Alegeria, one of the largest countries in Africa, is situated on the north of this continent. Its closeness to Europe and Asia plays an important role not only in history – especially the Romans and Islamists, but also in tourism and economy nowadays.

This big country lying on the coast of Mediterranean Sea borders with Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, and Morocco and the Western Sahara in the west.

The largest parts of the country are the Atlas mountain ranges and the Sahara desert. Climate depends on geographical location and the season, so it is mild and humid, hot and desertlike and even cold and chilly.

Politics and Economy

The official name is the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria with Abdelaziz Bouteflika as a president. The total area is 2,381,741 sq km. The country is divided into 48 provinces, 553 counties and 1,541 municipalities. The capital city is Algiers. Algeria has petroleum and natural gas reserves, which made the fossil fuels energy sector the most important for the country. Some of the agricultural products are olives, tabacco, crin vegetal, cereal grains or citruses. Algeria exports figs, dates, esparto grass, cork and mainly oat. In recent years the International Monetary Fund has helped a lot. The government has made a big effort in reduction in foreign debt, attracting foreign and domestic investment, reducing high unemployment and improving living standards.

People and Language

Algeria has the population of about 33 000 000. Almost all Algerians live along the Mediterranean coast. Nearly all of them are Muslims, Arabs, Berbers or mixed Arab-Berbers. The official language is arabic, but you can hear berber language, tuareg or french too. The currency is algerian dinar. Housing and medicine are still the biggest problems.

History

The first inhabitants were Berbers and Carthaginians. They came around 10,000 BC. Before the arival of the Arabs, the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals and Byzantines ruled over the country or its parts. Gradually the Berbers adopted Islam. In 1830 the French invaded Algiers. They made Algeria an integral part of France, although the conquest was very violent. During 1954-1955 the uprisings were held. This led to the peace negotiations, and in July 1962 Algeria was proclaimed independent. In September 1962 Ahmed Ben Bella was formally elected president. The country became socialistic and dictatorial. Left-wingers and Islamic ´intégristes´ protested against one-party rule.
In December 1991 the first multi-party elections happended, but the results led
to the Civil war, which finished in 2002. Algeria is now recovering and developing
into modern state.

Culture

In Algeria there are lots of reminders showing the influence of Middle East, Africa and southern Europe – cave paintings, dolmens,the mausoleum of Berber kings, Roman and Arabic cities, rare sights of Islamic art, modern architecture... Famous novelist like Albert Camus and Assia Djebar were born there. Typical algerian musical genres are rai, chaabi, kabyle and Andalusi music. The sights listed in UNESCO include e.g. Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, Djémila and Timgad, M'Zab Valley, Tassili n'Ajjer and Casbah of Algiers.

What to do in Algeria

Algeria offers great variety of activities. The only thing you have to pay attention is weather. Then you can explore the inland countryside, relax on the coastline or do a lot of sightseeing. If you would like to learn something about Algeria, you can visit some of the museums.