Algeria facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids People's Democratic Republic of Algeria الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية (Arabic) al-Jumhūriyatu l-Jazāʾiriyatu d-Dīmuqrāṭiyatu sh‑Shaʿbiyah
Flag Emblem
Motto: بِالشَّعْبِ و لِلشَّعْبِ "Biš-šaʿb wa liš-šaʿb" "By the people and for the people"
Anthem: قَسَمًا Qasaman "We Pledge"
Location of Algeria (dark green)
Capital and largest city	Algiers 36°42′N 3°13′E / 36.700°N 3.217°E / 36.700; 3.217
Official languages	Arabic Berber
National vernacular	Algerian Arabic
Foreign languages	French English
Ethnic groups	See Ethnic groups
Religion (2012)	99% Sunni Islam (official) <1% others
Demonym(s)	Algerian
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic

• President	Abdelmadjid Tebboune
• Prime Minister	Nadir Larbaoui
• Council President	Salah Goudjil

Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Council of the Nation
• Lower house	People's National Assembly
Formation

• Numidia	202 BC
• Regency of Algiers	1516
• French Algeria	5 July 1830
• Independence	5 July 1962

Area
• Total	2,381,741 km² (919,595 sq mi) (10th)
Population
• 2024 estimate	46,700,000 (33rd)
• Density	19/km² (49.2/sq mi) (171th)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$768.52 billion, 2024 est.) (39th)
• Per capita	$16,483 (2024 est.) (99th)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$266.78 billion (2024 est.) (50th)
• Per capita	$5,722 (2024 est.) (109th)
Gini (2011)	27.6 low
HDI (2022)	0.745 high · 93rd
Currency	Algerian dinar (DZD)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Calling code	+213
ISO 3166 code	DZ
Internet TLD	.dz .الجزائر

Algeria on a world map

Algeria (official name: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria) is a country in the Western part of North Africa. It is the largest country in Africa. Its name comes from the capital city of Algiers. It is the largest country in Africa. Algeria is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the north, Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mauritania and Mali in the southwest, Western Sahara in the west, and Morocco in the northwest.

History

It is estimated that Algeria has had people since 10,000 BC. This can be seen in Tassili National Park. By 600 BC, Phoenicians were at Tipasa. The first Muslim Arabs came to Algeria in the mid-7th century. Many people chose this religion.

In the 11th century, the Arab tribes of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym were established between Tunisia and eastern Algeria. The famous mathematician, Fibonacci (1170—1250), lived in Algeria as a teenager. This is where he learned the Hindu-Arabic number system and realized it was simpler to use. In the 1500s and 1700s, the Spanish Empire ruled a lot of Algeria. Algeria was made a part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Pirates worked from the Barbary Coast. They took people to sell as slaves.

France ruled Algeria starting in 1830. In 1954, the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale or FLN) wanted freedom from France. They fought a war. Algeria became independent from France on July 5, 1962. In 1963, Ahmed Ben Bella became the first President of Algeria.

The Algerian Civil War started in 1991. It ended in 2002. After many people protested, like in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the government stopped the state of emergency on February 24, 2011.

Geography

A large part of southern Algeria is the Sahara Desert. The Aures and Nememcha mountain ranges are in the north. The highest point is Mount Tahat at 9,852 ft.(3,003 m).

Languages

Official languages are Arabic and Berber. French is widely spoken, too.

Population

Algeria's population is about 39.5 million people. There are over 40 cities with more than 100,000 people.

Divisions

There are 48 provinces (since 1983) in Algeria, they are:

1 Adrar

2 Chlef

3 Laghouat

4 Oum el Bouaghi

5 Batna

6 Bejaaa

7 Biskra

8 Bechar

9 Blida

10 Bouira

11 Tamanghasset

12 Tebessa

13 Tlemcen

14 Tiaret

15 Tizi Ouzou

16 Algiers

17 Djelfa

18 Jijel

19 Setif

20 Saïda

21 Skikda

22 Sidi Bel Abbes

23 Annaba

24 Guelma

25 Constantine

26 Medea

27 Mostaganem

28 M'Sila

29 Mascara

30 Ouargla

31 Oran

32 El Bayadh

33 Illizi

34 Bordj Bou Arréridj

35 Boumerdès

36 El Tarf

37 Tindouf

38 Tissemsilt

39 El Oued

40 Khenchela

41 Souk Ahras

42 Tipasa

43 Mila

44 Ain Defla

45 Naama

46 Ain Temouchent

47 Ghardaia

48 Relizane

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria:

Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, the first capital of the Hammadid empire
Tipasa, a Phoenician and later Roman town
Djémila and Timgad, both Roman ruins
M'Zab Valley, a limestone valley containing a large urbanized oasis
the Casbah, important citadel of Algiers.
Tassili n'Ajjer, a mountain range and the only natural World Heritage Sites

Interesting facts about Algeria

Algeria is the only country to mention the names of two countries in its national anthem.
The national animal of Algeria is the fennec fox.
Algiers, Algeria, has the tallest minaret in the world. It is 870 feet tall.
The U.S. Army used to import camels from Algeria.
There are two Nobel Prize winners who are from Algeria: Albert Camus for literature and Claude Cohen Tannoudji for physics.
Part of the original (1932) Tarzan movie was filmed in Algeria.
The Sahara makes up more than four-fifths of the country’s area.
Algerians often invite friends to drink tea with them.
The national dish of Algeria is couscous.

Images for kids

Roman ruins at Djémila
Ancient Roman ruins of Timgad on the street leading to the local Arch of Trajan
Masinissa (c. 238–148 BC), first king of Numidia
The lands which comprise modern day Algeria were part of the Byzantine Empire (The empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (vassals in pink))
Mansourah mosque, Tlemcen
Fatimid Caliphate, a Shia Ismaili dynasty that ruled much of North Africa, c. 960–1100
Lands ruled by the Ifrenid dynasty of Tlemcen (Current day Algeria) Partially based on the book of Ibn Khaldun: The History of the Berbers
Map showing territories that were controlled by the Zirid Dynasty
Territories controlled by the Maghrawa
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Bombardment of Algiers by the Anglo-Dutch fleet, to support the ultimatum to release European slaves, August 1816
Kabyle Kingdoms at their height
Christian slaves in Algiers, 1706
The estimated extent of the Regency of Algiers in 1792 after taking possession of the Rif and Oujda
Battle of Somah in 1836
Emir Abdelkader, Algerian leader insurgent against French colonial rule, 1865
The six historical Leaders of the FLN: Rabah Bitat, Mostefa Ben Boulaïd, Didouche Mourad, Mohammed Boudiaf, Krim Belkacem and Larbi Ben M'Hidi.
Houari Boumediene
The Sahara, the Hoggar Mountains and the Atlas Mountains compose the Algerian relief.
The Algerian Desert makes up more than 90% of the country's total area.
The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria
GDP per capita development in Algeria
Pipelines across Algeria
Djanet
The main highway connecting the Moroccan to the Tunisian border was a part of the Cairo–Dakar Highway project
Some of Algeria's traditional clothes
Signs in the University of Tizi Ouzou in three languages: Arabic, Berber, and French
Hassan Pasha Mosque in Oran
UIS literacy rate Algeria population plus 15 1985–2015
Algerian musicians in Tlemcen, Ottoman Algeria; by Bachir Yellès
Mohammed Racim; founder of the Algerian school for painting
Ahlam Mosteghanemi, the most widely read female writer in the Arab world.
El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Arabic cinema.
A Bulgur-based salad
The Algeria national football team