"text":"<p>Algeria has known many empires and dynasties, including the ancient Numidians (3rd century B.C.), Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, over a dozen different Arab and Amazigh dynasties, Spaniards, and Ottoman Turks. Under the Turks, the Barbary pirates operated from North Africa and preyed on shipping, from about 1500 until the French captured Algiers in 1830. The French southward conquest of Algeria proceeded throughout the 19th century and was marked by many atrocities. A bloody eight-year struggle culminated in Algerian independence in 1962. <br><br>Algeria's long-dominant political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), was established in 1954 as part of the struggle for independence and has since played a large role in politics, though it is falling out of favor with the youth and current President Abdelmadjid TEBBOUNE. The Government of Algeria in 1988 instituted a multi-party system in response to public unrest, but the surprising first-round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the 1991 legislative election led the Algerian military 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. An army crackdown on the FIS escalated into an FIS insurgency and intense violence from 1992-98 that resulted in over 100,000 deaths, many of which were attributed to extremist groups massacring villagers. The government gained the upper hand by the late 1990s, and FIS’s armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in 2000. FIS membership is now illegal.</p> <p>In 1999, Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA won the presidency with the backing of the military, in an election that was boycotted by several candidates protesting alleged fraud. He won subsequent elections in 2004, 2009, and 2014. Widespread protests against his decision to seek a fifth term broke out in early 2019. BOUTEFLIKA resigned in April 2019, and in December 2019, Algerians elected former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid TEBBOUNE as the country’s new president. A longtime FLN member, TEBBOUNE ran for president as an independent. In 2020, Algeria held a constitutional referendum on governmental reforms, which TEBBOUNE enacted in 2021. Subsequent reforms to the national electoral law introduced open-list voting to curb corruption. The new law also eliminated gender quotas in Parliament, and the 2021 legislative elections saw female representation plummet. The referendum, parliamentary elections, and local elections saw record-low voter turnout.</p>"
"text":"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"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"mostly high plateau and desert; Atlas Mountains in the far north and Hoggar Mountains in the south; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain"
"text":"the vast majority of the populace is found in the extreme northern part of the country along the Mediterranean Coast, as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"largest country in Africa but 80% desert; canyons and caves in the southern Hoggar Mountains and in the barren Tassili n'Ajjer area in the southeast of the country contain numerous examples of prehistoric art -- rock paintings and carvings depicting human activities and wild and domestic animals (elephants, giraffes, cattle) -- that date to the African Humid Period, roughly 5,000 to 11,000 years ago, when the region was completely vegetated"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> although almost all Algerians are Amazigh in origin and not Arab, only a minority identify themselves as primarily Amazigh, about 15% of the total population; these people live mostly in the mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algiers and in several other communities; the Amazigh are also Muslim but identify with their Amazigh rather than Arab cultural heritage; some Amazigh have long agitated, sometimes violently, for autonomy; the government is unlikely to grant autonomy but has officially recognized Amazigh languages and introduced them into public schools"
"text":"<br>كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"the vast majority of the populace is found in the extreme northern part of the country along the Mediterranean Coast, as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"air pollution in major cities; soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; river and coastal pollution from dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents; pollution in Mediterranean Sea from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate potable water"
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"Nuclear Test Ban"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"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"
"text":"name derives from the Arabic <em>al-jazair</em>, meaning \"the islands,\" and refers to the four islands formerly off the coast of the capital but joined to the mainland since 1525"
"text":"mixed system of French civil law and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials including several Supreme Court justices"
"text":"proposed by the president of the republic or through the president with the support of three fourths of the members of both houses of Parliament in joint session; passage requires approval by both houses, approval by referendum, and promulgation by the president; the president can forego a referendum if the Constitutional Council determines the proposed amendment does not conflict with basic constitutional principles; articles including the republican form of government, the integrity and unity of the country, and fundamental citizens’ liberties and rights cannot be amended"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in two rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); prime minister nominated by the president after consultation with the majority party in Parliament"
"text":"National Liberation Front (FLN) (98); Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) (65); National Democratic Rally (RND) (58); El-Moustakbel Front (Future\", FM) (48); El Binaa Movement (39); Independents (84); Other (15)"
"text":"Supreme Court or Le Cour Suprême, (consists of 150 judges organized into 8 chambers: Civil, Commercial and Maritime, Criminal, House of Offenses and Contraventions, House of Petitions, Land, Personal Status, and Social; Constitutional Council (consists of 12 members including the court chairman and deputy chairman)"
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Council of Magistracy, an administrative body presided over by the president of the republic, and includes the republic vice-president and several members; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Council members - 4 appointed by the president of the republic, 2 each by the 2 houses of Parliament, 2 by the Supreme Court, and 2 by the Council of State; Council president and members appointed for single 6-year terms with half the membership renewed every 3 years"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"appellate or wilaya courts; first instance or daira tribunals"
"text":"Algerian National Front or FNA<br>Algerian Popular Movement or MPA<br>Algeria's Hope Rally or TAJ<br>Dignity or El Karama<br>El-Infitah<br>El Mostakbal (Future Front)<br>Ennour El Djazairi Party (Algerian Radiance Party) or PED<br>Equity and Proclamation Party or PEP<br>Islamic Renaissance Movement or Ennahda Movement<br>Justice and Development Front or FJD<br>Movement for National Reform or El Islah<br>Movement of Society for Peace or MSP<br>National Construction Movement or El-Bina (Harakat El-Binaa El-Watani)<br>National Democratic Rally (Rassemblement National Democratique) or RND<br>National Front for Social Justice or FNJS<br>National Liberation Front or FLN<br>National Militancy Front or FMN<br>National Party for Solidarity and Development or PNSD<br>National Republican Alliance or ANR<br>New Dawn Party (El-Fajr El-Jadid)<br>New Generation (Jil Jadid)<br>Oath of 1954 or Ahd 54<br>Party of Justice and Liberty or PLJ<br>Rally for Culture and Democracy or RCD<br>Socialist Forces Front or FFS<br>Union for Change and Progress or UCP<br>Union of Democratic and Social Forces or UFDS<br>Vanguard of Liberties (Talaie El Hurriyet)<br>Workers Party or PT<br>Youth Party or PJ",
"text":"two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white; a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two-color boundary; the colors represent Islam (green), purity and peace (white), and liberty (red); the crescent and star are also Islamic symbols, but the crescent is more closed than those of other Muslim countries because Algerians believe the long crescent horns bring happiness"
"text":"suffering oil and gas economy; lack of sector and market diversification; political instability chilling domestic consumption; poor credit access and declines in business confidence; COVID-19 austerity policies; delayed promised socio-economic reforms"
"text":"Radio Algérienne is the state-run radio broadcast; the National Company of Television (Entreprise Nationale de Télévision (ENTV)) is the primary state-run public TV station (2024)"
"text":"Algerian People's National Army (ANP): Land Forces, Naval Forces (includes Coast Guard), Air Forces, Territorial Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard, National Gendarmerie<br><br>Ministry of Interior: General Directorate of National Security (national police) (2025)",
"note":"<strong>note: </strong>the Republican Guard is subordinate to the ANP, but responsible to the President; the National Gendarmerie performs police functions outside urban areas under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense and shares responsibility with the General Directorate of National Security for maintaining law and order; it is comprised of territorial, intervention/mobile, border guard, railway, riot control, and air support units"
"text":"the Algerian military has traditionally been armed mostly with Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems and equipment; over the past decade, it has made large investments in acquiring more modern armored vehicles, air defense systems, fighter aircraft, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and warships, largely from Russia, its traditional supplier, but also China and Western European suppliers such as Germany (2024)"
"text":"18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service for men and women; 19-30 years of age for mandatory national service for men (all Algerian men must register at age 17); service obligation reduced from 18 to 12 months in 2014 (2024)",
"text":"the ANP is responsible for external defense but also has some internal security responsibilities; key areas of concern include border and maritime security, terrorism, regional instability, and tensions with Morocco; Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara and accuses Morocco of supporting the Algerian separatist Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK); border security and counterterrorism have received additional focus since the Arab Spring events of 2011 and the rise of terrorist threats emanating from Libya and the Sahel; the Army and Ministry of Defense (MND) paramilitary forces of the Gendarmerie and the border guards have beefed up their presence along the frontiers with Tunisia, Libya, Niger, and Mali to interdict and deter cross-border attacks by Islamist militant groups; the ANP and MND paramilitary forces have also increased counterterrorism cooperation with some neighboring countries, particularly Tunisia, including joint operations<br><br>the ANP has also played a large role in the country’s politics since independence in 1962, including coups in 1965 and 1991; it was a key backer of BOUTEFLIKA’s election in 1999 and remained a center of power during his 20-year rule; the military was instrumental in BOUTEFLIKA’s resignation in 2019, when it withdrew support and called for him to be removed from office (2024)"
"text":"Algerian Space Agency (Agence Spatiale Algérienne, ASAL; established 2002) (2024)"
},
"Space launch site(s)":{
"text":"none; note - in 1947, Algeria began hosting a French military rocket test site, which was the continent of Africa's first rocket launch site; it was called the Centre Interarmées d’Essais d’Engins Spéciaux (CIEES or Interarmy Special Vehicles Test Center) and was in service until 1967"
"text":"has a national space policy and space research program with stated goals of supporting internal development, managing resources, mastering space technology, and reinforcing national sovereignty; builds and operates communications and remote sensing (RS) satellites; researching and developing a range of space-related capabilities, including satellites and satellite payloads, communications, RS, instrumentation, satellite image processing, and geo-spatial information; has bilateral relationships with a variety of foreign space agencies and industries, including those of Argentina, China, France, Germany, India, Russia, Ukraine, and the UK; also a member of the Arab Space Coordination Group (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in the Space Programs reference guide"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide"
"text":"more than 100,000 (Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf); 7,345 (Syria) (mid-year 2022)"
"text":"Tier 2 Watch list — Algeria does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so, therefore Algeria was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List; for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/algeria/"
