Minerals of Afghanistan

Afghanistan 78 100°, as it is in the valleys, and some­times it is very cold, 12° below zero— both hotter and colder than it ever is in most parts of the United States. The people might be rich if they could make use of the valuable minerals in these mountains. It is believed that there are iron, gold, copper, and other metals, and oil, too, in the southern part of the country. But the Afghans lack two things needed for mining. They do not have the machinery and they do not have the transportation.

There are no railroads at all in Afghanistan. There are some roads, from the capital city of Kabul to the other cities, but there are very few automobiles. Most of the traveling is done by caravans of camels, or riding a camel or on horseback. There are many animals, both wild and tame. The tame ones include the Afghan hound, about which you can read in the article just before this one. One of the unusual wild animals is the jerboa, a little jumping rat with long hind legs; it looks like a tiny kangaroo. Many of the wild animals seen in zoos are native to Afghanistan—tigers, leop­ards, bears, and others. how the people are governed Afghanistan is a constitutional mon­archy, which means that it has a king, a parliament that makes the laws, and a written constitution that protects the rights of the people.

The king's name is Mohammed Zahir Shah ("shah" means king). He has been king since 1933, and he has done much to make the country more modern, by building roads and factories and schools. All men who are 20 years old or more may vote. They elect members of the National Assembly, which is one of the two branches of the parliament. The other branch of the parliament is the Senate. It has fifty members, who are appointed by the king. Afghanistan is divided into provinces. There are ten provinces, and each one has a governor appointed by the parlia­ment. Every man from 22 to 42 years old must serve in the army.