AFGHAN RUGS
Afghan rugs are also sometimes called "Afghans". While I've personally always believed that Persian (now Iranian, I guess) rugs were the finest and most expensive in the world, I gather from a little research that Afghan rugs are now the most sought after rugs, at least in the United States.
Afghan rugs have distinctive hard edges and straight lines, as opposed to the flowery, flowing curves of Persian rugs. They have dark colors, often stained some more with tea.
Different Afghan tribes have distinctive patterns. The most popular Afghan rugs are made by the Hazara, Belouchi and Turkman tribes.
It is perhaps ironic that these days, most Afghan rugs are not made in Afghanistan but by Afghan refugees in nearby Pakistan. Their products are sold at enormous profits in the US and other countries. Also ironic is the fact that sales of Afghan rugs have boomed since the beginning of the war on Afghanistan – Many buyers are afraid that the supply of this commodity will dry up.
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References
Most of the information in this WU was obtained from:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-101501rugs.story
which I also recommend for other interesting details.