Dec 6 (Reuters) - The White House is conducting a review of the war in Afghanistan a year after President Barack Obama unveiled a revised strategy to battle Taliban militants and ease violence in one of the world's poorest nations.
Following are key facts and figures about Afghanistan.
PROFILE
* Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia which shares borders with Iran, Pakistan, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
* Hamid Karzai has led the country since 2001, when U.S.-backed Afghan militia ended the five-year rule of the Islamist Taliban movement.
Karzai was re-elected for a second term in October 2009 after a highly contested vote beset by allegations of fraud.
* Parliamentary elections held in September 2010 were also marked by widespread reports of fraud.
* Life expectancy in Afghanistan, with a population of almost 30 million, is about 45 years. Only 28 percent of Afghans are literate.
* Some 42 percent of Afghans are Pashtun and 27 percent are Tajik. Hazaras and Uzbeks each account for 9 percent.
* There are two national languages, Pashto and Dari. Pashto, the language of the Pashtuns, is spoken in many parts of the south and east. Dari, a Persian language, is spoken mainly in northern and central Afghanistan.
SECURITY AND VIOLENCE
* Violence has surged to the highest levels since U.S. and Afghan forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001 as tens of thousands of additional foreign troops, mainly Americans, have been deployed in response to an escalating Taliban insurgency.
* A recent U.S. report found that all types of violent incidents increased from April through September, up 300 percent from 2007, except for the use of roadside bombs.
* The United Nations has said the number of civilians killed in the war rose by 31 percent in the first half of 2010, with 1,271 civilians killed in conflict-related incidents.
* Since the 2001 invasion, almost 2,250 foreign soldiers have been killed in combat or other incidents in Afghanistan, including more than 1,400 U.S. soldiers.
INTERNATIONAL FORCES
* There are about 143,000 foreign troops from 48 countries in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
* With about 95,000 soldiers on the ground, the United States has by far the largest force in Afghanistan.
After revamping U.S. strategy on the war last fall, Obama sent an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.
* Like the United States, NATO allies are looking to start bringing their 48,000 troops home.
* ISAF has said it hopes to begin handing over security to Afghan forces in July 2011, and aims to complete that process by the end of 2014.
* Foreign troops have been seeking to build up local security forces, but U.S. officials say illiteracy and a high attrition rate remain a challenge.
ECONOMY
* According to the United Nations Human Development rankings for 2009, Afghanistan is ranked 181st out of 182 countries.
* Devastated by 30 years of conflict, Afghanistan's economy is dependent on foreign aid. World donors contribute 70 percent of the state operating budget, which itself has been dwarfed by billions in aid spent directly by the donor states.
* Afghanistan's economic growth has also been stunted by high levels of corruption, which prevents aid from reaching ordinary Afghans.
* Public sector corruption in Afghanistan is seen as more rampant than any other country except Myanmar and Somalia, according to Transparency International.
DRUGS
* Despite widespread crop blight last year, Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's opium, a thick paste from poppy used to make heroin. Most of that comes from volatile Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
* Much of Afghan poppy is turned into heroin before it leaves Afghanistan and makes its way to consumers in Russia, Iran and Europe.
* Opium cultivation is seen as a key source of funding for the Taliban insurgency.
Sources: NATO, U.S. Forces, Reuters reports, U.N., World Bank, iCasualties.org; CIA World Fact Book, Transparency International. (Compiled by Golnar Motevalli, Tim Gaynor and Missy Ryan; Editing by Christopher Wilson)
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