Dimension	Afghanistan	Australia
Religion	99% Muslim (Sunni 85%, Shia 15%); Islam = state, law, identity	Secular state; 44% Christian (declining), 39% no religion, diverse minorities
Language	Dari (Persian) & Pashto official; Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi regional	English de facto official; 300+ languages spoken (Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese top)
Ethnicity	Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9% — tribal/segmentary	Multicultural: English 33%, Australian 30%, Irish 11%, Chinese 5%, Indigenous 3% + 300 ancestries
Gender Roles	Patriarchal; Taliban: women banned from education/work/public life	Legally equal; 13% gender pay gap; women 47% workforce; feminist policy history
Family	Extended, patrilineal, arranged marriage, high fertility (TFR 4.5)	Nuclear diverse (single, blended, same-sex); low fertility (TFR 1.6); choice-based
Education	Collapsed system; girls' secondary banned; literacy 43% (M 55%, F 30%)	Compulsory 6–16; 99% literacy; 40%+ tertiary; PISA top 20
Healthcare	Crisis: 1 doctor/5,000; maternal mortality 620/100K; life exp. 64	Universal (Medicare); 4 doctors/1,000; life exp. 83; high mental health burden
Economy	Agrarian (44% GDP), aid-dependent ($8B/yr), opium 9-14% GDP, GDP/cap $500	Services 70%, mining, agriculture; GDP/cap $65K; AAA credit
Politics	Taliban emirate (theocracy); no elections; ethnic fragmentation	Constitutional monarchy; federal parliament; compulsory voting; stable democracy
Time Orientation	Traditional, past-oriented, inshallah (God willing)	Future-oriented, punctual, scheduled, "fair go" meritocracy
Communication	High-context, indirect, honor-based, poetic	Low-context, direct, egalitarian, humorous/self-deprecating