Algeria

 

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية (Arabic) al-Jumhūriyya al-Jazāʾiriyya ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyya aš‑Šaʿbiyya République algérienne démocratique et populaire (French)
Flag National emblem
Motto: بالشعب وللشعب ("By the people and for the people")
Anthem: Kassaman ("We Pledge")
Capital and largest city	Algiers
Official languages	Arabic
Local vernacular	Algerian Arabic
Foreign languages	French · Italian
Ethnic groups (2021)	75–85% Arabs 15–25% Berbers
Religion	99% Sunni Islam 1% other
Demonym(s)	Algerian
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• President	TBD
• Prime Minister	TBD
Legislature	Parliament
Establishment
• Phoenicia	600 BC
• Ancient Carthage	500 BC
• Numidia	202 BC
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total
• Per capita
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total
• Per capita
Currency	Algerian dinar (DZD)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+213
ISO 3166 code	DZ
Internet TLD	.dz

Algeria (Arabic: الجزائر, romanized: al-Jazāʾir; French: Algérie), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in north Africa. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the southeast by Niger, to the southwest by Mali and Mauritania, to the west by Morocco, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria is part of the Maghreb region of north Africa and has a semi-arid geography, with the majority of the population living in the fertile north while the south is sparsely populated and is covered in the Sahara Desert. It covers an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), making it the largest country in Africa and one of the largest in the world. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located on the Mediterranean coast, and the country's population is 44 million.

Algeria was the site of many civilizations, empires, and dynasties over its history, including Numidians, Mauretanians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Mauro-Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Ifranids, Abbasids, Rustamids, Idrisids, Sulaymanids, Aghlabids, Fatimids, Zirids, Hammadids, Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids, Hafsids and the Zayyanids. The demographic situation in Algeria was changed by waves of Arab migration in the 7th century. When it became part of the Ottoman Empire, Algeria became a center for trade and commerce, with Algiers becoming one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world at that time. By the 19th century it was in decline along with the rest of the Ottoman Empire, leading to the invasion of Algeria by France in 1830. More than one million French and European settlers entered Algeria while it was a French territory and it was seen as an integral part of France by 1900.

The rise of derzhavism in France and the country's defeat and occupation during the Great War led to the rise of a nationalist movement in Algeria. Despite this, France attempted to maintain control over the territory, leading to the Algerian War from 1952 to 1962. The war ended with Algeria obtaining its independence on 25 September 1962, with assistance from communist Italy and Spain. The anti-colonial National Liberation Front (FLN) was dominated by the Algerian People's Party (PPA), and shortly after independence, the People's Party won the majority of seats in the Algerian parliament and declared a Marxist–Landonist state. The PPA established a one-party state that lasted until mass protests by the Islamic Salvation Front ahead of the postponed 1991 parliamentary election led to the Algerian Civil War. The war devastated the country from 1991 until 2002, and cost as many as 200,000 lives, but also had the effect of ending popular support for Islamist movement. The PPA enacted constitutional reforms, holding multi-party elections in 2003 which ended its monopoly on power, and resulted in changes to the constitution that established it as a democratic parliamentary republic. There is also sporadic fighting against Islamic insurgents still occurring in southern Algeria.

The majority of Algeria's population is Arab or Berber, speaks Algerian Arabic and is Sunni Muslim. French and Italian are the most widely used foreign languages, though they have no official status. Algeria has been a parliamentary republic based on the principles of democracy and socialism since 2003, with free elections for its two houses of parliament. It has one of the largest and wealthiest economies in Africa, owing to its reserves of oil and natural gas. The Algerian military is the largest in Africa and contributes forces to African Union peacekeeping missions. Algeria is a member of the League of Nations, the Arab League, the African Union, and other organizations, and is regarded as a middle and regional power in the Mediterranean.

Etymology

Other forms of the name are: Arabic: الجزائر, romanized: al-Jazāʾir, Algerian Arabic: الدزاير, romanized: al-dzāyīr; Berber languages: dzayer, ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ, دزاير; French: Algérie. It is officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (Arabic: الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية, romanized: al-Jumhūriyya al-Jazāʾiriyya ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyya aš-Šaʿbiyya; French: République algérienne démocratique et populaire, abbreviated as RADP).

Algeria's name derives from the city of Algiers which in turn derives from the Arabic al-Jazāʾir (الجزائر, "the islands") in reference to four small islands off its coast, a truncated form of the older Jazāʾir Banī Mazghanna (جزائر بني مزغنة, "islands of Bani Mazghanna"). The name was given by Buluggin ibn Ziri after he established the city on the ruins of the Phoenician city of Icosium in 950. It was employed by medieval geographers such as Muhammad al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi. The Ottoman Empire extended the name of al-Jazā'ir over the entire country, deriving it from the name of the capital city.

See also

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Algeria, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).