In Afghanistan, where most people are illiterate and live in areas without paved roads or regular electricity, a state-of-the-art smart-chip ID card may seem extravagant. But the government believes it can help with everything from census data to voter registration to health care.

The article profiles the Hazaras people of Afghanistan. The author chronicles the history and plight of this ethnic minority dating back to the 1300s. The author also states that they endured persecution under the Taliban for their ethnic and religious differences.

The article looks at ethnic divides within Afghanistan as of July 2012. Topics include some politicians' suggestion that the country be partitioned between the Dari-speaking north and the Pashtun-dominated south, many Afghans' belief that partition is necessary for peace, and the increased influence of fundamentalist group Taliban with the withdrawal of foreign troops from the area.

Afghanistan, landlocked multiethnic country located in the heart of south-central Asia. Lying along important trade routes connecting southern and eastern Asia to Europe and the Middle East, Afghanistan has long been a prize sought by empire builders, and for millennia great armies have attempted to subdue it, leaving traces of their efforts in great monuments now fallen to ruin.

KABUL — The kites appear suddenly, whimsical flashes of color that kick above this beige landscape of relentless dust and desperation.