# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Geography of Afghanistan. The history, capital, flag, climate, terrain, people, economy, and population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The country is made of many different groups. About 15 million people, nearly half of Afghanistan's population are Pashtuns and live in the south around Kandahar. They are descendants of people who came to the country 3,200 years ago.

Many other groups live in the country as well-Pashtuns are related to the Persian people of Iran, the Tajiks are also Persian, but speak another language called Dari, and the Uzbeks speak a language similar to Turkish.

The Hazaras live in the mountains of central Afghanistan and are believed to be descendents of the Mongols because their Dari language contains many Mongol words.

Due to many years of war, the countryside is littered with unexploded mines and children who herd animals are often killed by stepping on mines. Many schools have been destroyed, but children, including girls, go to school in ruins or wherever possible.

Over the centuries, travelers have braved the dangerous high mountain passes to find shelter in the valleys and plains of Afghanistan. Today nomads called Kuchi lead their herds of animals across the country and into the mountain pastures for grazing.

Afghans take pride in making and flying their own kites. They even have kite fights and use wire or glass in their kites to cut the kite strings of rival kite flyers.

Tea is the favorite Afghan drink and a popular meal is palau, made from rice, sheep and goat meats, and fruit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Afghanistan Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The country is made of many different groups. About 15 million people, nearly half of Afghanistan's population are Pashtuns and live in the south around Kandahar. They are descendants of people who came to the country 3,200 years ago.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vietnam is a long, narrow nation shaped like the letter 's'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. The long-form name of the country is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The neighboring countries of Vietnam are China, Laos, and Cambodia,. Vietnam is the world's only country today that is officially titled as a 'Socialist Republic'.

Modern Vietnam

The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi. The biggest city is Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). There are about 94,444,200 people living in Vietnam. Today, Vietnam is an important political and cultural center in Southeast Asia.

Population

In Vietnam, the approximate population is 90,549,390. 25.2% of these people are aged between 0-14, with 11,954,354 being male and 10,868,610 female. 69.3% of the population are between the ages of 15-64. The male-to-female ratio is almost evenly split with 31,301,879 being male and 31,419,306 being female. 5.5% are 65 and over and the ratio is 1,921,652 are male and 3,092,589 are female. So with the older two categories women are more populated.
The population is not from one origin. There are many ethnic tribes that developed in the history of Vietnam. This makes Vietnam's history and culture very diverse. It's not the same as a country where every family landed on the country's shores in the same century. French and Chinese colonization didn't involve an excessive migration of people to Vietnam.
Nowadays, the blend of cultures has been increasing with the influence of globalization and world interest. Many Vietnamese that have been living overseas are described as the Viet Kieu. The Viet Kieu population has several communities in many countries around the world.

Vietnam is a long, narrow country, much like Chile. The country is covered in rainforests that are currently going under rapid deforestation. It borders the South China Sea to the east, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and China to the north. The country is slightly larger than Malaysia.

Vietnam is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most ancient and important monuments, including the Huế's Forbidden City and the Hội An Ancient Town; the southern part of the country contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts such as the Mỹ Sơn Holy Land and the Óc Eo Citadel.

About 5000 years ago, the two ethnic tribes of the Lac Viet and Au Viet lived together in many areas with other inhabitants. Due to increasing needs to control floods, fights against invaders, and culture and trade exchanges, these tribes living near each other tended to gather together and integrate into a larger mixed group.

Among these Lac Viet tribes was the Van Lang, which was the most powerful tribe. The leader of this tribe later joined all the tribes together to found Van Lang Nation in 2897 BC, addressing himself as the King Hung. The next generations followed in their father's footsteps and kept this appellation. Based on historical documents, researchers correlatively delineated the location of Van Lang Nation to the present day regions of North and north of Central Vietnam, as well as the south of present-day Kwangsi (China).

The Van Lang Nation lasted to the 3rd century B.C. The Dong Son civilization that covered much of Southeast Asia was also the beginning of Vietnam's history. In 221 BC, the Qins invaded the land of the Viet tribes. Thuc Phan, leader of the alliance of Au-Viet tribes managed to expel the enemies and declared himself King An Duong Vuong and his territory Au Lac Nation (257-207 BC). In 208 BC, a Qin Dynasty general named Triệu Đà invaded Au Lac. An Duong Vuong failed this time. As a result, the northern feudalist took turns dominating the country over the next eleven centuries, establishing their harsh regime in the country and dividing the country into administrative regions and districts with unfamiliar names. However, the country's name of Au Lac could not be erased from the people's minds in their everyday life.

In 207 BC Triệu Đà established a state called Nam Việt which encompassed southern China and the Red River Delta. The historical significance of the original Nam Việt remains controversial because some historians consider it a Chinese occupation while others believe it was an independent era. For most of the period from 111 BCE to the early 10th century, Vietnam was under the rule of successive Chinese dynasties. Sporadic independence movements were attempted, but were quickly suppressed by Chinese forces.

When it was ruled by the Chinese Empire for many centuries, it was called Annam ("peaceful south").

In September 1858, France occupied Đà Nẵng. Cochinchina was a French colony from 1862 to 1948.

In 1930 Nguyễn Ái Quốc established the Vietnamese Independence League ( Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội) which is also known as the Việt Minh.

The Japanese took over Vietnam in World War II. The Việt Minh fought against both the Japanese and the Vichy French.

When the Japanese were defeated, the Vietnamese people, led by the Việt Minh started the August Revolution.

On September 2, 1945, Nguyễn Ái Quốc (who was now calling himself Hồ Chí Minh, meaning 'Hồ (a common last name) with the will of light') read the Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Ba Ðình Square, in Hànội. It was based on the American Declaration of Independence.

Hồ Chí Minh led the Việt Minh in a war for independence from France.

The "Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina" ( République Autonome de Cochinchine) was proclaimed June 1, 1946 to frustrate the Việt Minh's desire to rule all of Vietnam.

The War between France and the Việt Minh lasted from 1946 to 1954. The French were defeated in 1954 after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

North and South Vietnam

The nation was then divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. After independence was achieved, the French gave the land of the Mekong delta that was part of Cambodia to South Vietnam. The anti-communist United States had a lot of influence in the South, and the communist and nationalist Việt Minh controlled the North. Hồ Chí Minh was extremely popular in the whole nation, as he was the only remaining leader after years of fighting, so he became President of the Democratic Republic of (North) Việtnam. It was agreed that the nation would be reunited by elections in 1956. But, the Americans and the Southern government stopped the elections from happening because they expected Hồ Chí Minh to win because communist North Vietnam refused to hold free elections. Dwight Eisenhower said he thought Hồ would win with around 80% of the vote if elections were held because of the majority of the population being in the north added with Ho's few supporters in the South.

Soon, the USA was at war with Vietnam. This war was known as the American War, the Vietnam War, or the Second Indochinese War. Soon, South Vietnam became a military dictatorship with some basic freedoms. The Southern army removed the controversial Ngo Dinh Diem from power and killed him.

On September 2, 1969, Independence Day, President Hồ Chí Minh died of heart failure. People all across the nation cried for him. Even the Sàigòn newspaper said, "Việt Nam loses a unique politician" since this man had fought for freedom from their Japanese and French rulers.

Unification

On April 30, 1975, the National Liberation Front with the help of the N.V.A. overtook Sàigòn and quickly renamed it Hồ Chí Minh City. The nation was fully reunified as Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976.

Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces. There are also five city municipalities which have province authority.

The provinces of Vietnam are divided (by the government) into provincial cities and provinces.

Related pages

Images for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. The long-form name of the country is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The neighboring countries of Vietnam are China, Laos, and Cambodia,. Vietnam is the world's only country today that is officially titled as a 'Socialist Republic'. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Geography of Vietnam. The history, capital, flag, climate, terrain, people, economy, and population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Geography of Pakistan. The history, capital, flag, climate, terrain, people, economy, and population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fun Pakistan Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about Pakistan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn some interesting information about Pakistan while enjoying a range of fun facts and trivia that's perfect for kids! Read about Pakistan's major cities, population, languages, history, currency, popular sports and much more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Pakistan is a country in southern Asia. It is next to India, Iran, Afghanistan, and China. It is officially called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has a long coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south. Pakistan has the fifth largest population (207.77 million) in the world. Pakistan has a total land area of 880,940 km ² (340,130 sq mi) (including the Pakistani controlled territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan). This makes Pakistan the 34th largest country in the world. Pakistan has the seventh largest army in the world. The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad. Before 1960, it was Karachi, which is now the country's largest city.

The name Pākistān means Land of the Pure in Persian and Urdu.

Name, Flag and Anthem of Pakistan

The name Pakistan ( English pronunciation: or Urdu: پاکستان ) means Land of (the) Spiritually Pure in both Urdu and Persian languages. Many South-central Asian states and regions end with the element - stan, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Balochistan, Kurdistan, and Turkistan. This - stan is formed from the Iranian root *STA "to stand, stay," and means "place (where one stays), home, country". Iranian peoples have been the main inhabitants of the various land regions of the Ancient Persian Empires now owned by the states for over a thousand years. The names are compounds of - stan and the name of the peoples living there. Pakistan is a bit different; its name was coined on 28 January 1933 as Pakstan by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist, who published it in his paper Now or Never. by using the suffix - istan from Balochistan preceded by the first letters of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Sindh. The name is actually an acronym that stands for the "thirty million Muslim brethren who lived in Pakistan-by which we mean the Five Northern units of India viz: Punjab, (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind, and Baluchistan". The letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and forms the linguistically correct and meaningful name. Interestingly, a word almost the same in form, etymology, and meaning to the Iranian suffix - stan is found in Polish, which has a word stan meaning "state" (in the senses of both polity and condition). It can be found in the example of a Polish name for the "United States of America," Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki (literally "States United of America").

National Anthem

The "Qaumī Tarānah" is a melodious and harmonious rendering of a three-stanza composition with a tune based on eastern music but arranged in such a manner that it can be easily played by foreign bands.

The music, composed by the Pakistani musician and composer, Ahmad G. Chagla in 1949, reflects his background in both eastern and western music. Typically twenty-one musical instruments and thirty-eight different tones are used to play the "Qaumi Taranah", the duration of which is usually around 80 seconds.

The lyrics, written by the Pakistani Urdu-language poet, Hafeez Jullundhri in 1952, have commonality with Persian, rendering them mutually intelligible in both Urdu and Persian languages. No verse in the three stanza lyrics is repeated. The lyrics have heavy Persian poetic vocabulary, and only uses one exclusively Urdu word 'kā'.

The flag is a green field with a white crescent moon and five-rayed star at its centre, and a vertical white stripe at the hoist side. Though the green colour is mandated only as 'dark green', its official and most consistent representation is Pakistan green, which is shaded distinctively darker.

The flag was designed by Syed Amir uddin Kedwaii and was based on the original flag of the Muslim League. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, just days before independence. The white colour on the flag represents the minorities and the green the Muslim majority. The crescent on the flag represents progress while the five-rayed star represents light and knowledge.

Government and politics

Pakistan has a federal parliamentary system. The head of state is an indirectly-elected ceremonial President. The Electoral college of the country, (composed of the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four Provincial Assemblies) chooses a leadership representing the President of Pakistan for a five-year term. The president is also the Commander in Chief of the Joint Armed Forces. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is also indirectly elected.

The President's appointment and term are constitutionally independent of the Prime Minister's term. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly or of a coalition in the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister is the head of government. Pakistan's legislature is made of a 100-member Senate (upper house) and a 342-member National Assembly (lower house). The Chief Justice of Pakistan is the chief judge who oversees the judicature's court system at all levels of command.

On 17 August 2018 Ex-cricketer Imran Khan was elected as the New Prime Minister of Naya Pakistan. Because In 2018, Imran Khan (the chairman of PTI) Won the 2018 Pakistan general election with 116 general seats and so became the current 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan in election of National Assembly of Pakistan for Prime Minister by getting 176 votes against Shehbaz Sharif (the chairman of PMLN) who got 96 votes. Pakistan is also headed by a "President", the Prime Minister Acts as the Leader of Pakistan.

Pakistan is officially a federal republic, but during a long period in its history it changed to a democratic state and a military dictatorship. Military dictators include Ayub Khan in the 1960s, General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.

Pakistan's two largest political parties are the Pakistan People's Party and the government party Pakistan Muslim League (N). The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has also gained popularity in the past years.

On 27 December 2007, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated. The reason is yet to be determined.

Administrative divisions

Pakistan is made up of four provinces, two territories and two special areas. Both special areas are in Kashmir. The provinces and territories are divided into 26 divisions with now 147 districts directly divided from the provinces. Each district is divided into several tehsils and each tehsil is divided into several union councils. There are around 596 tehsils and over 6,000 union councils in Pakistan.

Provinces:

Among the four provinces, Punjab has the most people but Balochistan is the largest province by area. (Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also have Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) which are going to be regular districts.)

Territories:

Administrative Areas ( Pakistan-administered Kashmir)

India, Pakistan and China separately control parts of the Kashmir region. India and Pakistan's parts are divided by a Line of Control. The Pakistan-China border is internationally recognised. Trade is common between the 2 countries.

National symbols

Pakistan has a semi-industrialized economy. The growth poles of the Pakistani economy are situated along the Indus River. Diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab's urban centres, coexist with less developed areas in other parts of the country. Despite being a very poor country in 1947, Pakistan's economic growth rate has been better than the global average during the following four decades, but incautious policies led to a slowdown in the late 1990s.

Recently, large economic reforms have resulted in a stronger economic outlook and sped up growth especially in the manufacturing and financial services sectors. Since the 1990s, there has been great improvement in the foreign exchange market position and rapid growth in hard currency reserves.

The 2005 estimate of foreign debt was close to US$40 billion. However, this decreased with help from the International Monetary Fund and significant debt-relief from the United States. Pakistan's gross domestic product, as measured by purchasing power parity, is estimated to be $475 billion while its per capita income stands at $2,942. The poverty rate in Pakistan is estimated to be between 23% and 28%.

Pakistan became Independent in 1947 from the United Kingdom which was known as the British Raj. The first organised people in Ancient Pakistan lived 9000 years ago. These people were the ones who made up the Indus Valley Civilization, which is one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. After that, the Vedic period came. This also included parts of north-western Republic of India. Until 1971, Pakistan also included an area in the North-east India region. This is now called Bangladesh. It lost that area after a war with the Indian Army and the joint militant group of Indo-Bangladeshi alliance of Mitro Bahini of West Bengal. During recent times Pakistan has been in the centre of world politics. This is first because of its support to guerillas in Afghanistan, following a Soviet invasion 1979, and later during the 1990s because of its cooperation with and support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. However, since 2000 Pakistan has supported the West in their war against fundamentalist terrorism, including the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth. However, after the war in East Pakistan the country was excluded (between 1972-1989). It was also a member between 1999 and 2007, it was excluded in 2007 for a time but again became a member in 2008.

Geography and climate

There are many earthquakes in the area. The earthquake in 2005 with its earthquake center in Kashmir is the strongest recorded so far. Over 100,000 people were killed or wounded on 8 October 2005.

Pakistan covers 880,940 km ² (340,130 sq mi), roughly similar to the combined land areas of France and the UK. Its eastern regions are located on the Indian plate and the western and northern regions on the Iranian plateau and Eurasian landplate. Apart from the 1,046 km (650 mi) Arabian Sea coastline, Pakistan's land borders total 6,774 km (4,209 mi)-2,430 km (1,510 mi) with Afghanistan to the northwest, 523 km (325 mi) with China to the northeast, 2,912 km (1,809 mi) with India to the south and east, and 909 km (565 mi) with Iran to the southwest.

The northern and western highlands of Pakistan contain the towering Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges, which include some of the world's highest peaks, including K2 8,611 m (28,251 ft) and Nanga Parbat 8,126 m (26,660 ft). The Balochistan Plateau lies to the west, and the Thar Desert and an expanse of alluvial plains, the Punjab and Sindh, lie to the east. The 1,609 km (1,000 mi) Indus River and its tributaries flow through the country from the disputed territory of Occupied Kashmir to the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan has four seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November. The beginning and length of these seasons vary somewhat according to location. Rainfall can change radically from year to year, and consecutive patterns of flooding and drought are also not uncommon.

Urdu is replacing English as the national language of the country. English is still spoken among the Pakistani elite and in most government ministries. Many people also speak Saraiki, Punjabi, Hindko, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Brahui and Khowar.

Shina is also one of the regional languages of Pakistan. It is spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Most (97%) of the people are Muslim. Most of the Muslims in Pakistan are Sunni Muslims (>75%) and some are Shia Muslims (20%). However a few minority groups exist. Pakistan also has some Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Zoroastrians and animist minority groups in the northern parts of the country.

After the split from British India, Hinduism had much less importance in the newly created state of Pakistan, but has played an important role in its culture and politics as well as the history of its regions. In fact, Pakistan has the 5th largest population of Hindus, after Sri Lanka.

The word Hindu comes from the Sindhu (Indus River) of Pakistan. The Sindhu is one of the holy rivers of Hinduism. Thus, in many ways, the land which is today's heavily Muslim Pakistan has played an important part in the origin of Hinduism. There are about 3 million Hindus living in Pakistan.

Poverty in Pakistan is a growing concern. Although the middle-class has grown in Pakistan, nearly one-quarter of the population is classified poor as of October 2006.

The national sport of Pakistan is field hockey, although cricket is the most popular game across the country. The national cricket team has won the Cricket World Cup once (in 1992), were runners-up once (in 1999), and co-hosted the games twice (in 1987 and 1996). Pakistan were runners-up in the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa and were the champions at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 held in England. The team also won two Asia Cups in 2000 and 2012. Lately however, Pakistani cricket has suffered heavily due to teams refusing to tour Pakistan after militants attacked the touring Sri Lankan team in March 2009, after which no international cricket was played until May 2015, when the Zimbabwean team agreed to tour. However, now, with increased security, the Sri Lankan cricket team came for a tour as recently as 2019.

In addition to sports like field hockey, cricket, squash rackets, football and others, Pakistanis are also very keen on equestrianism of various types,and equestrian sports such as Polo and the traditional Tent pegging are played by many. Other traditional rural sports include two types of Wrestling, Kabbadi and a martial art called Gatka.

Related pages

Images for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Pakistan is a country in southern Asia. It is next to India, Iran, Afghanistan, and China. It is officially called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has a long coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south. Pakistan has the fifth largest population (207.77 million) in the world.