Hamid Karzai (Persian: حامد کرزى and Pashto: حامد کرزي) (b. 24 December 1957) is the current President of Afghanistan, since 07 December 2004. He became a prominent political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001. From December 2001, Hamid Karzai had been the Chairman of the Transitional Administration followed by the Interim President from 2002 until he won the 2004 Presidential election of Afghanistan.