in 2008 hamburg had the highest afghan diasporic population of any city in the continent, with 7,000 german citizens of afghan origin and 14,000 other residents of afghan origin. immigration began with the start of the soviet–afghan war in 1979 and additional immigration came after its end. due to the differing origins and political affiliations of the emigrés, et al. wrote in "der spiegel" that "hamburg's afghan community was relatively loose-knit and was rarely perceived as an ethnic group, partly because these immigrants had been so deeply divided at home that there was little left to unite them as a community abroad." therefore the residents focused internally on their own families and keeping them together.