Demographics of Afghanistan
As of 2016, the total population of Afghanistan is around 33,332,025, which includes the 3 million Afghan nationals living in both Pakistan and Iran. Afghanistan's Central Statistics Organization (CSO) stated in 2011 that the total number of Afghans living inside Afghanistan was about 26 million and by 2017 it reached 29.2 million. Of this, 15 million are males and 14.2 million are females. About 22% of the population is urbanite and the remaining 78% live in rural areas.
Bahá'í Faith in Afghanistan
Estimates of the population of Bahá'ís have varied widely - the World Christian Encyclopedia records about 19,500 Afghan Bahá'ís in 1990 and 23,075 in 2000. However the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 15,300 Bahá'ís were again present in Afghanistan in 2005 Most recently a 2007 report from the US State Department indicated that there are only 400 Bahá'ís in Afghanistan, mostly concentrated in Kabul. According to the US State Department, in 2007 the General Directorate of Fatwas and Accounts under the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the status of the Bahá'í Faith, declaring it to be distinct from Islam and a form of blasphemy, affirmed that all Muslims who convert to the religion were apostates from Islam, declared all followers of the religion to be infidels and hazards the status of marriages of Bahá'ís. Although the Supreme Court ruling would impact Afghan Bahai'is, it would be unlikely to affect foreign-national Bahai'is. In 2008, 50 people from Afghanistan traveled to India for a regional conference held in New Delhi called for by the Universal House of Justice.