Background After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 and which resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces and conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide reelection victory. 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.
Location total: 2,381,740 sq km land: 2,381,740 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative total: 6,343 km border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km
Irrigated land Total: 6.07 cu km/yr (22%/13%/65%) Per capita: 185 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Median age total: 25.5 years male: 25.2 years female: 25.7 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.016 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female total population: 1.015 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate total: 28.78 deaths/1,000 live births male: 32.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 24.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth total population: 73.52 years male: 71.91 years female: 75.21 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a high risk in some locations (2007)
Nationality noun: Algerian(s) adjective: Algerian
Ethnic groups note: almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab; the minority who identify themselves as Berber live mostly in the mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algiers; the Berbers are also Muslim but identify with their Berber rather than Arab cultural heritage; Berbers have long agitated, sometimes violently, for autonomy; the government is unlikely to grant autonomy but has offered to begin sponsoring teaching Berber language in schools
Religions definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.9% male: 79.6% female: 60.1% (2002 est.)
Country name conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria conventional short form: Algeria local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah local short form: Al Jaza'ir
Government type name: Algiers geographic coordinates: 36 45 N, 3 03 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions chief of state: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Abdelaziz BELKHADEM cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 8 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA reelected president for second term; percent of vote - Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA 85%, Ali BENFLIS 6.4%, Abdellah DJABALLAH 5%
Legislative branch elections: National People's Assembly - last held 17 May 2007 (next to be held in 2012); Council of Nations (Senate) - last held 28 December 2006 (next to be held in 2009) election results: National People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FLN 136, RND 61, MSP 52, PT 26, RCD 19, FNA 13, other 49, independents 33; Council of Nations - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FLN 29, RND 12, MSP 3, RCD 1, independents 3, presidential appointees (unknown affiliation) 24; note - Council seating reflects the number of replaced council members rather than the whole Council
Judicial branch note: a law banning political parties based on religion was enacted in March 1997
Political pressure groups and leaders chief of mission: Ambassador Amine KHERBI chancery: 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2800 FAX: [1] (202) 667-2174
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Robert S. FORD embassy: 5 Chemin Cheikh Bachir, El-Ibrahimi, El-Biar 16000 Algiers mailing address: B. P. 408, Alger-Gare, 16030 Algiers telephone: [213] 70-08-2000 FAX: [213] 21-60-7355
Flag description agriculture: 8.1% industry: 61% services: 30.9% (2007 est.)
Labor force lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index revenues: $58.5 billion expenditures: $41.35 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt general assessment: a weak network of fixed-main lines, which remains low at less than 10 telephones per 100 persons, is partially offset by the rapid increase in mobile cellular subscribership; in 2006, combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density surpassed 70 telephones per 100 persons domestic: privatization of Algeria's telecommunications sector began in 2000; three mobile cellular licenses have been issued and, in 2005, a consortium led by Egypt's Orascom Telecom won a 15-year license to build and operate a fixed-line network in Algeria; the license will allow Orascom to develop high-speed data and other specialized services and contribute to meeting the large unfulfilled demand for basic residential telephony; internet broadband services began in 2003 with approximately 200,000 subscribers in 2006 international: country code - 213; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber- optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East and Asia; microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat, Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations total: 52 over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 98 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 26 914 to 1,523 m: 44 under 914 m: 25 (2007)
Heliports total: 3,973 km standard gauge: 2,888 km 1.435-m gauge (283 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,085 km 1.055-m gauge (2006)
Roadways total: 108,302 km paved: 76,028 km unpaved: 32,274 km (2004)
Merchant marine total: 35 ships (1000 GRT or over) 694,686 GRT/707,251 DWT by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 8, chemical tanker 2, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 4, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 12 (UK 12) (2007)
Ports and terminals males age 19-49: 8,033,049 females age 19-49: 7,926,351 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service males age 19-49: 6,590,079 females age 19-49: 6,711,285 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually males age 18-49: 374,639 females age 19-49: 369,021 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf) IDPs: 400,000-600,000 (conflict between government forces, Islamic insurgents) (2006)
Trafficking in persons current situation: Algeria is a transit and destination country for men, women, and children from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; many victims willingly migrate to Algeria en route to European countries with the help of smugglers, where they are often forced into prostitution, labor, and begging to pay off their smuggling debt; some Algerian children are reportedly trafficked within the country for domestic servitude tier rating: Tier 3 - Algeria does not adequately identify trafficking victims among illegal immigrants; the government did not take serious law enforcement actions to punish traffickers who force women into commercial sexual exploitation or men into involuntary servitude; the government reported no investigations of trafficking of children for domestic servitude or improvements in protection services for victims of trafficking
n 1: a republic in northwestern Africa on the Mediterranean Sea with a population that is predominantly Sunni Muslim; colonized by France in the 19th century but gained autonomy in the early 1960s [syn: Algeria, Algerie, Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria]
geographical name country NW Africa bordering on the Mediterranean capital Algiers area 918,497 square miles (2,390,315 square kilometers), population 22,971,000 • Algerianadjective or noun
