Algeria Brief

Formal Name

People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria (Al Jumhuriyah al Jazairiyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Shabiyah).

Short Form

Algeria (Al Jazair).

Term for Citizen(s)

Algerian(s).

Capital

Algiers, with a population of about 1.7 million, or 3 million including suburbs.

Major Cities

After Algiers, the most populous cities are Oran, Constantine, and Annaba. According to 2004 estimates, Oran has a population of 700,000; Constantine, 350,000; and Annaba, 235,000.

Independence

Algeria celebrates independence from France on July 5, 1962.

Public Holidays

Official holidays include New Year’s (January 1); Feast of the Sacrifice (January 11, 2006*); Islamic New Year (January 31, 2006*); Ashoura (February 9, 2006*); Birth of Muhammad (April 11, 2006*); Labor Day (May 1); Ben Bella’s Overthrow (June 19); Independence Day (July 5); Ascension of Muhammad (August 22, 2006*); Beginning of Ramadan (September 24, 2006*); End of Ramadan (October 24, 2006*); and Anniversary of the Revolution (November 1). Dates marked with an asterisk vary from year to year according to the Islamic calendar.

Flag

Algeria’s flag features a red crescent and a red five-pointed star against two equal vertical bands of green and white in the background. The crescent, the star, and the color green symbolize Islam, the state religion.

Source: Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile

Past

Algeria

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.

Environment

Algeria

Location:

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia

Geographic coordinates:

28 00 N, 3 00 E

Area - comparative:

slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas

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

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

People

Algeria

Population:

33,333,216 (July 2007 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)

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

Government

Algeria

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

Capital:

name: Algiers
geographic coordinates: 36 45 N, 3 03 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

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

Political pressure groups and leaders:

The Algerian Human Rights League or LADDH [Hocine ZEHOUANE]; SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR]; Somoud [Ali MERABET]

Business

Algeria

Business - 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 14th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent years 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.

Currency (code):

Algerian dinar (DZD)

Exchange rates:

Algerian dinars per US dollar - 69.9 (2007), 72.647 (2006), 73.276 (2005), 72.061 (2004), 77.395 (2003)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Communications

Algeria

Telephone system:

general assessment: a weak network of fixed-main lines, which remains low at less than 10 telephones per 100 persons, is partially offset by the rapid increase in mobile cellular subscribership; in 2006, combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density surpassed 70 telephones per 100 persons
domestic: privatization of Algeria's telecommunications sector began in 2000; three mobile cellular licenses have been issued and, in 2005, a consortium led by Egypt's Orascom Telecom won a 15-year license to build and operate a fixed-line network in Algeria; the license will allow Orascom to develop high-speed data and other specialized services and contribute to meeting the large unfulfilled demand for basic residential telephony; internet broadband services began in 2003 with approximately 200,000 subscribers in 2006
international: country code - 213; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber- optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East and Asia; microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat, Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2007)

Internet country code:

.dz

Internet users:

2.46 million (2006)

Transportation

Algeria

Airports:

150 (2007)

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)

Ports and terminals:

Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Djendjene, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda

International

Algeria

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

This section was last updated on 17 January, 2008 Source: The World Factbook Source