The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Its location at the crossroads of Central, South and West Asia historically made it a hub of diversity, dubbed by one historian as the "roundabout of the ancient world".
Afghanistan is a mostly tribal society with different regions of the country having their own subculture. Despite this, nearly all Afghans follow Islamic traditions, celebrate the same holidays, dress the same, consume the same food, listen to the same music and use Dari as the inter-ethnic lingua franca to a certain extent. Its culture is strongly tied with elements of Central Asia, which can be seen in the likes of language, cuisine and classical music.
Afghan culture is increasingly becoming a dynamic realm of academic study. In more recent history, Afghan culture has been threatened and fragmented due to the prolonged conflict in the country.
Traditionally, only men have been involved in theater acting. Recently, in theater arts, women have begun to take center stage.
Since the 1980s, the nation has witnessed several wars so music has been suppressed and recording for outsiders minimal. During the 1990s, the Taliban government banned instrumental music and much public music-making. Many musicians and singers continued to play their trade in the cities of other countries. Pakistani cities such as Peshawar, Quetta are important centers for the distribution of Afghan music. Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the cities of Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif with its Qataghani style. Lyrics across the country are typically in both Dari and Pashto, Uzbeki, Hazaragi, Hindi, and western style songs and music are also very popular in Afghanistan.
Afghans enjoy music by playing many types of instruments. They also enjoy performing the Attan, which is considered the national dance of Afghanistan. What is typically heard in the country are folk songs or ballads. Many of the songs are known by almost everyone and have been around for many years. The main traditional Afghan music instruments include:
Dari and Pashto are both the official languages of Afghanistan, although Dari serves as the lingua franca for the majority. People in the northern and central areas of the country usually speak Dari, while those living in the south and east speak Pashto. Afghans living in the western regions of Afghanistan speak both Dari and Pashto. Most citizens are fluent in both languages, especially those living in major cities where the population is multi-ethnic. Several other languages are spoken in their own regions, which includes Uzbek, Turkmen and Balochi. English is gradually becoming popular among the young generation. There are smaller number of Afghans who can understand Russian, mainly among the northern Tajik, Uzbek and Turkmen groups.
Poetry in Afghanistan has long been a cultural tradition and passion. It is mainly in Dari and Pashto languages, although in modern times it is also becoming more recognized in Afghanistan's other languages. Classic Dari literature and Pashto poetry plays an important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in the region, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Some notable poets include Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Massoud Nawabi, Nazo Tokhi, Ahmad Shah Durrani, and Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi. Some of the famous Dari-language poets and authors from the 10th to 15th centuries are Rumi, Rabi'a Balkhi, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Jami, Alisher Navoi, Sanai, Abu Mansur Daqiqi, Farrukhi Sistani, Unsuri, and Anvari. Contemporary Dari language poets and writers include Khalilullah Khalili and Sufi Ashqari.
Afghans prize wit and cleverness in speech. "Zarbul Masalha" (pronounced zar-bull mah-sal-HAA) means "proverbs" in Dari, and these zarbul masalha deeply reflect Afghan culture. U.S. Navy Captain Edward Zellem pioneered the use of Afghan proverbs as a positive relationship-building tool during the war in Afghanistan, and in 2012 he published two bilingual collections of Afghan proverbs in Dari and English.
Birds are the most popular animals that are kept as pets in Afghanistan. In Kabul there is a dedicated daily market selling a wide variety of birds from around the world.
The important architectural sites are found in Herat, Mazar-I-Sharif, Ghazni, Qandahar, and Firuzkoh in Ghor Province.
The region has made major contributions to the world's architecture. UNESCO has acknowledged Afghanistan's role by declaring the Minaret of Jam and the Buddhas of Bamiyan destroyed in 2001, World Heritage Sites.
Houses in rural Afghanistan historically have been made of mudbricks and mud, and have a series of rooms located around a private rectangular courtyard where women and children can move around without being seen by the public. In recent years, however, Afghans living in rural areas began building their homes using cement and bricks, similar as those built in the big cities. In the north and west they are typically in fortified villages called qalahs ("fortresses"), whereas in the mountainous northern and eastern regions they differ, for example wooden multistoried dwellings in Nuristan.
Married sons often share houses with their parents, but with separate quarters. Afghan houses contain a special room where men socialize with each other known as a hujra. In the major cities, many Afghans live in modern houses or apartments. The nomadic kuchi people live in large tents because they are constantly on the move from one part of the country to another. The nomads of Turkic or Mongol origin in the north tend to live in yurts.
The lands of Afghanistan have a long history of art, with the world's earliest known usage of Buddha's oil painting found in cave murals in the country. Buddha is from Bihar, Indian. this is drying oil technique used by Indians. Afghan art includes miniature style, with Kamaleddin Behzad of Herat being one of the most notable miniature artists of the Timurid and early Safavid periods. Since the 1900s, the nation began to use Western techniques in art. Abdul Ghafoor Breshna was a prominent Afghan painter and sketch artist from Kabul during the 20th century.
Afghanistan's art was originally almost entirely done by men, but recently women are entering the arts programs at Kabul University. Art is largely centered at the National Museum of Afghanistan, the National Gallery of Afghanistan and the National Archives of Afghanistan in Kabul. There are a number of art schools in the country. The Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA) in Kabul provides young people to learn contemporary paintings.
Ceramics and pottery, of which many tend to be turquoise-colored, are produced in Afghanistan, most famously in the village of Istalif.
The art of making carpets has been prominent for centuries. Afghanistan is known for making beautiful oriental rugs. The Afghan carpet has certain prints that make them unique to Afghanistan.