Algeria: Location, History, Size, Population, & Government

About the location, history, size, population, and government in the country of Algeria.

ALGERIA

NITTY GRITTY

Location--North Africa, fanning out from the Mediterranean in the north to the Sahara in the south where it borders Niger and Mali. Tunisia and Libya are on the east; Morocco, Mauritania, and Spanish Sahara on the west.

How Created--Algiers was one of the North African Barbary States which, throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, thrived on piracy. In 1830, the French subjugated the coastal cities and over the next 70 years conquered the interior and established the present-day boundaries. There was resistance to the French from the outset. The final drive for independence, led by the National Liberation Front (FLN), culminated in the French pullout in 1962.

Size--896,588 sq. mi. (2,332,164 sq. km.). Three times the size of Texas.

Population--Over 16 million: Arab, 80.4%; Berber, 18.7%; French and others, 0.9%. 98% Muslim.

Who Rules--The National Revolutionary Council headed by the President, and the National Assembly, which has been suspended since 1965.

Who REALLY Rules--The National Liberation Front is the only recognized political party. Its members nominate all candidates for the National Assembly, who are then "elected."

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