Location of Algeria. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia

Algeria Map. Source CIA World Factbook

Algeria is a large North African nation located on the Mediterranean Sea. 80% of the country is part of the Sahara Desert lying beyond the board ranges of the Atlas Mountains which parallel the coast. 

Alegria's major environmental issues include: soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water. Algeria's mountainous areas are subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season.

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 large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2006 merged with al-Qaida to form al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which since has launched an ongoing series of kidnappings and bombings - including high-profile, mass-casualty suicide attacks targeted against the Algerian government and Western interests. 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.

Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia

Geographic Coordinates: 28 00 N, 3 00 E

Area: 2,381,740 km² (2,381,740 km² land and 0 km² water)

arable land: 3.17%
permanent crops: 0.28%
other: 96.55% (2005)

Land Boundaries:  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

Coastline: 998 km

Maritime Claims:territorial sea: 12 nautical miles and an exclusive fishing zone: from 32-52nautical miles.

Natural Hazards: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season

Terrain: Mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain. The lowest point is Chott Melrhir (-40 metres). The highest point is Tahat (3,003 metres).

Climate: Arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

Government

Government Type: republic

Capital: Algiers

Independence Date: 5 July 1962 (from France)

Legal System: socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Environmental Agreements

Algeria is party to agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, and Wetlands.

People and Society

Population: 33,769,669 (July 2008 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 26.3% (male 4,528,919/female 4,349,746)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 11,699,701/female 11,509,619)
65 years and over: 5% (male 779,467/female 902,217) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 1.209% (2008 est.)

Birthrate: 17.03 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 4.62 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: 73.77 years

Total Fertility Rate: 1.82 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Literacy: 69.9% (male: 79.6% - female: 60.1% [2002 est.])

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 14.3 cu km (1997)

Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 6.07 cu km/yr (22% domestic, 13% industrial, 65% agricultural). Per capita: 185 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural products: wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle

Irrigated Land: 5,690 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc.

Energy

Conflict

International Disputes: Algeria, and many other states, rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; the Polisario Front, exiled in Algeria, represents the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco.

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf) IDPs: undetermined (civil war during 1990s) (2007)

Economy

The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the fourth-largest gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent years have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic indicators. Algeria is running substantial trade surpluses and building up record foreign exchange reserves. Algeria has decreased its external debt to less than 10% of GDP after repaying its Paris Club and London Club debt in 2006. Real GDP has risen due to higher oil output and increased government spending. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards. Structural reform within the economy, such as development of the banking sector and the construction of infrastructure, moves ahead slowly hampered by corruption and bureaucratic resistance.

GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $224.7 billion (2007 est.)

GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $131.6 billion (2007 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 4.6% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $6,500 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 8.2%
industry: 61.4%
services: 30.4% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 25% (2005 est.)

Industries: petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing

Exports: petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%

Export Partners: US 29.4%, Italy 13.8%, Spain 9.6%, Canada 8.2%, France 7.4%, Netherlands 5%, Brazil 4.2% (2006)

Imports: capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods

Import Partners: France 19.1%, China 8.9%, Italy 8.7%, Spain 6.1%, US 5.6%, Germany 5.5%, Turkey 4.2% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $370.6 million (2005 est.)

Currency: Algerian dinar (DZD)

Ports and Terminals: Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Djendjene, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda

Further Reading

1.   CIA World Factbook