ALGERIA

Area: 919,595 square miles

Population: 31,133,486 (1999 est.)

Capital: Algiers

Religion: 99% Islam (Sunni)

Language: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Literacy: 57%

Life Expectancy: 69 years

Industry: Petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, food processing

Export Crops: Petroleum and natural gas

Food Crops: Wheat, barley, oats, wine grapes, citrus, fruits, olives

Algeria is the second largest country in Africa and the tenth largest country in the world in terms of land area, nearly four times the size of Texas. The country is characterized by four distinct parallel geographical regions running east to west: The Tell region is the northern band of terrain extending along 1,200 km of Mediterranean coastline between 50-120 miles wide. The Tell is formed of hills and fertile valleys, which contain the majority of Algeria’s arable land. The second geographical region is known as the High Plateau which is mostly a barren, arid wasteland, although its western area is known for its abundance of esparto grass (needlegrass), an age-old material used for making ropes, sandals, baskets, and other traditional items. The third geographical region is known as the Saharan Atlas which is formed of three mountain chains. It receives more rain than the High Plateau with the result that the region contains large areas of pasture land. The fourth and largest region is the Sahara Desert, which covers 90% of the country’s total land area. This is mostly a desolate flatland covered with gravel or wide expanses of sand dunes, a volcanic highland, and Mt. Tahat, the highest peak in Algeria at 9,852 ft.

The Berbers, tribal peoples of unknown origin, are thought to be the earliest inhabitants of Algeria. Cave paintings have been found which date between 6500 and 1200 BC depicting a people who raised cattle and hunted game. Phoenician traders settled on the coastline around 1100 BC. The first Algerian kingdom was established by the Berber chieftain Massinissa, who reigned over the kingdom of Numidia from 202-148 BC. His dynasty lasted until 106 BC when his grandson. King Jugurtha was defeated by Rome. As part of the Roman Empire Numidia flourished, becoming known as the ‘granary of Rome’. With the decline of the Roman Empire, Roman armies were withdrawn from Algeria and in the 3^rd century AD, the Donatists, a North African Christian sect that had been suppressed by the Romans, declared a short-lived independent state. Algeria was invaded by the Vandals, a Germanic tribe, in the 5^th century and stayed on to establish their own kingdom before being driven out by the Emperor Justinian’s Byzantine army whose aim was to restore the Roman Empire. In the 7^th century the Arabs invaded North Africa, bringing with them Islam. They were resisted by a woman leader – Kahina, the high priestess of a tribe supposedly converted to Judaism – but eventually the Berbers submitted to Islam and Arab authority and gradually absorbed the Arabic language and culture.

In the late 15^th century, Spain captured the coastal cities of Algeria. Algerians appealed to Turkish pirates for help and, with the aid of the Ottoman Empire, ended Spanish control by the mid-16^th century. Algeria then came under control of the Ottoman Empire. For three centuries Algiers served as the headquarters of the Barbary pirates who preyed on Mediterranean shipping. Ostensibly to rid the Mediterranean coastline of pirates the French occupied Algeria in 1830 and made it a part of France in 1848. By 1880 persons of European descent numbered about 375,000, and they controlled most of the better farmland. Although the official French policy in Algeria was to encourage the Muslims to adapt to European ways as preparation for full citizenship, very little was done to implement this policy.

After World War I two types of protest groups were started by the Muslims. One movement called for a fully independent, Muslim-controlled Algeria. The other faction sought assimilation with France and the equality of Muslims and Europeans in Algeria. By the mid-40s this second faction was calling for Algerian autonomy and by the early 50s they advocated complete independence. In March 1954 a revolutionary committee was formed in Egypt by Ahmed Ben Bella and eight other Algerians in exile which became the nucleus of the National Liberation Front (FLN). On November 1, 1954 the FLN declared war on the French. After more than seven years’ fighting it was conservatively estimated that at least 100,000 Muslims and 10,000 French soldiers had been killed. In 1962, French president Charles de Gaulle began the peace negotiations, and on July 5, 1962, Algeria was proclaimed independent. In October 1963, Ahmed Ben Bella was elected president and the country became socialist. Col. Houari Boumediene overthrew him in a military coup on June 19, 1965. Under Boumedienne Algeria finally began to capitalize on its vast resources. In addition to rapid economic development, he brought a viable political system. The constitution of 1976 defined Algeria as a socialist state under FLN leadership and Boumedienne was legally elected president. When he died in 1978, Colonel Chadi Benjedid was elected to succeed him. Benjedid continued his predecessor’s policies but relaxed some of Boumedienne’s strict controls. He was reelected in 1984 and 1988. In December 1991 in the first parliamentary elections ever held in Algeria, the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won the largest number of votes. Fearing the emerging strength of the FIS, the army canceled the general election and forced Benjedid’s resignation, which plunged the country into a bloody civil war. An estimated 100,000 people have been killed by Islamic terrorists since war began in January 1992. In January 1994 the council named Defense Minister Liamine Zeroual as Algeria’s president for a three-year interim term. He was elected in November 1995 in Algeria’s first successful multiparty presidential elections since independence. The elections, which Zeroual won with 61% of the vote, were judged to be a fair popular endorsement of his administration according to monitors from the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organization of African Unity who were invited to oversee the elections.

The undeclared civil war escalated in 1997-98. Islamic extremists, who had originally focused their attacks on government officials and then shifted to intellectuals and journalists, began to target villagers. The mass slaughters appeared random and savage, and the government was markedly ineffectual in stemming the violence. There is some evidence that the army looked the other way while its civilians were killed. Algeria refused international mediation, and kept the outside world largely in the dark about the war within its borders.

After President Zeroual announced his desire to retire early, elections were held in April 1999. Six of the seven candidates withdrew at the last minute in protest of election fraud. The lone remaining candidate, Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika, won 73.8% of the vote. Bouteflika is attempting to implement a plan of national reconciliation that includes an amnesty for Islamic militants not convicted of murder or rape. The September 1999 referendum on his peace plan passed with 98% of the vote. 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.

The population of Algeria consists mainly of Berbers, Arabs and people of mixed Arab-Berber ancestry. Prior to independence in 1962 one million Europeans lived in Algeria, primarily French, as well as 150,000 Jews. After independence 90% of the Jewish and European communities emigrated. Before independence French tradition dominated the cultural life of Algeria. Albert Camus, the French novelist, was born and educated there. However, the war for independence stimulated a growing movement among Algerian artists and intellectuals to revive national interest in Arab-Berber origins, a movement that has gained official support.

SOURCES:

Arab Net. “Algeria.” www.arab.net.com.

CIA-The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ag.html

Library of Congress. Federal Research Division. “Algeria – A Country Study.” www.lcweb2.loc.gov.

Lycos Network. “Algeria – Country Facts.” www.infoplease.lycos.com.

Mbendi: Information for Africa. “Country Profile: Algeria.” www.mbendi.com.

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99: Algeria

Compiled by Bobbie Carrie in February 2000, 2007..

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