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The 2002 CIA World Factbook

United States. Central Intelligence Agency · Public domain text

527,154 words · about 36 h 55 min to read

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About this edition

The text of The 2002 CIA World Factbook comes from Project Gutenberg e-text #6344. It is public domain in the United States. RedLectern sets the text out for reading on screen; no words of the book are rewritten or summarized. More formats (EPUB, Kindle) · How RedLectern is built

This book is long enough to be split into 21 parts, so each one loads quickly on its own.

About this book

Author
United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Language
English
Subjects
World politics › Handbooks, manuals, etc., Geography › Handbooks, manuals, etc., Political science › Handbooks, manuals, etc., Political statistics › Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Length
527,154 words · about 36 h 55 min
Sections
234 reader sections · Table of contents

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Contents (234)
  1. Opening about 2 min
  2. Introduction about 6 min
  3. Introduction about 7 min
  4. Introduction about 10 min
  5. Introduction about 10 min
  6. Introduction about 10 min
  7. Introduction about 9 min
  8. Introduction about 9 min
  9. Introduction about 7 min
  10. Introduction about 9 min
  11. Introduction about 6 min
  12. Introduction about 11 min
  13. Introduction about 9 min
  14. Introduction about 2 min
  15. Introduction about 9 min
  16. Introduction about 5 min
  17. Introduction about 11 min
  18. Introduction about 7 min
  19. Introduction about 6 min
  20. Introduction about 7 min
  21. Introduction about 6 min
  22. Introduction about 10 min
  23. Introduction about 7 min
  24. Introduction about 9 min
  25. Introduction about 8 min
  26. Introduction about 14 min
  27. Introduction about 10 min
  28. Introduction about 9 min
  29. Introduction about 8 min
  30. Introduction about 9 min
  31. Introduction about 6 min
  32. Introduction about 2 min
  33. Introduction about 11 min
  34. Introduction about 1 min
  35. Introduction about 8 min
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  38. Introduction about 8 min
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  51. Introduction about 16 min
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  59. Introduction about 8 min
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  84. Introduction about 11 min
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  144. Introduction about 2 min
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  149. Introduction about 11 min
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  151. Introduction about 16 min
  152. Introduction about 6 min
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  154. Introduction about 8 min
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  156. Introduction about 10 min
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  160. Introduction about 6 min
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  174. Introduction about 6 min
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  183. Introduction about 30 min
  184. Introduction about 18 min
  185. Introduction about 14 min
  186. Introduction about 9 min
  187. Introduction about 15 min
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  190. Introduction about 17 min
  191. Introduction about 10 min
  192. Introduction about 4 min
  193. Introduction about 12 min
  194. Introduction about 9 min
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  197. Introduction about 7 min
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  199. Introduction about 10 min
  200. Introduction about 14 min
  201. Introduction about 5 min
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  203. Introduction about 16 min
  204. Introduction about 15 min
  205. Introduction about 11 min
  206. Introduction about 7 min
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  211. Introduction about 14 min
  212. Introduction about 11 min
  213. Introduction about 13 min
  214. Introduction about 8 min
  215. Introduction about 8 min
  216. Introduction about 17 min
  217. Introduction about 9 min
  218. Introduction about 6 min
  219. Introduction about 10 min
  220. Introduction about 11 min
  221. Introduction about 15 min
  222. Introduction about 6 min
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  225. Introduction about 7 min
  226. Introduction about 2 min
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  228. Introduction about 8 min
  229. Introduction about 12 min
  230. Introduction about 9 min
  231. Introduction about 8 min
  232. Introduction about 3 min
  233. Introduction about 8 min
  234. Introduction about 3 h 5 min

The opening of Introduction

Afghanistan

Background: Afghanistan's recent history is characterized by war and civil strife, with intermittent periods of relative calm and stability. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 but was forced to withdraw 10 years later by anti-Communist mujahidin forces supplied and trained by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others. Fighting subsequently continued among the various mujahidin factions, giving rise to a state of warlordism that spawned the Taliban in the early 1990s. The Taliban was able to seize most of the country, aside from Northern Alliance strongholds primarily in the northeast, until US and allied military action in support of the opposition following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks forced the group's downfall. The four largest Afghan opposition groups met in Bonn, Germany, in late 2001 and agreed on a plan for the formulation of a new government structure that resulted in the inauguration of Hamid KARZAI as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) on 22 December 2001. In addition to occasionally violent political jockeying and ongoing military action to root out remaining terrorists and Taliban elements, the country suffers from enormous poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, and widespread land mines.

Read on in Part 1 →

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