Background:
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| 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 large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2006 merged with al-Qaida to form al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which since has launched an ongoing series of kidnappings and bombings - including high-profile, mass-casualty suicide attacks targeted against the Algerian government and Western interests. 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.
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Location:
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| Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
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Geographic coordinates:
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28 00 N, 3 00 E
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Area:
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total: 2,381,741 sq km
country comparison to the world: 18
land:
2,381,741 sq km
water:
0 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
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Land boundaries:
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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
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Coastline:
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998 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone:
32-52 nm
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Climate:
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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
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Terrain:
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mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point:
Tahat 3,003 m
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Natural resources:
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petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc
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Land use:
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arable land: 3.17%
permanent crops:
0.28%
other:
96.55% (2005)
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Irrigated land:
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5,690 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
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14.3 cu km (1997)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 6.07 cu km/yr (22%/13%/65%)
per capita:
185 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards:
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mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season
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Environment - current issues:
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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
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Environment - international agreements:
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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
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Geography - note:
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second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan) |
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Population:
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| 34,178,188 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 37
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 25.4% (male 4,436,591/female 4,259,729)
15-64 years:
69.5% (male 11,976,965/female 11,777,618)
65 years and over:
5.1% (male 798,576/female 928,709) (2009 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 26.6 years
male:
26.3 years
female:
26.8 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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1.196% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 111
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Birth rate:
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16.9 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 124
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Death rate:
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4.64 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 198
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Net migration rate:
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-0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 101
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Urbanization:
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urban population: 65% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization:
2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.86 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 27.73 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 80
male:
30.86 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
24.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 74.02 years
country comparison to the world: 92
male:
72.35 years
female:
75.77 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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1.79 children born/woman (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 157
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.1%; note - no country specific models provided (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 113
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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21,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 76
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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fewer than 1,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 73
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Nationality:
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noun: Algerian(s)
adjective:
Algerian
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Ethnic groups:
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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
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Religions:
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Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
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Languages:
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Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
69.9%
male:
79.6%
female:
60.1% (2002 est.)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total: 13 years
male:
13 years
female:
13 years (2005)
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Education expenditures:
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5.1% of GDP (1999)
country comparison to the world: 64
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