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Quiz: Pakistan and Afghanistan

Test your understanding of Chapter 18. Choose the best answer, then click Show Answer to check.

Question 1

What is the capital of Pakistan?

  1. Karachi
  2. Islamabad
  3. Lahore
  4. Peshawar
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Islamabad is a planned capital whose construction began in 1961. Karachi was Pakistan's first capital and is still its largest city, which is why it is a common wrong answer, and Lahore is the capital of Punjab province.

Concept Tested: Islamabad Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 2

Which two languages are the official national languages of Afghanistan?

  1. Urdu and Pashto
  2. Arabic and Dari
  3. Uzbek and Turkmen
  4. Dari and Pashto
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Dari, the form of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, and Pashto are the country's two official languages. Urdu is Pakistan's national language, and Uzbek and Turkmen were given official status only in regions where most people speak them.

Concept Tested: Dari and Pashto Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT one of the four provinces of Pakistan?

  1. Kashmir
  2. Sindh
  3. Balochistan
  4. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Pakistan's four provinces are Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The areas of Kashmir that Pakistan administers (Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir) are part of a disputed region and are not provinces.

Concept Tested: Provinces of Pakistan Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 4

According to Pakistan's 2023 census, about what share of Pakistanis speak Urdu as their first language?

  1. About 75%
  2. About 37%
  3. About 9%
  4. Less than 1%
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Only about 9% of Pakistanis spoke Urdu as their first language in 2023, even though it is the national language. The 37% figure belongs to Punjabi, the most common mother tongue, and the two are easy to mix up.

Concept Tested: Urdu as National Language Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 5

Which statement best describes Pashtunwali?

  1. A religious law written by Islamic scholars and enforced by courts
  2. A traditional, unwritten code of honor, hospitality and justice among Pashtuns
  3. The official constitution of Afghanistan
  4. A style of Pashto poetry sung at weddings
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Pashtunwali is a customary code that is older than Islam in the region and includes hospitality (melmastia), sanctuary, honor, justice and the jirga. Most Pashtuns are Muslim and see the two as fitting together, but Pashtunwali is custom, not religious law.

Concept Tested: Pashtunwali Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 6

Why is the Punjab described as a cultural region rather than as a single country?

  1. Its shared language and culture span Pakistan's Punjab province and India's Punjab state, which were split in 1947.
  2. It is a separate country that has not yet been recognized.
  3. It is a province of Afghanistan with its own language.
  4. It is only a river, not a place where people live.
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The Punjab, the "land of five waters," shares the Punjabi language and much culture on both sides of the 1947 line, even though it is governed by two countries. It is not a country of its own, and it is not part of Afghanistan.

Concept Tested: Punjab Region Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 7

Ben reads a headline that says "Afghanistan, in the Middle East..." Using the chapter, what is the most accurate way to correct it?

  1. Afghanistan is in East Asia, next to China.
  2. Afghanistan has a coastline on the Persian Gulf, so it is in the Middle East.
  3. Afghanistan is part of India.
  4. Afghanistan is a landlocked country where South Asia meets Central Asia and Iran; it belongs to SAARC, though some groupings place it differently.
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Afghanistan is a SAARC member, which is why this book counts it as South Asian, and some scholars group it with Central Asia. It is landlocked, so it has no Persian Gulf coast, and it has never been part of India.

Concept Tested: Afghanistan Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 8

A trader in the 1800s wants to carry carpets from Kabul to Lahore by the old road. Which order of places would she pass through?

  1. Kabul, Kandahar, Quetta, Karachi, Lahore
  2. Kabul, Bamiyan, Jam, Lahore
  3. Kabul, Jalalabad, the Khyber Pass, Peshawar, Lahore
  4. Kabul, Islamabad, Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, Lahore
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The old road ran east from Kabul down to Jalalabad, through the Khyber Pass to Peshawar, and across the Punjab plain to Lahore. Option D puts the stops in the wrong order (the Khyber Pass comes before Peshawar when traveling from Kabul), and Islamabad did not exist until the 1960s.

Concept Tested: Khyber Pass Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 9

The Buddhist sites of Taxila and Takht-i-Bahi (in Pakistan) and Bamiyan (in Afghanistan) belong to the same Gandharan art world. What does this best suggest?

  1. Pakistan and Afghanistan were always one country.
  2. Old trade roads connected communities long before today's border existed, so shared culture crosses the modern line.
  3. Buddhism is the main religion of both countries today.
  4. The sites were built recently to attract tourists.
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. These sites grew along the same roads, such as the route through the Khyber Pass, centuries before the Durand Line was drawn in 1893. Today both countries are overwhelmingly Muslim, and the sites are many centuries old.

Concept Tested: Buddhas of Bamiyan Bloom's Level: Analyze

Question 10

Turkmen carpets are mostly red with repeated motifs called guls, while Baluch carpets are more colorful and often include floral designs. What does this comparison show about Afghan carpets?

  1. All Afghan carpets look the same.
  2. Afghan carpets are made only in factories.
  3. Afghan carpets are traditionally woven only by men in big cities.
  4. Different communities have their own weaving traditions, so a carpet's style can point to the people who made it.
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Afghan carpet weaving was traditionally done by women of groups like the Turkmen and Baluch, and each group's style is different; Turkmen gul patterns were even linked to particular clans. So carpets were not made only by men in cities: most weavers were women, often in herding communities.

Concept Tested: Afghan Carpets Bloom's Level: Analyze