Achin is a district

Districts of Afghanistan

The provinces of Afghanistan are divided into Wolaswalei or districts. The number of districts in Afghanistan has fluctuated over the years, with new districts created by splitting or merging parts of others. Prior to 1979, there were 325 districts. This was increased to 329 and, in 2004, a major...

 in the south of Nangarhar Province

Nangarhar Province

Nangarhar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan in the east of the country. Its capital is the city of Jalalabad. The population of the province is 1,334,000, which consists mainly of ethnic Pashtuns with a sizable community of Arabs and Pashais....

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, bordering on Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. Its population is 100% Pashtun

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

.

Achin is home to the Shinwari

Shinwari

The Shinwari are an ethnic Pashtun tribe of western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.In Pakistan, this tribe is active in trade, commerce, poetry, administrators and politicians within the Pakistani government; the majority are based in the Landi Kotal region of the Federally Administered Tribal...

 tribe, one of the largest Pashtun tribes. It was a stronghold of the Mujaheddin during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Economy

The primary licit crop in Achin is wheat. Collecting and selling firewood, and manual labor, are other income-generating activities. Tobacco is also grown in the district.

Opium poppy

In 2000, UNDCP recorded 130 poppy-growning villages in Achin, making it the greatest opium growing district in eastern Afghanistan that year.

External links

• Map of Achin (PDF)
• UNODC 2003 Opium Survey (extensive photographs of Achin poppy cultivation)