Algeria (
Arabic:
الجزائر,
Al Jaza'ir IPA:
[ɛlʤɛˈzɛːʔir],
Berber: ,
Dzayer [ldzæjər]), officially the
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is the second largest country on the
African continent.
[1] It is bordered by
Tunisia in the northeast,
Libya in the east,
Niger in the southeast,
Mali and
Mauritania in the southwest, and
Morocco as well as a few kilometers of the
Western Sahara in the west.
Algeria is a member of the
United Nations,
African Union,
Arab League and
Opec. It also contributed towards the creation of the
Arab Maghreb Union.
Constitutionally, Algeria is defined as an
Islamic,
Arab, and
Amazigh (Berber) country
[2].
Etymology
The name Algeria is derived from the name of the city of
Algiers (French
Alger), from the
Arabic word
al-jazā’ir, which translates as
the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525.
Al-jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name
jazā’ir banī mazghannā, "the jazeera of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and
Yaqut al-Hamawi.
History
Ancient history
,_Algeria_04966r.jpg)

Roman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria
Algeria has been inhabited by
Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least
10,000 BC. After 1000 BC, the
Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the
Punic Wars to become independent of
Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably
Numidia. In 200 BC, however, they were once again taken over, this time by the
Roman Republic. When the Western
Roman Empire collapsed, Berbers became independent again in many areas, while the
Vandals took control over other parts, where they remained until expelled by the generals of the
Byzantine Emperor,
Justinian I. The
Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the
Arabs in the eighth century.
Islamization and Berber dynasties
After some decades of fierce resistance under leaders such as
Kusayla and
Kahina, the Berbers adopted
Islam en masse, but almost immediately expelled the Banu Musa
caliphate from Algeria, establishing an
Ibadi state under the
Rustamids. Having converted the
Kutama of
Kabylie to its cause, the
Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt. They left Algeria and Tunisia to their
Zirid vassals; when the latter rebelled and adopted
Sunnism, they sent in a populous
Arab tribe, the
Banu Hilal to weaken, initiating the
Arabization of the countryside. The
Almoravids and
Almohads, Berber dynasties from the west founded by religious reformers, brought a period of relative peace and development; however, with the Almohads' collapse, Algeria became a battleground for their three
successor states, the Algerian
Zayyanids, Tunisian
Hafsids, and Moroccan
Marinids. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the
Spanish Empire started attacking and subsuming many coastal
bobs.
Ottoman rule
Algeria was brought into the
Ottoman Empire by
Khair ad-Din and his brother
Aruj in
1517, and they established Algeria's modern boundaries in the north and made its coast a base for the
corsairs; their privateering peaked in
Algiers in the 1600s. Piracy on American vessels in the Mediterranean resulted in the
First (1801–1805) and
Second Barbary War (1815) with the
United States. Those piracy acts forced people captured on the boats into
slavery; alternatively when the
pirates attacked coastal villages in southern and western Europe the inhabitants were forced into
slavery.
[3]
Raids by
Barbary pirates on Western Europe did not cease until 1816, when a
Royal Navy raid, assisted by six Dutch vessels, destroyed the port of
Algiers and its fleet of
Barbary ships.
Spanish occupation of Algerian ports at this time was a source of concern for the local inhabitants.
French colonization


Constantine, Algeria 1840
On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the
French invaded
Algiers in 1830.
[4] In contrast to
Morocco and
Tunisia, the conquest of Algeria by the
French was long and particularly violent since it resulted in the disappearance of about a third of the Algerian population.
[5] According to
Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, the
French pursued a policy of extermination against the Algerians.
The
French conquest of Algeria was slow due to intense resistance from such as
Emir Abdelkader,
Ahmed Bey and
Fatma N'Soumer. Indeed the conquest was not technically complete until the early 1900s when the last
Tuareg were conquered.
Meanwhile, however, the French made Algeria an integral part of France, a status that would end only with the collapse of the
Fourth Republic in
1958. Tens of thousands of settlers from
France,
Italy,
Spain, and
Malta moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupy significant parts of Algeria's cities. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communally held land, and the application of modern agriculture techniques that increased the amount of arable land.
[6] Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted,
[7] while land confiscation uprooted much of the population.
Starting from the end of the nineteenth century, people of European descent in Algeria (or natives like
Spanish people in
Oran), as well as the native Algerian
Jews (typically
Sephardic in origin), became full French citizens. After Algeria's
1962 independence, they were called
Pieds-Noirs. In contrast, the vast majority of
Muslim Algerians (even veterans of the French army) received neither French citizenship nor the right to vote.
Post-independence
In 1954, the
National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the
Algerian War of Independence which was a
guerrilla campaign. By the end of the war, newly elected President
Charles de Gaulle, understanding that the age of empire was ending, held a plebiscite, offering Algerians three options, resulting in an overwhelming vote for complete independence from the French Colonial Empire. Over one million people, 10% of the population, then fled the country for
France in just a few months in mid-1962. These included most of the 1,025,000
Pieds-Noirs, as well as 81,000
Harkis (pro-French Algerians serving in the French Army).
[8]
As feared, there were widespread reprisals against those who remained in Algeria. It is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 and 150,000 Harkis and their dependents were killed by the
FLN or by lynch mobs in Algeria, sometimes in circumstances of extreme cruelty.
Algeria's first president was the FLN leader
Ahmed Ben Bella. He was overthrown by his former ally and defence minister,
Houari Boumédienne in 1965. Under Ben Bella the government had already become increasingly socialist and dictatorial, and this trend continued throughout Boumédienne's government. However, Boumédienne relied much more heavily on the army, and reduced the sole legal party to a merely symbolic role.
Agriculture was
collectivised, and a massive
industrialization drive launched.
Oil extraction facilities were nationalized. This was especially beneficial to the leadership after the
1973 oil crisis. However, the Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil which led to hardship when the price collapsed in the 1980s.
In foreign policy, Algeria was a member and leader of the
Non-Aligned Movement. A dispute with
Morocco over the
Western Sahara nearly led to war. While Algeria shares much of its history and cultural heritage with neighbouring Morocco, the two countries have had somewhat hostile relations with each other ever since Algeria's independence. This is for two reasons: Morocco's
disputed claim to portions of western Algeria (which led to the
Sand war in 1963), and Algeria's support for the
Polisario, an armed group of
Sahrawi refugees seeking
independence for the Moroccan-ruled
Western Sahara, which it hosts within its borders in the city of
Tindouf.
Within Algeria, dissent was rarely tolerated, and the state's control over the
media and the outlawing of political parties, other than the FLN, was cemented in the repressive
constitution of 1976.
Boumédienne died in 1978, but the rule of his successor,
Chadli Bendjedid, was little more open. The state took on a strongly
bureaucratic character and
corruption was widespread.
The modernization drive brought considerable
demographic changes to Algeria. Village traditions underwent significant change as
urbanization increased. New industries emerged,
agricultural employment was substantially reduced.
Education was extended nationwide, raising the
literacy rate from less than 10% to over 60%. There was a dramatic increase in the
fertility rate to 7-8 children per mother.
Therefore by 1980, there was a very youthful population and a
housing crisis. The new generation struggled to relate to the cultural obsession with the war years and two conflicting protest movements developed: left-wingers, including
Berber identity movements; and
Islamic 'intégristes'. Both groups protested against
one-party rule but also clashed with each other in
universities and on the streets during the 1980s. Mass protests from both camps in Autumn 1988 forced Bendjedid to concede the end of one-party rule. Elections were planned to happen in 1991.
In December 1991, the
Islamic Salvation Front won the
first round of the country's first multi-party elections. The military then intervened and cancelled the second round, forced then-president Bendjedid to resign, and banned all political parties based on religion (including the Islamic Salvation Front). The ensuing conflict engulfed Algeria in the violent
Algerian Civil War.
More than 160,000 people were killed between 17 January 1992 and June 2002. Most of the deaths were between militants and government troops, but a great number of civilians were also killed. The question of who was responsible for these deaths was controversial at the time amongst academic observers; many were claimed by the
Armed Islamic Group. There can be no doubt however that the vast majority of this massacres were carried out by the Islamic Terrorist rather than the security services, or security services infiltration of the terrorist groups (see
Algerian Civil War).
Elections resumed in 1995, and after 1998, the war waned. On 27 April 1999, after a series of short-term leaders representing the
military,
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the current president, was elected.
[9]
By 2002, the main guerrilla groups had either been destroyed or surrendered, taking advantage of an
amnesty program, though sporadic fighting continued in some areas.
The issue of
Berber language and identity increased in significance, particularly after the extensive
Kabyle protests of 2001 and the near-total boycott of local elections in
Kabylie. The government responded with concessions including naming of
Tamazight (Berber) as a national language and teaching it in schools.
Much of Algeria is now recovering and developing into an
emerging economy. The high prices of
oil and
gas are being used by the new government to improve the country's
infrastructure and especially improve
industry and
agricultural land. Recent overseas investment in Algeria has increased.
Geography


Topographic map of Algeria
Most of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and there are a few natural harbours. The area just south of the coast, known as the
Tell Atlas, is fertile. Further south is the
Atlas mountain range and the
Sahara desert. The Ahaggar Mountains (Arabic: جبال هقار), also known as the
Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, southern Algeria. They are located about 1,500 km (932 miles) south of the capital,
Algiers and just west of
Tamanghasset.
Algiers,
Oran and
Constantine are the main cities.
Climate and hydrology
Northern Algeria is in the
temperate zone and has a mild,
Mediterranean climate. It lies within approximately the same latitudes as southern
California and has somewhat similar climatic conditions. Its broken
topography, however, provides sharp local contrasts in both prevailing temperatures and incidence of rainfall. Year-to-year variations in climatic conditions are also common.
In the
Tell Atlas, temperatures in summer average between 21 and 24 °C and in winter drop to 10 to 12 °C. Winters are not particularly cold, but the humidity level is high. Houses seldom have access to adequate heating. In eastern Algeria, the average temperatures are somewhat lower, and on the
steppes of the High Plateaux, winter temperatures hover only a few degrees above freezing. A prominent feature of the climate in this region is the
sirocco, a dusty, choking south wind blowing off the desert, sometimes at gale force. This wind also occasionally reaches into the coastal
Tell.
[1]
In Algeria, only a relatively small corner of the Maddie
Sahara lies across the
Tropic of Cancer in the
torrid zone. In this region even in winter, midday desert temperatures can be very hot. After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat, and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.
Rainfall is fairly abundant along the coastal part of the
Tell Atlas, ranging from 400 to 670 mm annually, the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east.
Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria, where it reaches as much as 1000 mm in some years. Farther inland, the rainfall is less plentiful.
Prevailing winds that are easterly and north-easterly in summer change to westerly and northerly in winter and carry with them a general increase in precipitation from September through December, a decrease in the late winter and spring months, and a near absence of rainfall during the summer months. Algeria also has ergs, or sand dunes between mountains, which in the summer time when winds are heavy and gusty, tempatures can get up to 110 degrees F.
Politics
The head of state is the
President of the Republic, who is elected to a 5-year term, renewable once. Algeria has
universal suffrage at age 18.
[1] The President is the head of the Council of Ministers and of the High Security Council. He appoints the
Prime Minister who is also the head of government. The Prime Minister appoints the Council of Ministers.
The Algerian
parliament is
bicameral, consisting of a lower chamber, the
National People's Assembly (APN), with 380 members; and an upper chamber, the
Council Of Nation, with 144 members. The APN is elected every 5 years.
Under the 1976
constitution (as modified 1979, and amended in 1988, 1989, and 1996) Algeria is a multi-party state. All parties must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior. To date, Algeria has had more than 40 legal political parties. According to the constitution, no political association may be formed if it is "based on differences in religion, language, race, gender or region."
Maghreb Arab Union
Tensions between Algeria and
Morocco in relation with the
Western Sahara conflict, have put great obstacles in the way of tightening the
Maghreb Arab Union, nominally established in 1989 but with little practical weight, with its coastal neighbors.
[10]
Provinces
Algeria is currently divided into 48
wilayas (
provinces), 553
dairas (
counties) and 1,541
baladiyahs (
municipalities). The capital and the largest city of each Algerian wilaya, daira, and baladiyah always has the same name as the wilaya, the daira, or the baladiyah it is located in. The same holds for the largest daira of the wilaya or the largest baladiyah of the daira.
According to the Algerian constitution, a wilaya is a "territorial collectivity" enjoying some economic freedom. The APW, or
"L'Assemblée Populaire Wilayale" (the
Popular "Wilayale" Parliament) is the political entity governing a province. The "
Wali" (
Prefect) directs each province. This person is chosen by the
Algerian President to handle the APW's decisions.
The APW has also a "president", who is elected by the members of the APW.
The administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. When introducing new wilayas, the numbers of old provinces are kept, hence the non-alphabetical order. With their official numbers, currently (since 1983) they are:
[1] 

Map of the provinces of Algeria numbered according to the official order.
Economy
The fossil fuels energy sector is the backbone of Algeria's economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of
GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. The country ranks fourteenth in
petroleum reserves, containing 11.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves with estimates suggesting that the actual amount is even more. The U.S.
Energy Information Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven
natural gas reserves, the eighth largest in the world.
[11]
Algeria’s financial and economic indicators improved during the mid-1990s, in part because of policy reforms supported by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
debt rescheduling from the
Paris Club. Algeria’s finances in 2000 and 2001 benefited from an increase in
oil prices and the government’s tight fiscal policy, leading to a large increase in the trade surplus, record highs in foreign exchange reserves, and reduction in
foreign debt. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic
investment outside the energy sector have had little success in reducing high
unemployment and improving living standards, however. In 2001, the government signed an Association Treaty with the
European Union that will eventually lower tariffs and increase trade. In March 2006,
Russia agreed to erase $4.74 billion of Algeria's
Soviet-era debt
[12] during a visit by
President Vladimir Putin to the country, the first by a Russian leader in half a century. In return, president
Bouteflika agreed to buy $7.5 billion worth of combat planes, air-defense systems and other arms from Russia, according to the head of Russia's state arms exporter
Rosoboronexport.
[13][14]
Algeria also decided in 2006 to pay off its full $8bn (£4.3bn) debt to the
Paris Club group of rich creditor nations before schedule. This will reduce the Algerian foreign debt to less than $5bn in the end of 2006. The
Paris Club said the move reflected Algeria's economic recovery in recent years.
Agriculture
Since Roman times Algeria has been noted for the fertility of its soil. 9.4% of Algerians are employed in the agricultural sector.
[15]
A considerable amount of
cotton was grown at the time of the
United States' Civil War, but the industry declined afterwards. In the early years of the twentieth century efforts to extend the cultivation of the plant were renewed. A small amount of
cotton is also grown in the southern oases. Large quantities of a vegetable that resembles
horsehair, an excellent fiber, are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The
olive (both for its fruit and oil) and
tobacco are cultivated with great success.
More than 7,500,000 acres (30,000 km²) are devoted to the cultivation of cereal grains. The
Tell is the grain-growing land. During the time of
French rule its productivity was increased substantially by the sinking of
artesian wells in districts which only required water to make them fertile. Of the crops raised,
wheat,
barley and
oats are the principal cereals. A great variety of
vegetables and
fruits, especially
citrus products, are exported. Algeria also exports
figs, dates,
esparto grass, and
cork. It is the largest
oat market in Africa.
Algeria is known for Bertolli's
olive oil spread, although the spread has an Italian background.
Demographics


Demographics of Algeria, Data of
FAO, year 2005; number of inhabitants in thousands.
The current population of Algeria is 32,930,091 (July 2006 est.).
[1]
About 70% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the minority who inhabit the
Sahara are mainly concentrated in
oases, although some 1.5 million remain
nomadic or partly nomadic. Almost 30% of Algerians are under 15. Algeria has the fourth lowest
fertility rate in the
Greater Middle East after
Cyprus,
Tunisia, and
Turkey.
Ninety-nine percent of the population is classified ethnically as
Arab/
Berber and religiously as
Sunni Muslim 98.5 % , the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly
Ibadis 1.3 % from the
M'Zab valley. (See also
Islam in Algeria.) A mostly foreign
Roman Catholic community of about 45,000 exists, as do very small
Protestant and
Jewish communities. The
Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to
France and
Israel.
Europeans account for less than 1% of the population, inhabitating almost exclusively the largest metropolitan areas. However, during the colonial period there was a large (15.2% in 1962) European population, consisting primarily of
French people, in addition to
Spaniards in the west of the country,
Italians and
Maltese in the east, and other Europeans in smaller numbers known as
pieds-noirs, concentrated on the coast and forming a majority in cities like
Bône,
Oran,
Sidi Bel Abbès, and
Algiers. Almost all of this population left during or immediately after the country's independence from France.


A Dancer in
Biskra, published in March 1917 National Geographic.
Housing and medicine continue to be pressing problems in Algeria. Failing infrastructure and the continued influx of people from rural to urban areas has overtaxed both systems. According to the UNDP, Algeria has one of the world's highest per housing unit occupancy rates for housing, and government officials have publicly stated that the country has an immediate shortfall of 1.5 million housing units.
Women make up 70 percent of Algeria’s lawyers and 60 percent of its judges. Women dominate medicine. Increasingly, women contribute more to household income than men. Sixty percent of university students are women, university researchers say
[16].
Ethnic groups
Most Algerians are
Arab or
Berber, by language or identity, but almost all Algerians are Berber in origin
[1]. Today, the Arab-Berber issue is often a case of self-identification or identification through language and culture, rather than a racial or ethnic distinction. The Berber people are divided into several ethnic groups,
Kabyle in the mountainous north-central area,
Chaoui in the eastern
Atlas Mountains,
Mozabites in the
M'zab valley, and
Tuareg in the far south.
Education


Young inhabitants of Algiers in the streets of the Kasbah of Algiers
Out of the total population 70% of 15 year olds and above are
literate. The figure is higher for males standing at 78.8% whilst for females it is 61%.
[17] The nine-year school system is compulsory, and is attended by most children. It begins at age 6 and continues until age 15.
97% of boys and 91% of girls attend school. Algeria has ten universities and a number of technical colleges, with a population of approximately 350,000 students attending college or university.
The Algeran school system is structured into Basic, General Secondary, and Technical Secondary levels:
- Basic: Ecole fondamentale (Fundamental School)
Length of program: 9 years
Age range: age 6 to 15 old
Certificate/diploma awarded: Brevet d'Enseignement Moyen B.E.M.
- General Secondary: Lycée d'Enseignement général (School of General Teaching) , lycées polyvalents (General-Purpose School)
Length of program: 3 years
Age range: age 15 to 18
Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat de l'Enseignement secondaire (Bachelor's Degree of Secondary School)
- Technical Secondary: Lycées d'Enseignement technique (Technical School)
Length of program: 3 years
Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat technique (Technical Bachelor's Degree)
Culture
Modern Algerian literature, split between Arabic and French, has been strongly influenced by the country's recent history.
Famous novelists of the twentieth century include
Mohammed Dib,
Albert Camus, and
Kateb Yacine, while
Assia Djebar is widely translated. Important novelists of the 1980s included
Rachid Mimouni, later vice-president of Amnesty International, and
Tahar Djaout, murdered by an
Islamist group in 1993 for his secularist views.
[18] As early as Roman times,
Apuleius, born in Mdaourouch, was native to what would become Algeria.
In philosophy and the humanities,
Jacques Derrida, the father of
deconstruction, was born in El-Biar near
Algiers;
Malek Bennabi and
Frantz Fanon are noted for their thoughts on
decolonization;
Augustine of Hippo was born in
Tagaste (about
60 miles (0 km) from the present day city of
Annaba); and
Ibn Khaldun, though born in
Tunis, wrote the
Muqaddima while staying in Algeria.
Algerian culture has been strongly influenced by
Islam, the main religion. The works of the
Sanusi family in pre-colonial times, and of Emir
Abdelkader and Sheikh
Ben Badis in colonial times, are widely noted.
The
Algerian musical genre best known abroad is
raï, a pop-flavored, opinionated take on folk music, featuring international stars such as
Khaled and
Cheb Mami. However, in Algeria itself the older, highly verbal
chaabi style remains more popular, with such stars as El Hadj El Anka or Dahmane El Harrachi, while the tuneful melodies of
Kabyle music, exemplified by
Idir,
Ait Menguellet, or
Lounès Matoub, have a wide audience. For more classical tastes,
Andalusi music, brought from
Al-Andalus by
Morisco refugees, is preserved in many older coastal towns.
In painting, Mohammed Khadda
[19] and M'Hamed Issiakhem have been notable in recent years.
Languages
Most Algerians speak
Algerian Arabic.
Arabic is spoken natively in
dialectal form ("
Darja") by some 83.2% of the population
[20]. However in the media and official occasions the spoken language is
Standard Arabic.
The
Berbers (or
Imazighen), who form approximately 27.4% of the population
[20], largely speak one of the various dialects of
Tamazight as opposed to Arabic. But a majority can use the both, Berber and Algerian Arabic.
Arabic remains Algeria's only
official language, although
Tamazight has recently been recognized as a
national language alongside it
[21].
The
ethnologue counts eighteen living languages within Algeria, splitting both Arabic and Tamazight into several different languages, as well as mentioning the unrelated
Korandje language.
[22].
The language issue is politically sensitive, particularly for the Berber
minority, which has been disadvantaged by state-sanctioned
Arabization.
Language politics and Arabization have partly been a reaction to the fact that 130 years of
French colonization had left both the state
bureaucracy and much of the educated upper class completely
Francophone, as well as being motivated by the
Arab nationalism promoted by successive Algerian governments.
French is still the most widely studied
foreign language, but very rarely spoken as a
native language. Since
independence, the government has pursued a policy of linguistic Arabization of
education and bureaucracy, with some success, although many
university courses continue to be taught in French. Recently, schools have started to incorporate French into the curriculum as early as children start to learn Arabic, as many Algerians are fluent in French. French is also used in media and commerce.
Military
The
Armed forces of Algeria consist of:
It is the direct successor of the
Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN), which fought
French colonial occupation during the
Algerian War of Independence (1954-62).
The People's National Army consists of 127,500 members, with some 100,000 reservists. The army is under the control of the
president, who also is minister of National Defense (current president is
Abdelaziz Bouteflika). Defense expenditures accounted for some $2.67 billion or 3.5% of GDP. One and a half years of national military service is compulsory for males.
Algeria is a leading military power in
North Africa and has its force oriented toward its western (
Morocco) and eastern (
Libya) borders. Its primary military supplier has been the former
Soviet Union, which has sold various types of sophisticated equipment under military trade agreements, and the
People's Republic of China. Algeria has attempted, in recent years, to diversify its sources of military material. Military forces are supplemented by a 45,000-member
gendarmerie or rural police force under the control of the president and 30,000-member
Sûreté nationale or Metropolitan
police force under the Ministry of the Interior.
Recently, the Algerian Air Force signed a deal with
Russia to purchase 49
MiG-29SMT and 6 MiG-29UBT at an estimated $1.5 Billion. They also agreed to return old
airplanes purchased from the
Former USSR. Russia is also building 2 636-type diesel
submarines for Algeria
[23].
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria
There are several
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria including
Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, the first capital of the
Hammadid empire;
Tipasa, a Phoenician town; and
Djémila and
Timgad, both
Roman ruins. Two landscapes are
World Heritage Sites:
M'Zab Valley, a limestone valley and
Tassili n'Ajjer, a mountain range. Also the
Casbah of
Algiers is an important citadel.
See also
References
1.
^ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ag.html CIA Factbook]
2.
^ [1] Constitution 1996
3.
^ Barbary Pirates — Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911
4.
^ Alistair Horne, (2006). A Savage War of Peace : Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics). 1755 Broadway, New York, NY 10019: NYRB Classics, 29-30. ISBN 1-59017-218-3.
5.
^ (French) -
http://gallica.bnf.fr/, La démographie figurée de l'Algérie, op.cit., p.260 et 261.
6.
^ Alistair Horne, (2006). A Savage War of Peace : Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics). 1755 Broadway, New York, NY 10019: NYRB Classics, 32. ISBN 1-59017-218-3.
7.
^ Country Data
8.
^ Marketplace: Pied-noirs breathe life back into Algerian tourism
9.
^ Arabic German Consulting www.Arab.de (accessed 04 April
2006)
10.
^ Bin Ali calls for reactivating Arab Maghreb Union, Tunisia-Maghreb, Politics, 2/19/1999 www.arabicnews.com (accessed 04 April
2006)
11.
^ Algeria Country Analysis Brief, EIA, March 2005. Retrieved 18 Jan
2007.
12.
^ [2]
13.
^ "
Russia agrees Algeria arms deal, writes off debt", Reuters,
March 11 2006.
2006">
14.
^ (French) "
La Russie efface la dette algérienne", Radio France International,
March 10 2006.
2006">
15.
^ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ag.html#Econ CIA factbook]
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^ [3]
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^ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ag.html#People CIA factbook]
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^ Tahar Djaout French Publishers' Agency and France Edition, Inc. (accessed 04 April
2006)
19.
^ Mohammed Khadda official site (accessed 04 April
2006)
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^ (French) -
http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/AXL/, Jacques Leclerc, L’aménagement linguistique dans le monde. CIRAL (Centre international de recherche en aménagement linguistique).
21.
^ (French) -
« Loi n° 02-03 portant révision constitutionnelle », adopted on 10 April 2002.
22.
^ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/ (accessed 04 April
2006).
23.
^ Venezuela's Chavez to finalise Russian submarines deal". Breitbart (2007=06-14). Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
Books
- A Savage War of Peace : Algeria 1954-1962 (2006), author Alistair Horne, New York Review Books, 2006 reprint: ISBN 1-59017-218-3
External links
Government
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Cultural heritage
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Cameroon
Central African Republic
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Nigeria
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Coat of arms elements A
motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization.
..... Click the link for more information. al-‘Arabiyyah in written Arabic (Kufic script):
Pronunciation: /alˌʕa.raˈbij.ja/
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman,
..... Click the link for more information.