Get to Know Afghanistan

Facts About Afghanistan

A short introduction to the country, its people, and the languages this work serves.

The Country in Brief

45 Million*

People call Afghanistan home

5,000 Years

Extensive history at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, along the old Silk Road

Unseen Faith

Believers practice their faith discreetly, as conversion to Christ is punishable by death

7+ Million

Afghans live in the diaspora worldwide — most in Iran and Pakistan, with growing communities across the globe

22+ Million

Mobile connections across Afghanistan — a growing gateway for digital Scripture and apps

Many Peoples

Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, and other communities, each with their own language and customs

* Estimated figures

The Languages of Afghanistan

Dari and Pashto are Afghanistan’s two official languages, spoken by the great majority of the population — but they are far from the only ones. Dozens of other languages are spoken across the country’s mountains and valleys, each carrying its own history and identity. These languages are closely bound up with ethnicity — each people group’s mother tongue is a core part of who they are.

Faces of Afghanistan

Pashtun
Pashtun
Tajik
Tajik
Hazara
Hazara
Uzbek
Uzbek Photo: Julian-G. Albert, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)

Scripture Engagement

As one of the core aims of our Bible Society, we take Scripture Engagement seriously. How much people read their Bibles has historically been hard to gauge, but in the case of online media, we carefully measure this.

Each Week:

700

People read the Bible online

2,250

Scripture PDF downloads

64

Bible App users talk on the phone (total ≈16 hours)

About These Statistics
  • Reading: Readers in an average week calculated in 2025 by assessing unique visitors to our Bible websites who actively use (e.g. scroll) at least one Chapter for at least a minute.
  • Downloading: Scripture downloads refer to individual Books of the Bible. Downloads exclude automated bot traffic — calculated as an average weekly figure over a six-month period to 1 September 2026.
  • Talking: Phone conversations longer than 1 minute with people who call from our app — calculated as an average weekly figure over a one-year period to 1 September 2026.
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