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Algeria

  (ăl-jîr'ē-ə) pronunciation
Algeria
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Algeria
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A country of northwest Africa bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. The region was settled c. 2000 B.C. by Berber-speaking people and later formed a part of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires. Arab invaders in the seventh and eighth centuries introduced Islam and the Arabic language and culture. A French territory from 1848, Algeria gained its independence in 1962 after more than seven years of fighting. Algiers is the capital and the largest city. Population: 33,300,000.

Algerian Al·ge'ri·an adj. & n.

 

 
 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Algeria

Country, North Africa. Area: 919,595 sq mi (2,381,741 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 32,854,000. Capital: Algiers. Most of the population is ethnically and linguistically Arab, with a large Berber (Amazigh) minority. Languages: Arabic, Berber (both official), French. Religion: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni). Currency: Algerian dinar. Algeria has the second largest land area (after The Sudan) on the continent. The coastline has numerous bays, and the country's rivers are small and generally seasonal. Northern Algeria is mountainous and is crossed from east to west by the Atlas Mountains; its highest point, elevation 7,638 ft (2,328 m), is Mount Chélia. In central and southern Algeria is much of the northern Sahara. Algeria has a developing economy based primarily on the production and export of petroleum and natural gas. After achieving independence, the country nationalized much of its economy but since the 1980s has privatized parts of the economy. Algeria is a republic with two legislative bodies; its chief of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. Phoenician traders settled there early in the 1st millennium BC; several centuries later the Romans invaded, and by AD 40 they had control of the Mediterranean coast. The fall of Rome in the 5th century led to an invasion by the Vandals and later to a reoccupation by the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. The Islamic invasion began in the 7th century; by 711 all of northern Africa was under the control of the caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty. Several Islamic Berber empires followed, most prominently the Almoravid (c. 1054 – 1130), which extended its domain to Spain, and the Almohad (c. 1130 – 1269). The Barbary Coast pirates menaced Mediterranean trade for centuries; their raids served as a pretext for France to enter Algeria in 1830. By 1847 France had established military control over most of the region and by the late 19th century had instituted civil rule. Popular protest against French rule resulted in the bloody Algerian War (1954 – 61); independence was achieved following a referendum in 1962. Beginning in the early 1990s, Islamic fundamentalist opposition to secular rule led to an outbreak in civil violence between the army and various Islamic extremist groups.

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French Literature Companion: Algeria

Until the French conquest, which began in 1830 [see Colonization], Algeria scarcely figured as a recognizable entity in French literature. The region was perceived primarily as part of the Barbary coast, notorious for its pirates. The experiences of French captives held for ransom were described in works such as Regnard's La Provençale (1731). France's military conquest of Algeria, which was largely complete by the middle of the 19th c., created relatively safe travelling conditions for writers and artists. Their travelogues include Ernest Feydeau's Alger (1862) and Souna (1876), Fromentin's Un été dans le Sahara (1857) and Une année dans le Sahel (1859) and Maupassant's Au soleil (1884). Algeria also served as a location for fictional works such as Alphonse Daudet's Tartarin de Tarascon (1872) and Gide's L' Immoraliste (1902). Other works inspired by Gide's experiences in Algeria include Les Nourritures terrestres (1897) and Amyntas (1905). In most of these works Algeria is seen primarily as an exotic décor. The writings of Isabelle Eberhardt, who embraced Islam, are more attentive to cultural traditions.

Algeria was unusual among French colonies in having a large settler population, though this was always heavily outnumbered by the indigenous Muslims. The settlers, who towards the end of the colonial period became popularly known as piedsnoirs, came not only from France but also from Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries. By the end of the 19th c. a body of imaginative works was emerging from among the settler community. Writing under the pseudonym Musette, Auguste Robinet produced a series of tales featuring Cagayous, a plebian character who purveys the settlers' rough-hewn folk wisdom. The stories are liberally dosed with pataouète, a form of slang derived from the medley of languages which had been brought into contact with each other as a result of colonization.

The rude virtues of colonization were celebrated in a more heroic mould in the novels of Louis Bertrand. With the creation of the Association des Écrivains Algériens in 1921, writers in the colony began to organize themselves around the banner of algérianisme. This term, originally coined by Robert Randau in 1911, denoted a growing sense of cultural distinctiveness vis-à-vis France. While proud of their European roots and convinced of the inferiority of the Muslim population, the algérianistes emphasized the idea of a new people and culture being in the making in Algeria. Besides Randau, other prominent algérianistes included Jean Pomier, Louis Lecoq, and Charles Hagel. With the growth of Algerian nationalism among members of the Muslim élite, writers of European descent cultivated a less aggressive tone in a new movement known as the École d'Alger. Launched during the 1930s by Gabriel Audisio, this propounded a hedonistic ‘Mediterranean’ life-style seemingly insulated from the political pressures of the period. Typical of the École are the early narratives of Albert Camus; other practitioners include Roblès and Claude de Fréminville.

During the colonial period only a minority of Algerian Muslims learned to read and write. Most were educated in French rather than Arabic; the Berber language, spoken in relatively isolated regions such as Kabylia, was scarcely written at all. The earliest imaginative works in French by Algerians of non-European origin began to appear around the turn of the century. While most were highly derivative, they later diverged considerably from the models offered by metropolitan France and the settler community. Among the first to publish works of prose fiction was Abdelkader Hadj Hamou, who was closely associated with the algérianistes. Jean Amrouche, who came from a Kabyle family converted to Christianity, struck a more original note in poems published from the 1930s onwards. As the Arabic and Berber languages offered easier access to theatre audiences, drama was to remain a marginal genre among francophone Algerian authors.

The pace of publication among non-European authors quickened after World War II. Mouloud Feraoun's Le Fils du pauvre (1950) is often regarded as the earliest Algerian novel of real literary merit, though its critical reputation has since been eclipsed by that of Kateb Yacine's Nedjma (1956). Other important authors who began to publish during this period include Mohammed Dib and Mouloud Mammeri. Most of their early novels are inspired by both a semi-autobiographical urge and a determination to offer a more authentic representation of Algerian society than had been produced by writers of European origin. Cast mainly in a realist mode (Nedjma was an important exception), they were often described as works of ‘ethnographic’ fiction. They were sometimes criticized by Algerian nationalists for failing to identify unequivocally with the cause of independence. The protagonists, like the authors of these novels, feel distanced from traditional Algerian society by their internalization of French culture, yet at the same time are anxious to speak on behalf of their fellow countrymen against the injustices of the colonial system.

These tensions were accentuated during the Algerian War of Independence, which was launched by the nationalist Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) in 1954 . The main characters in the novels of Malek Haddad are exiled in France while the armed struggle for national liberation rages in Algeria. In the political climate prevailing at the time, Kateb found it impossible to stage his anticolonial play, Le Cadavre encerclé, in France; completed in 1954, it was first performed in Tunisia and Belgium in 1958. The conflict brought an outpouring of fiercely nationalist poetry by writers such as Djamal Amrani, Henry Kréa, and Anna Greki, and came to occupy a central role in many works of fiction, such as Dib's Qui se souvient de la mer (1962), Assia Djebar's Les Enfants du nouveau monde (1962), and Mammeri's L'Opium et le bâton (1965). The war was to remain a major source of inspiration in all genres for many years after Independence, which came with the peace settlement reached at Évian in 1962.

Independence brought the mass exodus of the pieds-noirs. Only a small minority, including writers such as Jean Sénac, who had sided with the FLN during the war, remained in the country. Most resettled in France, where they became known as rapatriés. Those who continued or began writing after 1962, such as Marie Cardinal, contributed to a kind of exile literature.

The new Algerian state, controlled by the FLN, was firmly committed to a policy of Arabization, whereby the French language, regarded as a relic of colonial dependence, would be systematically replaced by Arabic in every sphere of life. Haddad stopped writing altogether, convinced that French—the only language in which he was literate—was inseparable from cultural alienation. He was among those who supported government-backed campaigns equating the national culture of Algeria with the exclusive use of the Arabic language. A major victory for this policy seemed to be scored when, in 1971, Kateb switched his main creative energies to theatre productions using Arabic dialect. Far from declining, however, Algerian writing in French has grown steadily since Independence, and still far outstrips in quantity that appearing in Arabic. Within Algeria, although it is easier to publish in Arabic, a steady flow of material continues to appear in French. In addition, many Algerian authors use publishers in France, where a significant number have taken up residence. The ideological inflexibility of the FLN, which held a near-monopoly of power until the end of the 1980s, tended to deter the most creative writers from seeking to publish in Algeria.

Dib was among those who chose to live in France, where he produced an acclaimed body of increasingly diverse and sophisticated works. Nabile Farès explored the experience of exile in a mixture of poetry and prose, with mythical and lyrical modes increasingly supplanting conventional realism. In Le Muezzin (1968), Mourad Bourboune created a powerful image of the alienation of many Algerian intellectuals from Islam, which is constitutionally enshrined as the country's official religion.

After a long period of residence in France, the poet and playwright Noureddine Aba returned in 1977 to Algeria, where he argued for mutual respect between the country's different linguistic and cultural traditions.

While publishing in France, novelists such as Djebar and Rachid Boudjedra lived partly or primarily in Algeria, where they wrote about the problems of the post-Independence period with considerable candour. Influenced partly by the French Nouveau Roman, Boudjedra experimented with complex narrative forms in trenchant explorations of social, political, and sexual injustices. Djebar was one of a growing number of Algerian women writers publishing in French. Others included Yamina Mechakra, Myriam Ben, and Aïcha Lemsine. Relations between the sexes within the changing contours of Algerian society before and after independence came under critical scrutiny in many of Djebar's novels, as also in Lemsine's La Chrysalide (1976), Mechakra's La Grotte éclatée (1979), and Ben's Sabrina ils t'ont volé ta vie (1986).

While Boudjedra chose to write in Arabic from 1982 onwards, the continued vitality of francophone writing in Algeria was attested by the emergence during the 1980s of new authors such as Rachid Mimouni, Tahar Djaout, Rabah Belamri, and Habib Tengour, who owed little or nothing to the colonial period. In novels such as Le Fleuve détourné (1982) and Tombéza (1984), Mimouni evoked the frustrations of life in a bureaucratic one-party state. Corruption and other abuses of power were dissected by Djaout in Le Chercheur d'os (1984), and by Belamri in Regard blessé (1987). Blending the poetic and the prosaic, historical displacements and contemporary references, Tengour confronted similar issues in works such as Le Vieux et la montagne (1983) and Sultan Galiev ou la Rupture des stocks (1985).

Meanwhile a fresh literary impulse came from the so-called Beur generation, young men and women brought up in France by North African immigrant parents. Their works in some ways replicate the autobiographical and ethnographic features associated with the early development of the Algerian novel, but are often more humorous in tone and focus primarily on experiences in France, rather than Algeria. Whether they should properly be classed as part of Algerian or French literature is an open question. Although not herself a Beur, Leïla Sebbar has also written extensively about the immigrant community.

Following the cancellation of general elections which the FIS, a militant Islamic party, had looked certain to win in 1992, Algeria entered a period of acute political crisis and terrorist violence. Francophone intellectuals such as Djaout were among the victims of terrorist murder squads. Others sought refuge abroad, particularly in France.

[Alec Hargreaves]

Bibliography

  • C. Bonn, La Littérature algérienne de langue française et ses lectures (1974)
  • J. Déjeux, La Littérature algérienne contemporaine, 2nd edn. (1979)
  • C. Achour, Anthologie de la littérature algérienne de langue française (1990)
 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Algeria
(ăljēr'ēə) , Arab. Al Djazair, Fr. Algérie, officially People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, republic (2005 est. pop. 32,532,000), 919,590 sq mi (2,381,741 sq km), NW Africa, bordering on Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco in the west, on the Mediterranean Sea in the north, on Tunisia and Libya in the east, and on Niger and Mali in the south. Algiers is the capital and largest city.

Land and People

Algeria falls into two main geographical areas, the northern region and the much larger Saharan or southern region. The northern region, which is part of the Maghreb, is made up of four parallel east-west zones: a narrow lowland strip (interspersed with mountains) along the country's 600-mi (970-km) Mediterranean coastline; the Tell Atlas Mts. (highest point: c.7,570 ft/2,310 m), which have a Mediterranean climate and abundant fertile soil; the sparsely populated, semiarid Plateau of the Chotts (average elevation c.3,500 ft/1,070 m), containing a number of shallow salt lakes (chotts) and supporting mainly sheep and goat herders; and the Saharan Atlas Mts., a broken series of mountain ranges and massifs (highest point: 7,638 ft/2,330 m), also a semiarid area and used chiefly for pasturing livestock. The Chéliff River, which flows into the Mediterranean, is the largest of the country's few permanent streams. N Algeria is subject to earthquakes, which, as in 1954, 1980, and 2003, may be devastating, killing and injuring thousands.

The arid and very sparsely populated Saharan region has an average elevation of c.1,500 ft (460 m), but reaches greater heights in the Ahaggar Mts. in the south, where Algeria's loftiest point, Mt. Tahat (9,850 ft/3,002 m), is located. Most of the region is covered with gravel or rocks, with little vegetation; there are also large areas of sand dunes in the north (the Great Western Erg) and east (the Great Eastern Erg). Important oases include Touggourt, Biskra, Chenachane, In Zize, and Tin Rerhoh.

In addition to the capital, major cities include Annaba, Blida, Constantine, Mostaganem, Oran, Sétif, Sidi-bel-Abbès, Skikda, and Tlemcen. Berbers once constituted the chief ethnic group in Algeria, but have been largely assimilated into Arab culture. The Berbers, beginning in the late 7th cent. A.D., adopted the Arabic language and Islam from the small number of Arabs who settled in the country. Today those of Arab-Berber descent make up some 99% of the population. Arabic is the main language, although about 15% of the population still speaks a Berber language. These inhabitants live mostly in the mountainous regions of the north, but also include the nomadic Tuareg of the Sahara. Relations between Arabic-speaking and Berber-speaking Algerians have long been marked by tension. Arabic was made the sole national language in 1980, but that policy was reversed in 2002, when Tamazight, a Berber tongue, was also recognized as a national language. French is widely spoken, and about 1% of the Algerian population is of European descent (before independence Europeans accounted for some 10%). Almost all Algerians are adherents of the Sunni Muslim faith, the state religion.

Economy

About 15% of Algeria's workers are engaged in farming; agriculture contributes less to the country's GDP than either mining or manufacturing. The state plays a leading role in planning the economy and owns many important industrial concerns, including the mining and financial sectors. Since the late 1990s, there has been some privatization and openness to foreign investment.

Farming is concentrated in the fertile valleys and basins of the north and in the oases of the Sahara. The principal crops are wheat, barley, oats, wine grapes, olives, citrus, figs, and dates. Algeria is also an important producer of cork. Large numbers of sheep, poultry, goats, and cattle are raised, and there is a small fishing industry.

Petroleum and natural gas, found principally in the E Sahara, are Algeria's most important mineral resources and its leading exports. Production was decreased in the 1980s in order to delay the depletion of resources but rose again in the late 1990s. There are oil pipelines to the seaports of Arzew and Bejaïa in Algeria and As Sukhayrah in Tunisia. In 1993, a gas pipeline was laid between Hassi R'Mel (Algeria's main gas producing field) and Seville, Spain. Other minerals extracted in significant quantities include iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, and zinc. The country's leading industries include food and beverage processing, (notably olive oil and wine), petrochemicals, and light manufacturing. Algeria's limited rail and road networks serve mainly the northern region.

In recent years the annual earnings from Algeria's exports have been substantially higher than the cost of its imports. The chief imports are machinery, food and beverages, and consumer goods. The principal exports besides petroleum and natural gas are wine and agricultural goods (especially fruit). Algeria's main trade partners are France, the United States, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Since independence, there has been large-scale emigration to France by Algerian job seekers, who contribute substantial cash remittances to the country's economy.

Government

Algeria is governed under the constitution of 1976 as amended. The executive branch is headed by the president, who is popularly elected for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term. The prime minister, who is the head of government, is appointed by the president. The bicameral parliament consists of the 389-seat National People's Assembly, whose members are elected by popular vote to five-year terms, and the 144-seat Council of Nations, whose members are appointed by the president (one third) or elected by indirect vote and serve six-year terms. Administratively, the country is divided into 48 provinces.

History

To the Early Nineteenth Century

The earliest recorded inhabitants of Algeria were Berber-speaking peoples who by the 2d millennium B.C. were living in small village-based political units. In the 9th cent. B.C., Carthage was founded in modern-day Tunisia, and Carthaginians eventually established trading posts at Annaba, Skikda, and Algiers. Coastal Algeria was known as Numidia and was usually divided into two kingdoms, both of which were strongly influenced by Carthage. The kingdoms of Numidia were united by King Masinissa (c.238–149 B.C.).

In 146 B.C., Rome destroyed Carthage, and by 106 B.C., after defeating King Jugurtha of Numidia, it held coastal Algeria. The Romans also gained control of the Tell Atlas region and part of the Plateau of the Chotts; the rest of present-day Algeria remained under Berber rulers and was outside Roman rule. Under Rome, the cities were built up and impressive public works (including roads and aqueducts) were constructed. Much grain was shipped from Algeria to Rome. By the Christian era, Algeria (divided into Numidia and Mauritania Caesariensis) was an integral, albeit relatively unimportant, part of the Roman Empire. One of its most famous citizens was St. Augustine (354–430), who was bishop of Hippo (now Annaba) and a leading opponent of Donatism (which was in part a Berber protest against Roman rule).

By the 5th cent. Roman civilization in Algeria had been eroded by incursions of Berbers, and the destruction wreaked by the Vandals (who passed through Algeria on their way to Tunisia) in 430–431 marked the end of effective Roman control. Algeria again came under the control of numerous small indigenous political units. In the early 6th cent. a temporary veneer of unity and order was forged by the Byzantine Empire, which conquered parts of the North African coast including the region E of Algiers. In the late 7th and early 8th cent. Muslim Arabs conquered Algeria and ousted the Byzantines. Although few Arabs settled in the region, they had a profound influence as most of the Berbers quickly became Muslims and gradually absorbed the Arabic language and culture. In addition, the Arabs intermarried with the Berbers.

A number of small Muslim states rose and fell in Algeria, but generally the eastern part of the country came under the influence of dynasties centered in Tunisia (notably the Aghlabid of Kairouan) and the western part was controlled by states centered in Morocco (notably the Almoravids and Almohads). Also, in the 8th and 9th cent. Tlemcen was the center of the Muslim Kharajite sect, and in the early 10th cent. the Fatimid dynasty began its major rise from a base in NE Algeria. In the late 15th cent. Spain expelled the Muslims from its soil and soon thereafter captured the coastal cities of Algeria. Algerians appealed to Turkish pirates (especially the Barbarossa brothers) for help, and, with the aid of the Ottoman Empire, they ended Spanish control by the mid-16th cent. Algeria then came under Ottoman rule.

The country was at first governed by officials sent from Constantinople, but in 1671 the dey (ruler) of Algiers, chosen by local civilian, military, and pirate leaders to govern for life and virtually independent of the Ottoman Empire, became head of Algeria. The country was divided into three provinces (Constantine, Titteri, and Mascara), each governed by a bey. The power of the Ottomans, and later of the deys, did not extend much beyond the Tell Atlas. The coast was a stronghold of pirates (see Barbary States) who preyed on Mediterranean shipping. Privateering reached a high point in the 16th and 17th cent. and declined thereafter; there was a temporary increase during the Napoleonic Wars (early 19th cent.). A large percentage of the dey's revenues came from pirates. Considerable trade with Europe also was conducted from Algerian ports; the chief exports were wheat, fruit, and woven goods. The country was in addition a center of the slave trade, most of the slaves being persons captured by pirates.

Algeria in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

In an effort to discourage privateering from Algerian ports, a British fleet bombarded Algiers in 1816. By this time the dey's power was greatly circumscribed by the three beys and by independent-minded Berber groups, and he effectively controlled only a small part of the coastal region. In the 1820s a minor dispute with the French resulted in Charles X of France imposing a naval blockade of Algeria and then, in June, 1830, invading the country. The dey capitulated in July, 1830, but most of the country resisted.

In 1834 the French renewed their drive to occupy Algeria and in 1837 they took Constantine, the last major city to retain its independence. However, the Berber leader Abd al-Kader, whose power was centered in the hinterland of Oran, held out against the French until 1847, when Gen. T. R. Bugeaud de la Piconnerie led a major military campaign against him. Colonization by Europeans (half of whom were French and the rest mainly Spanish, Italian, and Maltese) began c.1840 and accelerated after 1848, when Algeria was declared French territory. By 1880 persons of European descent numbered about 375,000, and they controlled most of the better farmland. However, France continued to face isolated (but occasionally fierce) resistance, mainly in Kabylia (see Kabyles) and the Sahara region, until 1910.

In 1900 the country was given administrative and financial autonomy and placed under a governor-general, whose advisers were mainly European. By this time the colonists had started large-scale agricultural and industrial enterprises (introducing, among other things, wine and tobacco production) and had built roads, railroads, schools, and hospitals. The cities in particular were modernized. These improvements were intended for the Europeans' own use, and the Muslims benefited little from them, being left with scant political or economic power and with few legal rights. Although the official French policy in Algeria was to encourage the Muslims to adapt to European ways as preparation for full citizenship, very little was done to implement this policy, and there was virtually no mixing between the European and Muslim populations.

After World War I two types of protest groups were started by the Muslims. One movement called for a fully independent, Muslim-controlled Algeria; an early exponent was Messali Hadj, who in 1924 founded the Star of North Africa movement (later called, successively, the Party of the Algerian People and the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties, or MTLD). The other faction sought assimilation with France and the equality of Muslims and Europeans in Algeria; its chief exponent was Ferhat Abbas, who, however, after several rebuffs by the French, was calling for Algerian autonomy by the mid-1940s and advocated complete independence by the early 1950s.

In World War II, Algeria at first came under the Vichy regime but later became (1942) Allied headquarters in North Africa; it also served for a time as the seat of Charles de Gaulle's Free French government. In 1945, a spontaneous nationalist uprising in Sétif resulted in the killing of more than 100 Europeans; the French responded by a sweeping crackdown during which at least 1,500 Muslims (estimates have run as high as 45,000) were killed. In 1947 the French national assembly passed the Statute of Algeria, under which the Muslims were to be given some additional political power. Most of the statute's provisions were not implemented, however, and the colonists (in partnership with the French government) continued to control Algerian affairs.

A radical group of Muslims seceded in 1954 from Messali's MTLD, formed the National Liberation Front (FLN; its military arm was called the National Liberation Army or ALN), and attacked police posts and other government offices in the Batna-Constantine region. In the following months the revolt gradually spread to other parts of the country. The MTLD was reorganized into the Algerian Nationalist Movement, which, led by Messali, unsuccessfully competed with—and at times fought against—the FLN.

In 1955, the FLN carried out more extensive attacks on the colonists (especially in the Skikda area), and the French responded with severe reprisals. By 1956 the FLN had the support of virtually all Algerian nationalists except Messali, controlled much of the countryside, and was organizing frequent attacks in the cities (especially Algiers). In 1957 the French successfully put down the resistance, and the FLN was forced to concentrate on guerrilla activities in the rural areas; the French also constructed electrified barriers along Algeria's borders with Morocco and Tunisia in order to reduce the infiltration of men and matériel. By this time, about 500,000 French troops were stationed in Algeria.

In 1958 there were demonstrations in Algeria by colonists and elements of the French army who feared that the government in France might negotiate a settlement with the Muslims that would undermine the Europeans' position; an ensuing political crisis in France resulted in the return to power of de Gaulle and the establishment of the Fifth French Republic. Fighting continued, and in 1959 the FLN established at Tunis the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA), with Ferhat Abbas as prime minister.

By 1960, de Gaulle had come to recognize the inevitability of some form of Algerian independence; the main problem concerned the future status of the almost one million European colonists, many of whom had been born in Algeria. Sensing the direction of French policy, the colonists and army (both of whom aimed for the full integration of Algeria with France) staged major protests in 1960 and 1961, but both were put down by de Gaulle. In mid-1961, Ferhat Abbas resigned as prime minister of the GPRA and was replaced by Ben Yusuf Ben Khedda. Shortly thereafter, negotiations with the French government began, and in Mar., 1962, an agreement was signed. The accord provided for an end to the fighting and for Algerian independence after a transition period.

The people of France overwhelmingly approved the agreement in a referendum held in early Apr., 1962, but members of the French army in Algeria, banded together in the Secret Army Organization (OAS), launched an armed campaign against Muslims in an attempt to prevent the implementation of the accord. In late April, however, their leader, Gen. Raoul Salan, was captured, and by late June the army revolt had been ended. Already in April colonists had begun to leave Algeria in large numbers; by October only about 250,000 remained, and most of them soon left as well. As a result of the more than seven years' fighting at least 100,000 Muslim and 10,000 French soldiers had been killed; in addition, many thousands of Muslim civilians and a much smaller number of colonists lost their lives.

Algeria after Independence

On July 1, 1962, the people of Algeria voted almost unanimously for independence in a referendum, and on July 3, France recognized Algeria's sovereignty. As a result of the fighting and of the exodus of colonists, the Algerian economy lay in ruins. Ben Khedda, the moderate leader of the GPRA, formed the initial Algerian government, but in Sept., 1962, he was replaced as prime minister by Ahmed Ben Bella, a leftist radical who had the support of the ALN (led by Houari Boumedienne). A constituent assembly chosen in late 1962 established a strong presidential government, and in Sept., 1963, Ben Bella was elected president. Ben Bella, who increasingly concentrated power in his hands, followed a left-wing domestic policy that included the confiscation of European-held farms and the nationalization of various parts of the economy. From 1963 to 1965 the Socialist Forces Front, a Berber group that had fought against French rule, mounted a rebellion against the new Arab-dominated Algerian government.

In 1965, Ben Bella was deposed in a bloodless coup by Boumedienne, his defense minister, who suspended the constitution and established a ruling revolutionary council, of which he became president. At first Boumedienne faced resistance from students and regional groups, but by the end of 1968 he had a secure hold on power. Algeria gave strong vocal support to the Arabs in the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973 and also contributed soldiers and matériel. After an initial slowdown Boumedienne increased the pace of state involvement in the economy. In 1971 he nationalized (with compensation) French oil and natural gas companies in Algeria, and by 1972 output had reached record levels. Price rises for petroleum and natural gas in 1973–74 resulted in considerably higher export earnings.

Boumedienne died in 1978 and was succeeded as head of the republic by FLN leader Colonel Chadli Bendjedid. Berbers rioted in 1980 over legislation making Arabic the only official language, and in the same year a massive earthquake struck NW Algeria, killing an estimated 4,500 people. The 1986 collapse of world oil prices plunged the country into a severe recession. Riots in 1988 led to a series of constitutional reforms in 1989 that legalized opposition parties and guaranteed workers the right to strike; at the same time, government control was established over the media.

Civil unrest resulting from a rise in Islamic fundamentalism led to the postponement of national elections set for June, 1991. When first-round elections were held in December, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) took a commanding lead and was poised to win power. But in early 1992, Bendjedid resigned under pressure, and the military canceled the second round of elections. FIS activists were arrested and jailed, and their party banned. Islamic militants responded with a campaign of violence. An interim military council took power, with former independence leader Mohammed Boudiaf as president; he was assassinated in June, 1992, and succeeded by Ali Kalfa.

In Jan., 1994, Gen. Liamine Zéroual was appointed president. Under Zéroual, limited efforts at negotiations with the Islamic opposition were followed by a renewed crackdown. Zéroual won the Nov., 1995, presidential elections, which were boycotted by Islamic militants. Fighting continued, and he resigned early in 1999. Presidential elections held in Apr., 1999, were won by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the candidate of the military oligarchy; all the opposition candidates had withdrawn before the vote, claiming ballot-rigging.

The Islamic Salvation Army, the armed wing of the outlawed FIS, renounced its armed struggle in June, 1999; its members were to be granted amnesty (approved in a referendum in September) and invited to join government forces in fighting other radical guerrillas still waging war against the state. In Jan., 2000, President Bouteflika granted a blanket pardon to the Islamic Salvation Army forces, and the government announced that 80% of all the Islamic guerrillas had surrendered under the amnesty. Violence has diminished since then, but attacks do continue to occur. It is estimated that as many as 150,000 people were killed in the violence and repression that began in 1992.

The easing of the fighting has brought such issues as government corruption and widespread poverty and unemployment (estimated at 30%) to the fore. In addition, in 2001 there were large demonstrations and clashes with police by Berbers, who remained deeply unhappy about Arabic's status as the sole national language, a policy that was reversed the following year. Berber protests also sparked demonstrations against the country's stagnant economy by non-Berber Algerians. Parliamentary elections in May, 2002, were boycotted by a number of major opposition parties and many voters, and the FLN won more than half the seats.

French president Jacques Chirac made a state visit to Algeria in Mar., 2003; it was the first such visit since Algerian independence. Two months later a strong earthquake devastated many towns east of the capital, killing more than 2,200 people. The ineffective official response to the disaster led to public outrage and widespread criticism of the government. Late in 2003, tensions between the president and Ali Benflis, the FLN party leader and a former prime minister, led to a split in the government and within the party. Bouteflika was returned to office in Apr., 2004, in an election that observers called Algeria's fairest to date, but the vote for Bouteflika (83%) led Benflis, his main opponent, to accuse the government of massive fraud.

In 2005 the government reached an agreement with Berber leaders that promised economic aid and greater recognition of the Berber language and culture, but many of the details were not finalized. Voters approved a government national reconciliation plan that would provide amnesty for many Islamic insurgents and government security forces and compensate the families of persons killed in the insurgency. The plan, which was criticized by human-rights groups for absolving government forces of their involvement in extrajudicial killings, came into effect in 2006. At the same time, Algeria's remaining Islamic fundamentalist guerrillas, while largely confined to more remote mountain and desert regions, have continued to mount attacks against the government and have sought to expand their influence through training non-Algerian Islamists and recruiting fighters for non-Algerian conflicts from among Muslims in Europe and elsewhere outside Algeria. The main fundamentalist guerrilla group also officially aligned itself with Al Qaeda.

The May, 2007, parliamentary elections were won by the FLN-led governing coalition, whose three parties secured nearly two thirds of the seats. Turnout was light, however, with a little more than a third of the voters going to the polls, and some parties boycotted or were banned from the campaign.

Bibliography

See H. D. Nelson, ed., Algeria (4th ed. 1983); M. Bennoune, The Making of Contemporary Algeria, 1830–1987 (1988); F. Fanon, Wretched of the Earth (tr. 1988); J. Ruedy, Modern Algeria (1991); A. Horne, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962 (1977, repr. 2006).

 
Geography: Algeria

Republic in northwest Africa, bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, to the east by Tunisia and Libya, to the south by Niger and Mali, and to the west by Mauritania and Morocco. Its capital and largest city is Algiers.

  • Colonized by France in the nineteenth century, Algeria was involved in a long and bloody battle for independence, gaining full autonomy in the early 1960s.

 
Dialing Code: Algeria
Algeria

The international dialing code for Algeria is:   213


 
Maps: Algeria

 
Local Time: Algeria

Local Time: Jul 21, 2:21 AM

 
Currency: Algeria
Algerian Dinar


 
Statistics: Algeria
Click to enlarge

Introduction

Background:After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 and which resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces and conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide reelection victory. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA in his second term, including the ethnic minority Berbers' ongoing autonomy campaign, large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing - although significantly degraded - activities of extremist militants. Algeria must also diversify its petroleum-based economy, which has yielded a large cash reserve but which has not been used to redress Algeria's many social and infrastructure problems.

Geography

Location:Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
Geographic coordinates:28 00 N, 3 00 E
Map references:Africa
Area:total: 2,381,740 sq km
land: 2,381,740 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
Land boundaries:total: 6,343 km
border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km
Coastline:998 km
Maritime claims:territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm
Climate:arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer
Terrain:mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Elevation extremes:lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point: Tahat 3,003 m
Natural resources:petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc
Land use:arable land: 3.17%
permanent crops: 0.28%
other: 96.55% (2005)
Irrigated land:5,690 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season
Environment - current issues:soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment - international agreements:party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)

People

Population:33,333,216 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:0-14 years: 27.2% (male 4,627,479/female 4,447,468)
15-64 years: 67.9% (male 11,413,121/female 11,235,096)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 752,058/female 857,994) (2007 est.)
Median age:total: 25.5 years
male: 25.2 years
female: 25.7 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:1.216% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:17.11 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:4.62 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:-0.33 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.016 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female
total population: 1.015 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:total: 28.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.45 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 24.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:total population: 73.52 years
male: 71.91 years
female: 75.21 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:1.86 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:0.1%; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:9,100 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:less than 500 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a high risk in some locations (2007)
Nationality:noun: Algerian(s)
adjective: Algerian
Ethnic groups:Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%
note: almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab; the minority who identify themselves as Berber live mostly in the mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algiers; the Berbers are also Muslim but identify with their Berber rather than Arab cultural heritage; Berbers have long agitated, sometimes violently, for autonomy; the government is unlikely to grant autonomy but has offered to begin sponsoring teaching Berber language in schools
Religions:Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Languages:Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
Literacy:definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 69.9%
male: 79.6%
female: 60.1% (2002 est.)

Government

Country name:conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
conventional short form: Algeria
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah
local short form: Al Jaza'ir
Government type:republic
Capital:name: Algiers
geographic coordinates: 36 45 N, 3 03 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:48 provinces (wilayat, singular - wilaya); Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain Temouchent, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef, Constantine, Djelfa, El Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem, M'Sila, Naama, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanghasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen
Independence:5 July 1962 (from France)
National holiday:Revolution Day, 1 November (1954)
Constitution:8 September 1963; revised 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988, 23 February 1989, and 28 November 1996
Legal system:socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:chief of state: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Abdelaziz BELKHADEM
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 8 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA reelected president for second term; percent of vote - Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA 85%, Ali BENFLIS 6.4%, Abdellah DJABALLAH 5%
Legislative branch:bicameral Parliament consists of the National People's Assembly or Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani (389 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the Council of Nations (Senate) (144 seats; one-third of the members appointed by the president, two-thirds elected by indirect vote; to serve six-year terms; the constitution requires half the council to be renewed every three years)
elections: National People's Assembly - last held 17 May 2007 (next to be held in 2012); Council of Nations (Senate) - last held 28 December 2006 (next to be held in 2009)
election results: National People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - FLN 23%, RND 10.3%, MSP 9.6%, PT 5.1%, RCD 3.4%, FNA 4.2%, other 34.6%, independents 9.8%; seats by party - FLN 136, RND 61, MSP 52, PT 26, RCD 19, FNA 13, other 49, independents 33; Council of Nations - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FLN 29, RND 12, MSP 3, RCD 1, independents 3, presidential appointees (unknown affiliation) 24; note - Council seating reflects the number of replaced council members rather than the whole Council
Judicial branch:Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:Ahd 54 [Ali Fauzi REBAINE]; Algerian National Front or FNA [Moussa TOUATI]; National Democratic Rally (Rassemblement National Democratique) or RND [Ahmed OUYAHIA]; Islamic Salvation Front or FIS (outlawed April 1992) [Ali BELHADJ, Dr. Abassi MADANI, Rabeh KEBIR]; National Entente Movement or MEN [Ali BOUKHAZNA]; National Liberation Front or FLN [Abdelaziz BELKHADEM, secretary general]; National Reform Movement or Islah (formerly MRN) [Abdellah DJABALLAH]; National Renewal Party or PRA [Mohamed BENSMAIL]; Rally for Culture and Democracy or RCD [Said SADI]; Renaissance Movement or EnNahda Movement [Fatah RABEI]; Socialist Forces Front or FFS [Hocine Ait AHMED]; Social Liberal Party or PSL [Ahmed KHELIL]; Society of Peace Movement or MSP [Boudjerra SOLTANI]; Workers Party or PT [Louisa HANOUNE]
note: a law banning political parties based on religion was enacted in March 1997
Political pressure groups and leaders:The Algerian Human Rights League or LADDH [Hocine ZEHOUANE]; SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR]; Somoud [Ali MERABET]
International organization participation:ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BIS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, OPEC, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US:chief of mission: Ambassador Amine KHERBI
chancery: 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 265-2800
FAX: [1] (202) 667-2174
Diplomatic representation from the US:chief of mission: Ambassador Robert S. FORD
embassy: 04 Chemin Cheikh Bachir Ibrahimi El-Biar 16030, Algiers
mailing address: B. P. 408, Alger-Gare, 16030 Algiers
telephone: [213] (021) 69-12-55
FAX: [213] (021) 69-39-79
Flag description:two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white; a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two-color boundary; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)

Economy

Economy - overview:The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the fourth-largest gas exporter; it ranks 18th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent years, along with macroeconomic policy reforms supported by the IMF, have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic indicators. Algeria is running substantial trade surpluses and building up record foreign exchange reserves. Algeria has decreased its external debt to less than 10% of GDP after repaying its Paris Club and London Club debt in 2006. Real GDP has risen due to higher oil output and increased government spending. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards. Structural reform within the economy, such as development of the banking sector and the construction of infrastructure, moves ahead slowly hampered by corruption and bureaucratic resistance.
GDP (purchasing power parity):$249.8 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):$89.91 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:2.9% (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:agriculture: 8.4%
industry: 60.6%
services: 31% (2006 est.)
Labor force:9.31 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:agriculture 14%, industry 13.4%, construction and public works 10%, trade 14.6%, government 32%, other 16% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate:15.7% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line:25% (2005 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:35.3 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):2.6% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):22.2% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget:revenues: $49.91 billion
expenditures: $33.49 billion (2006 est.)
Public debt:12.8% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products:wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle
Industries:petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing
Industrial production growth rate:10% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production:31.91 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Electricity - consumption:27.52 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Electricity - exports:275 million kWh (2005 est.)
Electricity - imports:359 million kWh (2005 est.)
Oil - production:1.373 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:233,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports:1.724 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports:12,390 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:14.56 billion bbl (1 January 2006)
Current account balance:$29.04 billion (2006 est.)
Exports:$53.79 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities:petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%
Exports - partners:US 27.3%, Italy 17.1%, Spain 9.4%, France 8.8%, Canada 8.2%, Belgium 4.3% (2006)
Imports:$21.24 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities:capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Imports - partners:France 22.1%, Italy 8.6%, China 8.6%, Germany 5.9%, Spain 5.6%, US 4.8%, Turkey 4.5% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:$78.21 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external:$4.413 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:$370.6 million (2005 est.)
Currency (code):Algerian dinar (DZD)
Exchange rates:Algerian dinars per US dollar - 72.647 (2006), 73.276 (2005), 72.061 (2004), 77.395 (2003), 79.682 (2002)
Fiscal year:calendar year

Transportation

Airports:150 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:total: 52
over 3,047 m: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 27
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:total: 98
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 26
914 to 1,523 m: 44
under 914 m: 25 (2007)
Heliports:2 (2007)
Pipelines:condensate 1,344 km; gas 85,946 km; liquid petroleum gas 2,213 km; oil 6,496 km (2005)
Railways:total: 3,973 km
standard gauge: 2,888 km 1.435-m gauge (283 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 1,085 km 1.055-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:total: 108,302 km
paved: 76,028 km
unpaved: 32,274 km (2004)
Merchant marine:total: 35 ships (1000 GRT or over) 694,686 GRT/707,251 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 8, chemical tanker 2, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 4, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 12 (UK 12) (2007)
Ports and terminals:Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Djendjene, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda

Military

Military branches:National Popular Army (ANP; includes Land Forces), Algerian National Navy (MRA), Air Force (QJJ), Territorial Air Defense Force (2005)
Military service age and obligation:19-30 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (6 months basic training, 12 months civil projects) (2006)
Manpower available for military service:males age 19-49: 8,033,049
females age 19-49: 7,926,351 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:males age 19-49: 6,590,079
females age 19-49: 6,711,285 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:males age 18-49: 374,639
females age 19-49: 369,021 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:3.3% (2006)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:Algeria supports the Polisario Front exiled in Algeria and who represent the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; Algeria rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; most of the approximately 90,000 Western Saharan Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco
Refugees and internally displaced persons:refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf)
IDPs: 400,000-600,000 (conflict between government forces, Islamic insurgents) (2006)
Trafficking in persons:current situation: Algeria is a transit and destination country for men, women, and children from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; many victims willingly migrate to Algeria en route to European countries with the help of smugglers, where they are often forced into prostitution, labor, and begging to pay off their smuggling debt; some Algerian children are reportedly trafficked within the country for domestic servitude
tier rating: Tier 3 - Algeria does not adequately identify trafficking victims among illegal immigrants; the government did not take serious law enforcement actions to punish traffickers who force women into commercial sexual exploitation or men into involuntary servitude; the government reported no investigations of trafficking of children for domestic servitude or improvements in protection services for victims of trafficking

 
Local Cuisine: Algeria

Recipes

Saffron and Raisin Couscous with Fresh Mint
Fresh Sweet Dates
Etzai (Mint Tea)
Sahlab
Banadura Salata B'Kizbara (Salad)
Sweet Couscous Dessert
Stuffed Dates and Walnuts
Algerian Cooked Carrot Salad
Chlada Fakya (Fresh Fruit Medley)
Cucumber & Yogurt Soup

Geographic Setting and Environment

Algeria is located in North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea. The fertile and mountainous northern region is home to the olive tree, cork oak, and vast evergreen forests where boars and jackals roam. Fig, agave, and various palm trees grow in the warmer areas. The grape vine is native to the coastal plain. Central Algeria consists of the High Plateaus that contain salt marshes and dry or shallow salt lakes. The land becomes more arid (dry) the farther south one travels, eventually becoming the Sahara Desert. Roughly 80 percent of the country is desert, where vegetation is sparse. Camels are widely used in this arid region, although jackals, rabbits, scorpions, and snakes also occupy the deserts.

The coastal region has a typical Mediterranean climate—pleasant nearly year round, with winter temperatures rarely falling below freezing (32°F). Rainfall is also abundant along the coast. Farther inland, higher altitudes receive considerable frost and occasional snow. Little or no rainfall occurs throughout the summer months in this region. In the Sahara Desert, rainfall is unpredictable and unevenly distributed.

History and Food

Algerian cuisine traces its roots to various countries and ancient cultures that once ruled, visited, or traded with the country. Berber tribesmen were one of the country's earliest inhabitants. Their arrival, which may extend as far back as 30,000 B.C., marked the beginning of wheat cultivation, smen (aged, cooked butter), and fruit consumption, such as dates. The introduction of semolina wheat by the Carthaginians (who occupied much of northern Africa) led the Berbers to first create couscous, Algeria's national dish. The Romans, who eventually took over Algeria, also grew various grains. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Algeria ranked among the top ten importers of grain (such as wheat and barley) in the world, according to ArabicNews.com.

Muslim Arabs invaded Algeria in the 600s, bringing exotic spices such as saffron, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon from the Spice Islands of eastern Indonesia. They also introduced the Islamic religion to the Berbers. Islam continues to influence almost every aspect of an Algerian's life, including the diet.

Olives (and olive oil) and fruits such as oranges, plums, and peaches were brought across the Mediterranean from Spain during an invasion in the 1500s. Sweet pastries from the Turkish Ottomans and tea from European traders also made their way into Algerian cuisine around this time.

In the early 1800s, Algerians were driven off their own lands and forced to surrender their crops and farmland to the French. The French introduced their diet and culture to the Algerians, including their well-known loaves of bread and the establishment of sidewalk cafés. This French legacy remains evident in Algerian culture. In fact, Algeria's second language is French. (Arabic is the official language.)

Tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, and chilies, significant to Algerian local cuisine, were brought over from the New World.

See Saffron and Raisin Couscous with Fresh Mint recipe.

See Fresh Sweet Dates recipe.

Foods of the Algerians

Traditional Algerian cuisine, a colorful combination of Berber, Turkish, French, and Arab tastes, can be either extremely mild or packed with flavorful seasonings. Ginger, saffron, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, parsley, and mint are essential in any Algerian pantry.

Couscous, the national dish, is often mistaken as a grain itself, rather than pasta. The pasta dough is a mixture of water and coarse, grainy semolina wheat particles. The dough is then crumbled through a sieve to create tiny pellets. Algerians prefer lamb, chicken, or fish to be placed on a bed of warm couscous, along with cooked vegetables such as carrots, chickpeas, and tomatoes, and spicy stews. Couscous can also be used in desserts by adding a variety of ingredients, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, dates, and figs.

No Algerian meal would be complete without bread, normally a long, French loaf. Similar to Middle Eastern customs, bread is often used to scoop food off of a plate or to soak up a spicy sauce or stew. More traditional Berber families usually eat flat, wheat bread.

Mechoui, a roasted whole lamb cooked on an outdoor spit, is usually prepared when a large group of people gathers together. The animal is seasoned with herb butter so the skin is crispy and the meat inside is tender and juicy. Bread and various dried fruits and vegetables, including dates (whose trees can thrive in the country's Sahara desert), often accompany mechoui.

Beverages such as mint tea are a favorite among all North African countries. Tea is usually offered to visiting guests, though coffee flavored with cardamom is another option. With the abundance of fruits year round, fresh juices are plentiful and children tend to favor apricot nectar. Sharbats, fruit or nut-flavored milk drinks, are popular with all ages, including sahlab, a sweet, milky drink. Traditional Berbers, in particular, prefer drinks made from goat milk, although cow milk is now available. Basbousa (Egyptian semolina cake), tamina (roasted semolina with butter and honey), and sweetened couscous are just a few sweets enjoyed by the Algerians.

See Etzai (Mint Tea) recipe.

See Sahlab recipe.

See Banadura Salata B'Kizbara (Tomato and Coriander Salad) recipe.

See Sweet Couscous Dessert recipe.

Food for Religious and Holiday Celebrations

The overwhelming majority of Algerians, about 99 percent, follow the beliefs of Islam, the country's official religion (Christians and Jews make up only 1 percent of the population).

The Algerian observance of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year (most often November or December), is the most celebrated of all holidays. During the monthlong observance, Muslims are required to fast (avoid consuming food and drink) between sunrise and sunset, although young, growing children and pregnant women may be allowed to eat a small amount. At the end of each day during Ramadan, sometimes as late as midnight, families join together for a feast. French loaves or wheat bread and a pot of hot mint tea will likely serve as refreshments.

The meal marking the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, is the most important feast. It almost always begins with soup or stew. Lamb or beef is most often served as the main dish, although families living close to the Mediterranean in northern Algeria enjoy a variety of seafood. In most Algerian homes, a bowl of fresh fruit is placed on the table at the end of the meal. Traditionally, each person is responsible for peeling and slicing his or her own fruit. However, on special occasions such as Eid al-Fitr, the host will often serve the fruit already peeled, sliced, and flavored (most often with cinnamon and various citrus juices).

Other popular holiday celebrations are Labor Day (May 1), and the anniversary of the revolution over French control (November 1). Two local festivals that are celebrated every spring are the cherry moussem (festival) in Tlemcen and the tomato moussem in Adrar.

See Stuffed Dates and Walnuts recipe.

See Algerian Cooked Carrot Salad recipe.

See Chlada Fakya (Fresh Fruit Medley) recipe.

See Cucumber & Yogurt Soup recipe.

Mealtime Customs

Arabs are hospitable and encourage family and friends to share their food. Even an unexpected visitor will be greeted warmly and offered coffee (often flavored with cardamom), while the females of the household prepare the meal. Cooking continues to be considered a woman's duty, as it has in the past. Historically, recipes and cooking customs have been passed down through generations by word of mouth when women gather together to prepare meals.

All meals (normally three a day) are leisurely and sociable, although there are varying degrees of structure and etiquette (polite behavior). Seated at a low table (tbla or mida), food is traditionally eaten with the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger of the right hand (the left hand is considered unclean). To use four or five fingers is considered to be a sign of over-eating and should be avoided. The dining atmosphere in a middle class family may be a bit more elegant. A servant or young family member might visit each individual at the table, offering a bowl of perfumed water to diners for washing their hands before the meal is eaten.

The country's capital, Algiers, and popular coastal towns tend to have a wide variety of restaurants, particularly French, Italian, and Middle Eastern cuisine. Southern Algeria is less populated, and is farther from Algiers and the Mediterranean waters, where seafood and the hustle and bustle of trade are plentiful. Menus usually begin with either a soup or salad, followed by roast meat (usually lamb or beef) or fish as a main course, with fresh fruit commonly completing the meal. In the towns, souks (markets) or street stalls offer take-home products, such as spicy brochettes (kebabs) on French bread for those on the run. With the exception of an occasional fast food burger, school lunches are often such traditional foods as couscous, dried fruit, stews, and sweet fruit drinks.

Politics, Economics, and Nutrition

Malnutrition has been one of the principal health problems in Algeria in recent years. About 5 percent of the population of Algeria is classified as undernourished by the World Bank. This means they do not receive adequate nutrition in their diet. Of children under the age of five, about 13 percent are underweight, and nearly 18 percent are stunted (short for their age). Very little land in Algeria is cultivated (only 3 percent), too little for the country to be self-sufficient and feed its own people.

However, 91 percent of the population has access to adequate sanitation: nearly 100 percent of those in urban areas and 80 percent in rural areas. Free medical care, which was introduced by the Algerian government in 1974 under the Social Security system, helps pay for those who are ill.

Further Study

Books

Brennan, Georgeanne. The Mediterranean Herb Cookbook. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2000.

Mackley, Lesley. The Book of North African Cooking. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1998.

Walden, Hilaire. North African Cooking. Edison, New Jersey: Quintet Publishing Limited, 1995.

Webb, Lois Sinaiko. Holidays of the World Cookbook for Students. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1995.

Web Sites

ArabicNews.com. [Online] Available http://www.arabicnews.com/ (accessed March 6, 2001).

CookingLight.com. [Online] Available http://www.cooking-light.com/ (accessed March 8, 2001).

Films

Samia, by Philippe Faucon. (Official selection at the 2000 Venice Film Festival) Samia is a teenage girl of Algerian descent living in Marseille (southern France) with her family. At home, Samia and her two sisters live in an Algerian culture. They speak the language, eat Algerian food, and observe the customs of their Muslim religion. But, as youngsters, they are torn; despite their parents' objections, they want to fit in with the rest of society. To be a young girl in this environment is even more difficult because her family's traditions have society believing that she has no independence. As she begins to spread her wings, the quick-witted and attractive Samia soon finds herself in conflict with her family. (In French and Arabic with English subtitles.)


 
Wine Lover's Companion: Algeria

[al-JEER-ee-uh] Algeria, along with its neighbors tunisia and morocco, was once a significant wine producer. During the time it was a colony of France, Algeria produced good-quality wines. Because Algeria's Muslim-dominated population drank little alcohol, most of its wine was exported to France, either in bottles or in bulk to be blended with French wine. Since Algeria's independence in 1962, when most of the French left, wine quality has dropped, exports have dwindled, and production has diminished. The 900,000 acres of vineyard land has been reduced to less than 40,000 acres, and wine production has been reduced to less than 1 percent of the pre-1962 levels. The French established a VDQS system with twelve regions, which exists to some extent today. The current demarcated areas are Aïn Bessem-Bouria, Coteaux du Zaccar, Médéa, Monts du Tessalah, Coteaux de Tlemcen, Coteaux du Mascara, Oued-Imbert, Mostaganem, Mostaganem-Kenenda, and Haut-Dahra. Although these areas have a climate like that of southern Italy, this Moslem-dominated country has not shown the desire to move forward with modernizing its wine industry. The grape varieties grown in Algeria include alicante bouschet, carignan cinsaut, clairette, grenache, mourvèdre, syrah Ugni Blanc (trebbiano), and, occasionally, cabernet sauvignon.

 
National Anthem: National Anthem of: Algeria

Original French Words

Par les foudres qui anéantissent,
Par les flots de sang pur et sans tache,
Par les drapeaux flottants qui flottent
Sur les hauts djebel orgueilleux et fiers,
Nous juron nous être révoltés pour vivre ou pour mourir,
Et nous avons juré de mourir pour que vive l'Algérie!
Témoignez! Témoignez! Témoignez!

Nous sommes des soldats pour la justice, révoltés,
Et pour notre indépendance nous avons engagé le combat,
Nous n'avon obéi à nulle injonction en nous soulevant.
Le bruit de la poudre a été notre mesure
Et le crépitement des mitrailleuse notre chant favori.
Et nous avons juré de mourir pour que vive l'Algérie!
Témoignez! Témoignez! Témoignez!

Sur nos