   #copyright

Algeria

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Algeria. For more information see SOS Children in
   Algeria, Africa
   الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية
   Al-Jumhurīyah al-Jazā’irīyah
   ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah ash-Sha’bīyah
   People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

   Flag of Algeria Emblem of Algeria
   Flag            Emblem
   Motto: من الشعب و للشعب  (Arabic)
   "The Revolution by the People and for the People"
   Anthem: Kassaman  (Arabic)
   "The Pledge"
   Location of Algeria
   Capital Algiers
   36°42′N 3°13′E
   Largest city Algiers
   Official languages Arabic; French is the language of business;
   Tamazight also spoken
   Government Democratic Republic
    - President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
    - Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem
   Establishment
    - Ottoman rule from  1516
    - French rule from  1830
    - Independence July 5, 1962
   Area
    - Total 2,381,741 km² ( 11th)
   919,595 sq mi
    - Water (%) negligible
   Population
    - 2005 estimate 32,854,000 ( 35th)
    - 1998 census 29,100,867
    - Density 14/km² ( 196th)
   36/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $237.684 billion ( 38th)
    - Per capita $7,189 ( 86th)
   HDI  (2003) 0.722 (medium) ( 103rd)
   Currency Algerian dinar ( DZD)
   Time zone CET ( UTC+1)
   Internet TLD .dz
   Calling code +213

   Algeria (Arabic: الجزائر IPA [ɛlʤɛˈzɛːʔir], Berber (Tamazight): Lz̦ayer
   [ldzæjər]), is the largest country on the African continent after
   Sudan. 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 its annexed territory, Western
   Sahara, in the west. Constitutionally, it is defined as an Islamic,
   Arab, and Amazigh (Berber) country. 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 that city's coast until becoming part of the
   mainland in 1525; al-jazā’ir is itself short for the 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.

History

   Algeria has been inhabited by Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least
   10,000 BC. From 1000 BC onwards, the Carthaginians became an influence
   on them, establishing settlements along the coast. Berber kingdoms
   began to emerge, most notably Numidia, seizing the opportunity offered
   by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage only to be taken
   over soon after by the Roman Republic in 200 BC. As the western Roman
   Empire collapsed, the Berbers became independent again in much of the
   area, while the Vandals took over parts of the area until later
   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 8th century.
   Roman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria
   Enlarge
   Roman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria

   After some decades of fierce resistance under leaders such as Kusayla
   and Kahina, the Berbers adopted Islam en masse, but almost immediately
   expelled the Umayyad 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 taking over many coastal cities, prompting some to seek
   help from the Ottoman Empire.

   Algeria was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Khair ad-Din and his
   brother Aruj, who 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 and Second Barbary War with the
   United States. Those piracy acts were the occasion of a slave trade,
   reducing people captured on the boats to slavery or attacking coastal
   villages in southern Europe, At the same time Europe also devoted
   itself it to piracy. But in the XIX century there was no corsairs. On
   the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in
   1830, Algerians were exterminated as explained by Olivier Le Cour
   Grandmaison.

   Contrary to Morocco and Tunisia, the conquest of Algeria was long and
   particularly violent since it resulted in the disappearance of about a
   third of the Algerian population. .

   The French Army subjected village after village, whereas it was enough
   to sign some agreements to impose a protectorate on Morocco and for
   Tunisia but it should be specified that what characterizes the
   colonization of Algeria and holds place of characteristic is that it
   acts of a colony of settlement.

   In 1794, when France was attacked on all sides, that its territory was
   invaded on several faces and that its people and his army were likely
   to be famished, the dey of Algiers Hussein offered to Convention all
   facilitated to make its purchases of corn since it did not find what
   nowhere to nourish its soldiers. Under the directory, since the war
   does not continue any less and that the treasure is empty, the dey of
   Algiers authorizes a loan of a million without interêts to France. The
   finished war, France does not honour its debt, any the modes which
   follow one another do not pay in Algeria the sums due and the dey is
   thus in cold with the French Consul, understanding that it will recover
   neither the payment of the deliveries having however been so profitable
   for the fight of the borrower against the European powers which had
   been united against the Revolution nor the lent money.

   In 1827, the dey of Algiers still discovers a fact much more serious,
   at the end is Regency in Calle, France had the concession of a
   commercial warehouse. The French government, by the voice of its Deval
   representative, had promised to the dey that the warehouse would not be
   strengthened - it was a site to make trade, but anything more - but
   France had strengthened it. Not obtaining explanations on behalf of the
   in writing solicited French government, April 30, 1827 the dey asked
   some the French Consul verbally. Being unaware of his requests openly,
   not condescending to answer, the consul took the thing top, then
   furious of such a contempt, the dey carried, insulted, and finally gave
   to the "representative of France" a blow of his drive out-fly. The
   government of the restoration and Charles X, anxious to regild the
   image of France abroad and to reinforce the royal authority in France,
   then found in this incident a pretext to intervene militarily.

   However, intense resistance from such muslim personalities as Emir
   Abdelkader, Ahmed Bey and Fatma N'Soumer made for a slow conquest of
   Algeria, not technically completed until the early 1900s when the last
   Tuareg were conquered.
   Constantine, Algeria 1840
   Enlarge
   Constantine, Algeria 1840

   Meanwhile, however, the French made Algeria an integral part of France,
   a status that would end only with the collapse of the Fourth Republic.
   Tens of thousands of settlers from France, Italy, Spain, and Malta
   moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupy the most prized
   parts of Algeria's cities, benefiting from the French government's
   confiscation of communally held land, and the application of modern
   agriculture techniques that increased the amount of arable land. People
   of European descent in Algeria settlers (or natives like Spanish people
   in Oran), as well as the native Algerian Jews (typically Sephardic in
   origin), became full French citizens starting from the end of the 19th
   century (the so-called Pieds-Noirs after the independence); by
   contrast, the vast majority of Muslim Algerians (even veterans of the
   French army) received neither French citizenship nor the right to vote.
   Algeria's social fabric was stretched to breaking point during this
   period: literacy plummeted , while land confiscation uprooted much of
   the population. However, the population increased steadily .

   Before the putsch of December 2, 1851 in France, even though the
   extension of colonisation was made difficult due to the maintain of
   intagibillity of individual property and banning transactions over
   tribe's territory, 131 000 Europeans including 66 000 French were
   installed in Algeria. This name replaces the old name "Possessions
   françaises dans le Nord de l'Afrique" not because of an official act,
   like a decree or an ordonance. Indeed, a letter from General SCHNEIDER,
   Ministre of War, dated from October 14, 1839 to Marechal VALEE General
   Governor states that the name Algérie (Algeria) shorter and most
   sgnificant, must be used in all acts and certificates issued by
   military and civil authorities.

   In 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the guerrilla
   Algerian War of Independence; after nearly a decade of urban and rural
   warfare, they succeeded in pushing France out in 1962. Most of the
   1,025,000 Pieds-Noirs, as well as 91,000 Harkis (pro-French Muslim
   Algerians serving in the French Army), together forming about 10% of
   the population of Algeria in 1962, fled Algeria for France in just a
   few months in the middle of that year.

   Algeria's first president, the FLN leader Ahmed Ben Bella, was
   overthrown by his former ally and defense 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 and this
   increased the state's wealth, especially after the 1973 oil crisis, but
   the Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil, bringing
   hardship when the price collapsed in the 1980s. In foreign policy
   Algeria was a member and leader of the 'non-aligned' nations. A dispute
   with Morocco over the Western Sahara nearly led to war. 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, agriculture was
   substantially reduced, and education, a rarity in colonial times, was
   extended nationwide, raising the literacy rate from less than 10% to
   over 60%. Improvements in healthcare led to a dramatic increase in the
   birthrate (7-8 children per mother) which had two consequences: 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 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, and
   elections were announced for 1991.

   In December 1991, the Islamic Salvation Front won the first round of
   the country's first multiparty elections. The military then canceled
   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
   (17-Jan-1992 to June 2002), often in unprovoked massacres of civilians.
   The question of who was responsible for these massacres remains
   controversial among academic observers; many were claimed by the Armed
   Islamic Group. After 1998, the war waned, and 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. Elections resumed in 1995, and on 27 April 1999, after a
   series of short-term leaders representing the military, Abdelaziz
   Bouteflika, the current president, was elected. 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, developing
   into an emerging economy. The high prices of oil & gas are being used
   by the new government to improve the county's infrastructure and
   especially improve industry and agricultural land. Recent overseas
   investment in Algeria has increased.

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. 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.

   Throughout the 1960s, Algeria supported many independence movements in
   sub-Saharan Africa, and was a leader in the Non-Aligned Movement. While
   it 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. Tensions between Algeria and Morocco, as well as
   issues relating to the Algerian Civil War, 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..

   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."

Military

   The Armed forces of Algeria are comprised of:
     * The People's National Army (ANP)
     * Algerian National Navy (MRA)
     * Algerian National 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 consits 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.

Administrative divisions

   Algeria is currently divided into 48 wilayas ( provinces), 553 dairas (
   counties) and 1541 baladiyahs ( municipalities). The capital and the
   largest city of Algerian wilayas, dairas, and baladiyahs has always the
   same name as the wilaya, the daira, or the baladiyah it is located in,
   the same counts 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, directed by
   the " Wali" ( Prefect), who 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. Currently (since 1983) they are:
   Map of the provinces of Algeria in alphabetical order.
   Enlarge
   Map of the provinces of Algeria in alphabetical order.

    1. Adrar
    2. Aïn Defla
    3. Aïn Témouchent
    4. Algiers
    5. Annaba
    6. Batna
    7. Béchar
    8. Béjaïa
    9. Biskra
   10. Blida
   11. Bordj Bou Arréridj
   12. Bouira
   13. Boumerdès
   14. Chlef
   15. Constantine
   16. Djelfa
   17. El Bayadh
   18. El Oued
   19. Sétif
   20. Ghardaïa
   21. Guelma
   22. Illizi
   23. Jijel
   24. Khenchela
   25. Laghouat
   26. Médéa
   27. Mila
   28. Mostaganem
   29. M'Sila
   30. Muaskar
   31. Naama
   32. Oran
   33. Ouargla
   34. Oum el-Bouaghi
   35. Relizane
   36. Saida
   37. El Tarf
   38. Sidi Bel Abbes
   39. Skikda
   40. Souk Ahras
   41. Tamanghasset
   42. Tébessa
   43. Tiaret
   44. Tindouf
   45. Tipasa
   46. Tissemsilt
   47. Tizi Ouzou
   48. Tlemcen

Geography

   The Hoggar Mountains.
   Enlarge
   The Hoggar Mountains.

   Satellite image of Algeria, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Algeria, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library

   Most of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and
   there are few good 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. Algiers, Oran and Constantine are the main cities.

   Algeria's climate is arid and hot, although the coastal climate is
   mild, and the winters in the mountainous areas can be severe. Algeria
   is prone to sirocco, a hot dust- and sand-laden wind especially common
   in summer.

Climate and hydrology

   Northern Algeria is in the temperate zone and enjoys 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 cold, but the humidity is
   high and houses are seldom adequately heated. In eastern Algeria, the
   average temperatures are somewhat lower, and on the steppes of the High
   Plateaus 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.

   In Algeria only a relatively small corner of the Sahara lies across the
   Tropic of Cancer in the torrid zone, but 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 northeasterly in summer change to westerly and
   northerly in winter and carry with them a general increase in
   precipitation from September to December, a decrease in the late winter
   and spring months, and a near absence of rainfall during the summer
   months.

Economy

   Algiers is the capital and economic hub of Algeria.
   Enlarge
   Algiers is the capital and economic hub of Algeria.

   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 14th in Petroleum reserves,
   containing 11.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves with estimates
   suggesting that the actual amount is even more. The Energy Information
   Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic
   feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves, the 8th largest in the
   world.

   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 Abdelaziz
   Bouteflika 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.

Agriculture

   Since Roman times Algeria has been noted for the fertility of its soil.
   About a quarter of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural
   pursuits. More than 7,500,000 acres (30,000 km²) 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.

   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 20th 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 fibre, are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The
   olive (both for its fruit and Petroleum) and tobacco are cultivated
   with great success.

   Algeria also exports figs, dates, esparto grass, and cork. It is the
   largest oat market in Africa.

Demographics

   Demographics of Algeria, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants
   in thousands.
   Enlarge
   Demographics of Algeria, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants
   in thousands.

   The current population of Algeria is 32,930,091 (July 2006 est.). 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
   substancially 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) pied-noir
   population, concentrated on the coast and forming a majority in certain
   cities. Almost all of this population left during or immediately after
   independence from France.

   Most Algerians are Arab or Berber, by language or identity, and of
   mixed Berber-Arab ancestry, the origin Berber being in a majority. The
   Berbers inhabited Algeria before the arrival of Arab tribes during the
   expansion of Islam, in the 7th 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.

   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.

Education

Structure of school system

   Basic
          Type of school providing this education Ecole fondamentale
          Length of program: 9 years
          Age range: age 6 to 15 old
          Certificate/diploma awarded: Brevet d'Enseignement fondamental

   General Secondary
          Type of school providing this education: Lycée 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 Secondary
          Type of school providing this education: Lycées d'Enseignment
          technique (technicum)
          Length of program: 3 years
          Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat technique

   Education in Algeria has been explained as pretty good compared to the
   other developing countries. Schooling in Algeria is compulsory and is
   attended by most children in Algeria. This lasts for 9 years. You start
   off at 6 years old and go through until you are 15 years old. 97% of
   boys attend school while 91% of girls attend school in Algeria. Algeria
   only has 10 universities across the whole country and a number of
   technical colleges. All of this tallies up to 350,000 students going to
   college or university.

Languages

   Algeria's official language, 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. 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 Ethnologue counts 18 living languages within
   Algeria, splitting both Arabic and Tamazight into several different
   languages, as well as mentioning the unrelated Korandje language.

   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 rare 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.

Culture

   [[Image:Amazigh_berber_language.PNG|thumb|350px| Bereber in North
   Africa [[Image:Algiers mosque.jpg|thumb|Mosque in Algiers.]] Modern
   Algerian literature, split between Arabic and French, has been strongly
   influenced by the country's recent history. Famous novelists of the
   20th 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. As early as Roman times, Apuleius, born in
   Mdaourouch, was native to what would become Algeria.

   In philosophy and the humanities, Malek Bennabi and Frantz Fanon are
   noted for their thoughts on decolonization, while 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 and M'Hamed Issiakhem are notable in
   recent years.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria

   There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria:
     * Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad
     * Casbah of Algiers
     * Djémila
     * M'Zab Valley
     * Tassili n'Ajjer
     * Timgad
     * Tipasa

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
