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Afghanistan: Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the 45th Munich Security Conference in 2009. Photo by Harald Dettenborn (CC BY 3.0 DE License)

Hamid Karzai (24 December 1957 - ) is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

During the December 2001 International Conference on Afghanistan in Germany, Karzai was selected by prominent Afghan political figures to serve a six-month term as chairman of the Interim administration. He was then chosen for a two-year term as Interim President during the 2002 'loya jirga' (grand assembly) that was held in Kabul.

After the 2004 presidential election, Karzai was declared winner and became President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He controversially won a second five-year term in the disputed 2009 presidential election while admitting the elections were flawed.