THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Full country name: PeopleÆs
Democratic Republic of Algeria
Area: 2,381,740 sq km
Population: 32 million
Capital City: Algiers
People: Arab-Berber (99%), European
less than 1%
Languages: Arabic (official), French,
Amazigh (national but not official
language)
Religion(s): Sunni Muslim (99%),
Christian and Jewish (1%)
Currency: 1 Algerian dinar (DA) = 100
centimes
Major political parties: Front Liberation
Nationale (FLN), Rassemblement
Nationale Democratique (RND), Front
des Forces Socialistes (FFS),
Rassemblement pour la Culture et la
Democratie (RCD), Mouvement de la
Societe pour la Paix (MSP)
Government: Republic
GEOGRAPHY
(28 00 N, 3 00 W)
Algeria is in North Africa, bordering
the Mediterranean Sea between
Morocco and Tunisia. It is the second
largest country in Africa (only slightly
smaller than Sudan). Over four fifths
of its territory is covered by the
Sahara desert.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
The Arabs arrived in the 7th Century.
The Turks held sway in the northern
coastal strip from the late middle ages
until the nineteenth century. In 1830,
Algeria was colonised by France and
ruled as part of the metropolitan
France from 1848 and 1962. A bitter
war of independence was fought
between 1954 and 1962, which claimed
the lives of up to 1.5 million people.
From independence in 1963 until the
late 1980s Algeria was a one-party
socialist state run by the FLN (National
Liberation Front).
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic economic facts
GDP: $59bn (2001)
GDP per head: $1,430 (2001)
Annual Growth: 3.8% (2001)
Inflation: 4.2% (2001)
Major Industries: Petroleum, natural
gas, light industries, mining, electrical,
petrochemical, food processing
Major trading partners: France, Italy,
USA, Germany
Exchange rate: ú1=127 dinars (October
2002), $1= 82 dinars (October 2002)
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Algeria signed an Association
Agreement with the European Union
(EU) in April 2002, which will require
Algeria to carry out certain economic
reforms over the next 12 years.
Algeria has traditionally been active in
the UN, as well as being a prominent
member of the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM), the African Union (AU) and the
Arab League. Algeria also sits on the
steering committee of the New
Partnership for AfricaÆs Development
Initiative (NEPAD).
Flags Of The World: al Djazair - Democratic
and Popular Algerian Republic
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