)
[link|http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html|The CIA Factbook] says the following about Afghanistan's ethnic groups:
Ethnic groups:
Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Hazara 19%, minor ethnic groups (Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others) 12%, Uzbek 6%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim 84%, Shi'a Muslim 15%, other 1%
Languages:
Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
[...]
Infant mortality rate:
147.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at
birth:
total population: 46.24 years
...male: 46.97 years
...female: 45.47 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.79 children born/woman (2001 est.)
[...]
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 31.5%
male: 47.2%
female: 15% (1999 est.)
There's lots more info about Afghanistan there, but little history.
The Pashtun have a [link|http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=plurality|plurality], but not a [link|http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=majority|majority]. They aren't >= 50% of the population. The press members who reports these things should know better.
Thanks for letting me rant a bit here. :-)
The extremely low literacy rate, especially among women, makes it difficult for things like pamphlet drops and food drops to have the desired results. :-(
Interesting writeup, Doug. Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
