ABOUT ALGERIA
Gerard Amavi
By Encyclopaedia Africana Project
Lawrence Boakye
Contributors
Editing Info & History
Location map in Africa
Naional symbol(s)
Fennec fox, Wall iris; national colors: green, white, red
Constitution
Several previous: first adopted by a referendum in 1963, following the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62); originally, it was to be drafted by a constitutional assembly led by Ferhat Abbas, but this body was sidelined by Algeria’s first President, Ahmed Ben Bella
Legislative branch
Description: a bicameral parliament consisting of the National People’s Assembly and the National Council
Life expectancy at birth (years):
74 years (men) 78 years (women)
Export products:
Petroleum,natural gas,petrochemicals, Minerals,Agricultural Products,Textiles and Clothing,Vehicles and Automotive Parts
Economy
Dominated by its export trade in petroleum and natural gas
Introduction
Algeria, large, predominantly Muslim country of North Africa. From the Mediterranean coast, along which most of its people live, Algeria extends southward deep into the heart of the Sahara, a forbidding desert where Earth’s hottest surface temperatures have been recorded and which constitutes more than four-fifths of the country’s area. The Sahara and its extreme climate dominate the country. The contemporary Algerian novelist Assia Djebar has highlighted the environs, calling her country “a dream of sand.
Algeria’s indigenous Berber people have been under foreign rule for much of the last 3000 years. The Phoenicians (1000 BC) and the Romans (200 BC) were the most important of these. With the incursion of Muslim Arabs in the 7th-8th century into the region, Islamic influence came to the Berbers and almost a millennium of domination by Arab dynasties.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the region was placed under the protection of the Ottoman Sultan of Istanbul. For more than 300 years, the country was reigned by Ottoman beys, pashas, and aghas. The Ottoman period ended with the beginning of the French colonization in 1830.
The French occupation condemned the Algerian population to economic, social, and political inferiority and sparked decades of armed resistance. After a century of rule by France, Algeria became independent in 1962, and Arabic became the official language – with a little help from Quran teachers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Since then, le pouvoir (“the power”), an elite of business leaders and generals behind a democratic façade, has run Algeria.
Brief History
History, language, customs, and an Islamic heritage make Algeria an integral part of the Maghreb and the larger Arab world, but the country also has a sizable Amazigh (Berber) population, with links to that cultural tradition. Once the breadbasket of the Roman Empire, the territory now comprising Algeria was ruled by various Arab-Amazigh dynasties from the 8th through the 16th century, when it became part of the Ottoman Empire. The decline of the Ottomans was followed by a brief period of independence that ended when France launched a war of conquest in 1830.
By 1847 the French had largely suppressed Algerian resistance to the invasion and the following year made Algeria a département of France. French colonists modernized Algeria’s agricultural and commercial economy but lived apart from the Algerian majority, enjoying social and economic privileges extended to few non-Europeans. Ethnic resentment, fueled by revolutionary politics introduced by Algerians who had lived and studied in France, led to a widespread nationalist movement in the mid-20th century. A war of independence ensued (1954–62) that was so fierce that the revolutionary Frantz Fanon noted,
Ahmed Ben Bella
First President of Algeria
1. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/liberia
2. https://liberiainfo.co/prd/historical-periods/commonwealth-of-liberia/
Official Name
Democratic Republic of Algeria
Nationality
Algerians (Arabic: الجزائريون, romanized:
al-Jaza’iriyun)
National
anthem
We swear by the lightning that destroys
President (Head of State and Government)
Abdelmadjid Tebboune
Form of Governance
Multiparty
republic with two legislative houses
Capital
Official Language(s)
Arabic; Amazigh
Administrative
Regions:
48 provinces
Religions
58 provinces
(wilayas, singular – wilaya); Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain Temouchent, Alger, Annaba,
Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Beni Abbes, Biskra, Blida, Bordj Badji Mokhtar, Bordj
Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef, Constantine, Djanet, Djelfa, El Bayadh,
El Meghaier, El Meniaa, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma, Illizi, In Guezzam,
In Salah, Jijel, Khenchela, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem, M’Sila,
Naama, Oran, Ouargla, Ouled Djellal, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif,
Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanrasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Timimoun,
Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen, Touggourt
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
Land area (in sq. km)
2.38 million km²
Population
(2023 est.) 46,116,000
Currency
Algerian Dinar (DZD)
Dialling Code
+213
Time Zone
UTC +1h
Colonial Masters
French
Date of Independence
5 July 1962