Algeria — map and facts

About Algeria

Algeria is the largest country in Africa by area, covering approximately 2.38 million square kilometres, and the tenth largest in the world. Its capital is Algiers, a bustling Mediterranean city of over three million people, while the total population stands at around 46 million. Algeria is a presidential republic; the President holds broad executive authority, with Abdelmadjid Tebboune serving as head of state since 2019. The official language is Arabic, with Tamazight (Berber) recognised as a national language, and French widely used in business and education. Islam is the state religion and is central to cultural life. Algeria's economy is heavily dependent on hydrocarbons, which account for the vast majority of export revenues; the country is one of Africa's leading producers of natural gas and crude oil. Despite significant oil wealth, unemployment — particularly among youth — remains a persistent challenge. Algeria maintains a complex foreign policy, balancing relations with Arab states, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Russia.

Geography and Landscape

Algeria stretches from the Mediterranean coastline in the north to the heart of the Sahara Desert in the south. The northern Tell Atlas and Saharan Atlas mountain ranges divide the country into distinct climatic and ecological zones. The Tell region along the coast receives the most rainfall and supports agriculture, including vineyards, cereals, and olives. South of the Atlas ranges lies the High Plateaus, a semi-arid steppe region. The Sahara, which occupies roughly 85 percent of Algeria's territory, features dramatic landscapes including the Ahaggar (Hoggar) Mountains in the south, where Tahat peak rises to 2,908 metres — the highest point in Algeria. The vast sand sea of the Grand Erg Oriental and Grand Erg Occidental covers large portions of the desert. Algeria has no permanent rivers in the south; the Chelif River in the north is the longest, flowing some 700 kilometres. Summers in the north are hot and dry; winters are mild along the coast but cold in the interior. The Sahara experiences extreme temperature swings between day and night.

History

Algeria's territory has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic era, and the indigenous Berber (Amazigh) peoples established the ancient Numidian kingdoms, most famously under King Jugurtha. Roman rule lasted several centuries, leaving behind remarkable ruins such as Timgad and Djémila. Arab armies arrived in the seventh century, spreading Islam and profoundly reshaping the region's culture and language. The Ottoman Empire controlled much of northern Algeria from the sixteenth century onward, with Algiers becoming a prominent corsair base in the Mediterranean. France invaded in 1830 and colonised Algeria with unusual intensity, settling over a million Europeans — the pieds-noirs — and treating the territory as an integral part of France. A brutal independence war from 1954 to 1962, led by the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), ended French rule at a cost of hundreds of thousands of lives. The post-independence period saw single-party FLN rule, nationalisation of oil resources, and a catastrophic civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamist insurgents that killed over 100,000 people. Algeria has since stabilised and continues to navigate political reform pressures.