Advertising

Algeria Flag detail
Home Earth Continents Africa Africa Map Algeria
All Countries



Country Profile Government Maps News Culture Business Tourism World Heritage Sites Education Environment History Native Info


Algeria


 
The Hoggar Mountains in southeastern Algeria, seen from Assekrem high plateau
The Hoggar Mountains in southeastern Algeria, seen from Assekrem high plateau. The mountain range is a highland region in the central Sahara with an average elevation of more than 900 m.
Image: Kritli hichem

 
Location map Algeria. North Africa, Algeria
Location map of Algeria


Flag of Algeria
Flag of Algeria

Algeria in brief

Destination Algeria, a Nations Online country profile of the largest Maghreb state in North Africa, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the north. It borders Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Morocco in the west, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali in the southwest and Niger in the southeast. The country shares maritime borders with Italy and Spain.

Algeria has been the largest country in Africa since the partition of Sudan. It covers an area of almost 2.4 million km²; for comparison, it is four times the size of France or about 3.5 times the size of the U.S. state of Texas.
The Tell Atlas mountain range separates the narrow coastal plains along the Mediterranean from the southern desert. More than 80% of Algeria's landscape lies in the western part of the Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world.

Algeria has a population of 44.7 million people (in 2021). About 90% of Algerians live in the northern coastal area. The capital and largest city is Algiers, a seaside metropolis and the country's primate city. The official language is Arabic; French plays an important role as an educational, commercial and lingua franca. Tamazight, the language of the indigenous Berber, has been constitutionally recognized as a national language. According to the constitution, Islam is the state religion. Most Algerians, both Arabs and Amazigh, are Sunni Muslims.

 
What is Algeria famous for?


Rock Art of the Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria
Rock Art of the Tassili n'Ajjer.
Image: Salaheldine2300

Algeria is known for its traditional hospitality, its Mediterranean climate in the north, and the Sahara, which covers nearly 90% of the country.

Rock art drawings and Rock carving at Wadi Djerat in the Tassili massif (Tassili n'Ajjer). The rock paintings and engravings included depictions of elephants, giraffes, rhinos, and strange human figures.

The hot springs and travertine walls of Hammam Maskhoutine.

Djémila, a small mountain village near the north coast east of Algiers, where some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in North Africa are located.

Algiers, (Arabic Al-Jazāʾir), the capital city and chief seaport of Algeria is known for the "Casbah of Algiers" with the remains of the citadel, old mosques and Ottoman-style palaces.

Albert Camus, a French philosopher, author, and journalist, born in Algeria, is probably the most famous personality of the country.


Algeria | Al Jaza'ir


Background:

Algeria's indigenous Berber people have been under foreign rule for much of the last 3000 years. The Phoenicians (1000 BC) and the Romans (200 BC) were the most important of these. With the incursion of Muslim Arabs in the 7th-8th century into the region, Islamic influence came to the Berbers and almost a millennium of domination by Arab dynasties.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the region was placed under the protection of the Ottoman Sultan of Istanbul. For more than 300 years, the country was reigned by Ottoman beys, pashas, and aghas. The Ottoman period ended with the beginning of the French colonization in 1830.

The French occupation condemned the Algerian population to economic, social, and political inferiority and sparked decades of armed resistance. After a century of rule by France, Algeria became independent in 1962, and Arabic became the official language - with a little help from Quran teachers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Since then, le pouvoir ("the power"), an elite of business leaders and generals behind a democratic façade, has run Algeria.

Algeria is a member state of the League of Arab States.

 

 


Country Profile

Official Name:
Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah
short form: Al Jaza'ir
int'l long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
int'l short form: Algeria

ISO Country Code: dz
Actual Time: Sun-Mar-17  20:25
Local Time = UTC +1h

Country Calling Code: +213

Capital City: Algiers (Alger, Algier)
(pop.) 3 000 000

Principal Towns: Oran, Constantine, Annaba, Blida, Setif, Sidi be Abbes.

...show more



 


Official Sites of Algeria


Conceptual design for the future Algerian parliament building in Algiers.
Conceptual design for the future Algerian parliament and other government buildings in the Algerian capital Algiers.
Image: © Bureau Architecture Méditerranée


Political system
According to the 1996 constitution, Algeria is a semi-presidential republic headed by a head of state elected by popular vote every five years. The president appoints and dismisses the prime minister, who is responsible only to him, as head of the executive branch.
In April 2019, the country's aged President Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika, who has ruled the country for 20 years, stepped down after fierce popular protests against his re-candidacy for the 2019 presidential election.
As of December 2019, Algeria's new president is Abdelmadjid Tebboune.


Government
Note: External links will open in a new browser window.

Présidence de la République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire
Website of the Algerian presidency. The picture on the website shows the entrance of the presidential palace El Mouradia. (under construction)

Algerian Head of Government
Official government website of the Prime Minister of Algeria (in Arabic/French).

The Algerian Parliament consists of the People's National Assembly (Assemblée Populaire Nationale) and the Council of the Nation (Conseil de la Nation/Majlis al-'Umma).

Conseil de la Nation/Majlis al-'Umma
The National Council of the Nation (Senate) (in Arabic).

Assemblée Populaire Nationale
The People's National Assembly is the lower house of the Algerian Parliament.


Algerian Constitutional Council
Algeria's highest judicial authority.

Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



Diplomatic Missions

Permanent Mission of Algeria to the United Nations in New York
Site of the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the UN.
Algerian Embassy in the U.S.
Algerian Embassy in Washington DC.
Algerian General Consulate London
Algerian Consulate in the UK.
Algerian Embassy in London
Algerian Embassy in the UK.
Algerian Embassy in Paris
Algerian Embassy in France.


Statistics

Office National des Statistiques de l'Algérie (ONS)
National Office of Statistics.

 Ministries and National Government Agencies of Algeria
More Official Sites of Algeria. 


Weather
Office National de la Météorologie
National Office of Meteorology.



 


 


Maps from Algeria



Algeria political Map
Map of Algeria (click map to enlarge)
Image: © nationsonline.org


Maps


Map of Algeria
Political Map of Algeria.
Google Earth Google Earth Algeria
Searchable map/satellite view of Algeria.
Google Earth Google Earth Algiers (El-Jazair)
Searchable map/satellite view of Algeria's capital city.

Map of the Mediterranean Sea
Map of Northern Africa and the Middle East
Political Map of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East.
Map of Africa
Political Map of Africa.
Relief Map of Africa

 

 


News of Algeria



Algeria newspaper covers

Online News from Algeria



Media crushed by draconian laws
Two years after the "Hirak" anti-government protests began in February 2019, the political situation in Algeria is still unstable, and the freedom to inform is in greater danger than ever. [RSF]

According to Al Jazeera and other media outlets, the independent press in Algeria is under increasing pressure, despite a guarantee of press freedom in the country's newly-approved constitution.


Presse-dz
Algerian Press Portal.
Algérie Presse Service
More Official News by the Algerian News Agency.
New Press Algerie
Algerian Photo Press Agency.


Echorouk
Algerian and international news in Arabic, English and French.
El Ayem Journal
Arabic-language Algerian daily.
El Djazair
Arabic-language Algerian news.
El Khabar
Independent Daily (Arabic, English and French).
El Massa
Arabic language evening newspaper in Algiers.
El Moudjahid
State-run daily (in French and English-language).
L'xpression
Algerian national daily newspaper. (in French).
Liberte
National news, weekly (French).
Ouest Tribune
Oran region newspaper (in French).
La Tribune DZ
National news, weekly (in French).
El Watan
National and international news (French).

TV/Radio
Radio Algérienne
Radio Algeria is Algeria's state-owned public radio broadcaster.
Echorouk TV
Echorouk TV is an Algerian Arabic language satellite television channel broadcasting from Algiers.

International News sources
al-Bab
Algeria: latest news.
Al Jazeera
Arabic news network.
The Guardian - Algeria
The Guardian view on Arab democracies.


 


Arts & Culture of Algeria

The Regional Theater at Place du 1er Novembre in Oran, Algeria
The Place du 1er Novembre and the building of the Regional Theater in the port city of Oran.
Image: Gwili


Arts & Culture



Algerian Culture - Arts and Crafts
Article by the Algerian Embassy about arts and crafts in Algeria.

Musée national des Beaux-arts d’Alger
National Museum of Fine Art, Algiers.

Bardo National Museum
The Bardo National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography is a national museum in Algiers, Algeria. The building is a former Moorish villa. It was opened as a museum in 1927

Museum of Modern Art of Algiers
The Museum of Modern Art of Algiers is an art museum in Algiers. It was inaugurated in 2007.

Mano Dayak, 1949-1995
Article about the internationally renowned Tuareg leader of the Tamoust Liberation Front (FLT) and the so-called "Tuareg problem."

Kabylie

Kabylie culture forum.

Sahara International Film Festival
The International Sahara Film Festival was first held in 2004. It is an annual event that takes place in the Sahrawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria, near the border with Western Sahara.


Music

Dj Cheb i Sabbah (1947 - 2013)
Born in Algeria, Dj Cheb i Sabbah might be best described as a ritual music "hajji," a musical pilgrim of the spirit. Listen to DJ Cheb I Sabbah - Ganga Dev.

Cheb Khaled (Khaled)
Cheb Khaled, Algerian raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Oran. Listen to Cheb Khaled - Aïcha


Theater
Opéra d'Alger
Algiers new Opera House.

Regional Theater of Oran
The Abdelkader Alloula is the premier performing arts venue in Oran.
 

 


 


Business & Economy of Algeria



Algerian Chamber of Commerce in Algiers, Algeria
Algerian Chamber of Commerce in Algiers.
Image: lionel.viroulaud



Economy of Algeria

The Algerian economy is based on the export of oil and natural gas. The country supplies large amounts of natural gas to Europe, and energy exports are the backbone of its economy.

Oil and gas account for about 95% of its export and one-third of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), despite fluctuations in world market prices.

Algeria is classified as an upper-middle-income country by the World Bank. However, poverty remains widespread and unemployment high, particularly among Algeria's youth.
The economy is dominated by the state. The Algerian government has halted the privatization of state-owned industries and imposed restrictions on imports and foreign involvement in its economy.

Starting with a Socio-Economic Recovery Plan, the Algerian authorities have now announced a reform effort to shift the economy toward a sustainable, private sector-led model and engage in a transition toward renewable energy, reduce severe imbalances in the country's macroeconomy, and protect the population's livelihoods. [World Bank]



Banque d'Algérie
Central Bank of Algeria.

La Chambre Algérienne du Commerce et d ’Industrie
Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

L'Agence nationale du développement des investissements (ANDI) (ANDI)
Algerian National Agency of Investment Development.


Major companies in Algeria

Hamoud Boualem vintage advertising
Vintage advertising sign from 1889 from Soda brand Hamoud Boualem.
Image: Hamoud Boualem
Algérie Poste
Algeria's postal service.

Asmidal
Algerian fertilizers and pesticides.

Cevital
Cevital is a family-run agribusiness and household appliances conglomerate.

Djezzy
Djezzy is an Algerian mobile communications company. The company was founded in 2002 and belongs to the Orascom Telecom group.

Hamoud Boualem
Hamoud Boualem is an Algerian soft drink manufacturing company. The family business was founded in 1878 in Algiers by Youssef Hamoud.

Naftal
Algerian gas stations.

Saidal
Saidal Group is an Algerian pharmaceutical company created in 1982. Saidal Group is the largest pharmaceutical company in Algeria and one of the largest in Africa.

Sonatrach
The national state-owned oil company of Algeria.


Transportation
Air Algérie
Algeria's national flag carrier serves domestic airports and destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Air Express Algeria
Air Express Algeria was founded in 2002. The services provided by the company include transportation of personnel, medical evacuation, VIP transport and light cargo.

Tassili Airlines
passenger airline, based in Algiers, owned by Sonatrach, the national state-owned oil company of Algeria.

Algiers International Airport
Houari Boumediene Airport is Algeria's principal international airport (IATA code: ALG).


Railroad
Société Nationale des Transports Ferroviaires (SNTF)
The SNTF is the national Railroad in Algeria.

Ferries
Algérie Ferries
Algérie Ferries is a state-owned Algerian shipping company.


Copperware trade in in the Casbah of Algiers.
Handicrafts in the Casbah of Algiers. The copperware trade is one of the oldest crafts in Algeria; it has been perpetuated around casbahs and communities devoted to that art.
Image: Nour Abdelatif


 


 


Tourism in Algeria



Spring in Akbil, Ain El Hammam, Tell Atlas mountain range
Spring in Akbil, a town in the Tell Atlas mountain range in Tizi Ouzou Province in the northeast of Algeria.
Image: Rabah Boualia


Destination Algeria - Travel and Tour Guides


Algeria could be a top travel destination with its Mediterranean coastlines, stunning landscapes, well-preserved Roman ruins, prehistoric art, and Saharan desert oases. But while neighbors built hotels and marketed their charms, the country was plunged into a brutal 1990s civil war with Islamist militants, a conflict that left the country deeply scarred and ruled by a cabal of army officers and independence-era politicians who have turned inward and rely on oil to finance the state and accumulate wealth. [1]

Algeria's fantastic diversity of landscapes and extremely rich cultural legacy (boasting no less than 7 World Heritage sites), combined with its high level of economic and social development (at least by African standards), could easily make it one of the most popular tourist spots in Africa. Unfortunately, the country still has a number of security issues, such as armed terrorist groups, which often target foreigners. [2]


Advertisement

Country Guides

Algeria - Le voyage du couer
Official website of the National Tourist Office of Algeria (in French).


Tourism Algeria
Hotels, flights, ferries, car rental, camel tours and other practical information.

Algeria Guide
An Algeria guide and travel directory.

Wikivoyage Logo Wikivoyage: Algeria
Wikivoyage's travel guide to Algeria with its regions, cities and attractions.


Algiers center at the waterfront with Algier station and the Algerian parliament
Algiers center at the waterfront, with Algier station (Gare d'Alger, left), the ramps leading from the port to Boulevard Zighoud Youcef and the building of the Algerian parliament (Assemblée Populaire Nationale).
Image: Lazhar Neftien
 

 


 


UNESCO World Heritage Sites


Landscape of Tassili n'Ajjer plateau Algeria
Tassili n'Ajjer, located in a strange lunar landscape of great geological interest, this site has one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world.
Image: Chettouh Nabil
 

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria
There are seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria, six cultural and one mixed. Additionally, six properties are listed in UNESCO's Tentative List, an inventory of those properties which each state party intends to consider for nomination. (see the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria).

The following links lead to a detailed description of the respective World Heritage Site at UNESCO.

World Heritage Site Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad
In a mountainous site of extraordinary beauty lie the ruins of Al Qal'a. The city was founded in 1007 by Hammad (son of Bologhine, the founder of Algeria) and abandoned in 1090 under the threat of a Hilalian invasion, a confederation of Arabian tribes. Al Qal'a was the first capital of the Hammad emirs and was characterized by great splendor.

World Heritage Site Djémila
Djémila (or Cuicul) is located 900 m above sea level and is considered one of the jewels of Roman architecture in North Africa. The Roman colony with a forum, temples, basilicas, triumphal arches and houses was founded during the reign of Nerva (96 - 98 AD).

World Heritage Site Kasbah of Algiers
The Kasbah of Algiers is a unique type of medina (the oldest part of an Islamic city). The medina is located in one of the most beautiful coastal areas on the Mediterranean, overlooking the islands where a Carthaginian trading post was established in the 4th century BC. In the Kasbah are remains of the citadel, old mosques, Ottoman palaces and residential quarters.

World Heritage Site M'Zab Valley
In north central Algeria—off the tip of Grand Erg Occidental lies M'Zab Valley filled with palm groves and dotted with centuries-old settlements known as ksour, fortified villages and the traditional human habitat, created in the 10th century. The ancient urban agglomeration is located in the northern Sahara Desert, 600 km south of Algiers.


World Heritage Site Tassili n'Ajjer
On a vast plateau in southeast Algeria at the borders of Libya and Niger is the strange lunar landscape of the ‘rock forests’ of Tassili n'Ajjer. The site has one of the most important collections of prehistoric cave art in the world. More than 15,000 drawings and engravings record the climatic changes, the animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara from 6000 BC to the first centuries of the present era.


Remains of the ancient Roman colony at Djémila, Algeria.
The remains of the ancient Roman colony Cuicul at Djémila.
Image: Stefan Krasowski
 

 


Education in Algeria



Building of the University of Algiers 3, Algeria
The University of Algiers 3 in Dely Ibrahim in the western part of the capital Algiers.
Image: idir arezki


The Algerian educational system is divided into several levels: preparatory, basic (primary and middle), secondary, vocational and finally, higher education. Classical Arabic is the compulsory language of instruction for the first nine years. French is taught from the third year onwards and is also the language of instruction for advanced mathematics and science courses.

Ministry of Education Algeria
The Ministry of National Education is the Algerian ministry in charge of education in Algeria.

Abou Bekr Belkaid University
The University of Tlemcen.

Badji Mokhtar University
The public higher education institution UBMA is located in Annaba.

Université d'Alger
The University of Algiers Benyoucef Benkhedda, known as Université d'Alger 1, is Algiers' oldest and most prestigious university, founded in 1909.

Université d'Alger 2
University Abou Elkacem saâd Allah, known as Université d'Alger 2, is a public university in Bouzareah, a suburb of Algiers.

Université d'Alger 3
The University of Algiers Ibrahim Sultan Chibout, known as Université d'Alger 3, is a public university located in Dely Ibrahim, a suburb of Algiers.

Université Frères Mentouri - Constantine 1
The university is located in the city of Constantine, the cultural capital of eastern Algeria.

Wikipedia W List of universities in Algeria
Wikipedia list of universities in Algeria.



 


Environment & Nature



Cap Carbon in the National Park Gourava
Cap Carbon in the National Park of Gouraya, a designated biosphere reserve, is located in the Kabylie region near the town of Béjaïa.
Image: Chettouh Nabil


Algeria's environmental issues
Algeria has a number of environmental problems such as air pollution in major cities, soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices, desertification, dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents that lead to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters. The Mediterranean Sea, in particular, is polluted by oil waste, soil erosion and fertilizer runoff.


Algeria - Environment & the Fight against Climate Change
EU article about Algeria's responsibilities on various administrative levels for climate change and the environment.

Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD)
Biodiversity Facts Algeria.

Centre National de Formation Environnemental
The National Center for Environmental Development CNFE has a nice website and is sponsored by big industry (in French).

Fondation Déserts du Monde (dead link)
World Deserts Foundation was an intergovernmental organization to fight desertification and poverty and preserve and enhance the cultures of peoples of the deserts (site in French).

Association pour la protection de l'environnement de Béni -Isguen
The Association for the protection of the environment of Beni -Isguen - APEB is part of the RADDO network, an international network of associations active in the Maghreb and the Sahel, for the safeguard of oases and the promotion of sustainable development.

RADDO
RADDO is a network of associations active in the Maghreb and the Sahel to safeguard oases and promote sustainable development in the oasis environment. In close collaboration with local actors, it is present in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Chad and Niger.

 

 


Algeria History



Painting of an action between an English ship and vessels of the Barbary Corsairs
A battle between an English ship and barbarian privateers.
Painting: Willem van de Velde de Jonge (1633–1707)


Much of Algeria's history took place in the fertile coastal plains of North Africa, the region known as the Maghreb. To this day, North Africa has served as a transit region for people moving to Europe or the Middle East, or vice versa, and so the region's inhabitants have been influenced by peoples from other areas, including the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Turks, Spanish, and French.

History of Algeria
From ancient times to the recent history of Algeria.

Algerian History - A chronology of key events
Timeline of Algeria's history by the BBC.

Wikipedia W History of Algeria
Page about Algeria's rich history by Wikipedia.

Barbary pirates
The story of the Barbary corsairs, Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli.

 

 


Indigenous People of Algeria



Singing women of the Sahara
Singing women of the Sahara - Tuareg of Algeria.
Image: Amine loua

Indigenous peoples in Algeria
There are ten Amazigh associations whose mission is to protect and promote the Amazigh language and culture in Algeria.

The Berbers
Al-Bab about the Berbers.

Les Berbères en Afrique du Nord
Article about Indigenous People in Algeria. (In French)

Provisional Goverment of Kabylie
The Kabyle Provisional Government is a self-proclaimed provisional government in the form of an association formed in Paris by the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia and aimed at declaring the independence of Kabylia.

 

 


Additional Information


Selected country profiles of Algeria published by international organizations.


Advertisement

Amnesty International: Algeria
Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights.

BBC Country Profile: Algeria
Country profiles by the British public service broadcaster.

BTI Transformation Index Algeria
Algeria Country Report 2020 by Bertelsmann Stiftung.

FAO: Algeria
UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Freedom House: Algeria
The U.S. government-funded non-profit organization whose goal is to promote liberal democracies worldwide.

GlobalEDGE: Algeria
Algeria ranking by the Global business knowledge portal.

The Heritage Foundation: Algeria
Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank.

Human Rights Watch: Algeria
HRW conducts research and advocacy on human rights.

OEC: Algeria
The Observatory of Economic Complexity provides the latest international trade data.

Reporters Without Borders: Algeria
RSF (Reporters sans frontières) is an international NGO that defends and promotes media freedom.

Wikipedia: Algeria
Wikipedia's Algeria page in many languages.

World Bank: Algeria
World Development Indicators database.

The CIA World Factbook -- Algeria
CIA World Factbook Algeria Page.
 

 



 

Other Countries of Northern Africa:
Egypt | Libya | Morocco | Sudan | Tunisia | Western Sahara

Other Countries in the Mediterranean:
Albania | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Cyprus | Egypt | France | Gaza Strip | Greece | Israel | Italy | Lebanon
Libya | Malta | Monaco | Montenegro | Morocco | Portugal | Slovenia | Spain | Syria | Tunisia | Turkey

Maps of Countries in North Africa
Algeria Map | Egypt Map | Libya Map | Morocco Map | Sudan Map | Tunisia Map