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Algeria (Arabic: الجزائر‎, Al Jaza'ir IPA: [ɛlʤɛˈzɛːʔir], Berber: , Ledzayer [ldzæjər]), 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. Constitutionally, Algeria is defined as an Islamic, Arab, and Amazigh (Berber) country[2]. Algeria is a member of the African Union; it is also a member of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).

Contents [hide] 1 Name 2 History 2.1 Pre-Ottoman period 2.2 Ottoman rule 2.3 French rule 2.4 Post-independence 3 Geography 3.1 Climate and hydrology 4 Politics 4.1 Maghreb Arab Union 5 Administrative divisions 6 Economy 6.1 Agriculture 7 Demographics 7.1 Berbers 7.2 Education 7.3 Languages 8 Literature 9 Culture 10 Military 11 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria 12 See also 13 References 14 External links

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[edit] Name

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 islands of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.

[edit] History

[edit] Pre-Ottoman period

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. After some decades of fierce resistance under leaders such as Kusayla and Kahina, the Berbers adopted Islam en masse, but almost immediately expelled the banou moussa 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 them, thus incidentally 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, Spain started attacking and subsuming many coastal cities which prompted some to seek help from the Ottoman Empire.

[edit] Ottoman rule

See History of Ottoman Algeria 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 Europe the inhabitants were forced into slavery.[citation needed] 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.

[edit] French rule

See French rule in Algeria On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830.[citation needed] 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.[3] 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 Muslims 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.[citation needed] Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted,[4] 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.

[edit] Post-independence

In 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the Algerian War of Independence which was a guerrilla campaign. After nearly a decade of urban and rural warfare, the FLN succeeded in pushing France out of Algeria in 1962. 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 91,000 Harkis (pro-French Muslim Algerians serving in the French Army). Algeria's first president was the FLN leader Ahmed Ben Bella. He was overthrown by his former ally and defence minister, Houari Boumédiènne in 1965. Under Ben Bella the government had already become increasingly socialist and dictatorial, and this trend continued throughout Boumedienne's government. However, Boumedienne 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 group of nations. 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 due to 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 Benjedid 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 cancelled the second round, forced then-president Bendjedid to resign, and banned 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. Many civilians were massacred. The question of who was responsible for these deaths remains controversial among academic observers; many were claimed by the Armed Islamic Group. 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.[5] 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.

[edit] Geography

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, 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 1,500km (932 miles) south of the capital, Algiers and just west of Tamanghasset. Algiers, Oran and Constantine are the main cities.

[edit] 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, 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 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, 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.

[edit] 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."

[edit] 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.[6]

[edit] Administrative divisions

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]

1 Adrar 2 Chlef 3 Laghouat 4 Oum el-Bouaghi 5 Batna 6 Béjaïa 7 Biskra 8 Béchar 9 Blida 10 Bouira 11 Tamanghasset 12 Tébessa 13 Tlemcen 14 Tiaret 15 Tizi Ouzou 16 Algiers 17 Djelfa 18 Jijel 19 Sétif 20 Saida 21 Skikda 22 Sidi Bel Abbes 23 Annaba 24 Guelma

25 Constantine 26 Médéa 27 Mostaganem 28 M'Sila 29 Muaskar 30 Ouargla 31 Oran 32 El Bayadh 33 Illizi 34 Bordj Bou Arréridj 35 Boumerdès 36 El Tarf 37 Tindouf 38 Tissemsilt 39 El Oued 40 Khenchela 41 Souk Ahras 42 Tipasa 43 Mila 44 Aïn Defla 45 Naama 46 Aïn Témouchent 47 Ghardaïa 48 Relizane

[edit] 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.[7] 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 has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards. 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 during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to the country, the first by a Russian leader in half a century. In return, president Mahiou agreed to buy $7.5 billion worth of combat planes, air-defence systems and other arms from Russia, according to the head of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport. 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. Rich in oil and gas, it has benefited from high energy prices.[8][9] Apart from being the richest country in Africa it is also one of the fifty richest countries in the world due to their natural resources.[citation needed]

[edit] Agriculture

Since Roman times Algeria has been noted for the fertility of its soil. 9.4% of Algerians are employed in the agricultural sector.[10] 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 crin vegetal (vegetable horse-hair) 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 (30,000km²) 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 of fruits, especially citrus products, is 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.

[edit] Demographics

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 desert are mainly concentrated in oases, although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. Almost 30% of Algerians are under 15. Ninety-nine percent of the population is classified ethnically as Arab/Berber and religiously as Sunni Muslim, the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadis 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. During the colonial period there was a large European (primarily French) population, known as pieds-noirs, concentrated on the coast and forming a majority in certain cities. Almost all of this population left during or immediately after the country's independence from France. 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.

[edit] Berbers

Most Algerians are Arab or Berber, by language or identity, but almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab[1]. The Berbers inhabited Algeria before the arrival of Arab tribes during the expansion of Islam, in the seventh century. The issue of ethnicity and language is sensitive after many years of government marginalization of Berber (or Imazighen, as some prefer) culture. 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 20% or so of the population who self-identify as Berbers, and primarily speak Berber languages (also termed Tamazight), are divided into several ethnic groups, notably Kabyle (the largest) in the mountainous north-central area, Chaoui in the eastern Atlas Mountains, Mozabites in the M'zab valley, and Tuareg in the far south.

[edit] Education

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%.[11] The 9-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 10 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: BasicEcole fondamentale
Length of program: 9 years
Age range: age 6 to 15 old
Certificate/diploma awarded: Brevet d'Enseignement fondamental General SecondaryLycée d'Enseignement général, lycées polyvalents
Length of program: 3 years
Age range: age 15 to 18
Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat de l'Enseignement secondaire Technical SecondaryLycées d'Enseignment technique (technicum)
Length of program: 3 years
Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat technique

[edit] Languages

Most of the Algerians speak Algerian Arabic. Arabic is spoken natively in dialectal form ("Darja") by some 80% of the population, and, as in the entire Arab world, used in the Modern Standard Arabic variant in the media and on official occasions. 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.[12] Some 20% of the population, identified as Berbers or Imazighen, are native speakers not of Arabic, but of some dialect of Tamazight. Many Algerians are, however, fluent in both languages to some degree. Arabic remains Algeria's only official language, although Tamazight has recently been recognized as a national language alongside it. 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, and widely spoken (distantly followed by English), 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. French is also widely used in media and commerce.

[edit] Literature

[edit] 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.[13] As early as Roman times, Apuleius, born in Mdaourouch, was native to what would become Algeria. Yves Saint Laurent, the founder of the well known designer brand of the same name, is another famous Algerian. He was born in the city of Oran on 1 August 1936. 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 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[14] and M'Hamed Issiakhem[15] are notable in recent years.

[edit] Military

The Armed forces of Algeria are comprised of:

• The People's National Army (ANP)
• Algerian National Navy (MRA)
• Algerian Air Force (QJJ)
• Territorial Air Defense Force

It is the direct successor of the Armé 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.

[edit] 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 citadal.