Algeria
Name
| Official name | People's Democratic Republic of Algeria |
|---|---|
| In Arabic | al-Jumhūriyya al-Jazāʾiriyya al-Dīmuqrāṭiyya al-Shaʿbiyya |
| Short name | Algeria — al-Jazāʾir, "the islands," in Arabic; Dzayer in Tamazight |
| Demonym | Algerian |
| Meaning of the name | From the capital, Algiers, itself named for the rocky islets that once lay off its harbor |
Quick facts
| Capital | Algiers (al-Jazāʾir) — also the largest city, on the Mediterranean in the far north |
|---|---|
| Official languages | Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) — Tamazight made a national language in 2002 and an official language by the constitutional revision of 2016; French is widely used in business, education and media |
| Currency | Algerian dinar — ISO code DZD; 1 dinar = 100 centimes; issued by the Bank of Algeria (1962) |
| Time zone | Central European Time, UTC+1, all year — no summer time |
| Calling code | +213 |
| Internet domain | .dz |
| ISO 3166 codes | DZ · DZA · 012 |
| Vehicle registration code | DZ |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | 5 July 1962, from France — after the war of 1954–62, the Évian Accords of 18 March 1962 and the referendum of 1 July |
| National days | 5 July, Independence Day; 1 November, Revolution Day (1954); 12 January, Yennayer, the Amazigh new year, a public holiday since 2018 |
| Constitution | The Constitution of 1996 as revised — most recently by the referendum of 1 November 2020 |
| Population | About 47.4 million (UN, 2025); the CIA World Factbook estimates 47.7 million (2025) — the ninth most populous country in Africa |
| Area | 2,381,741 km² (919,595 sq mi) — the largest country in Africa, in the Arab world and on the Mediterranean; tenth largest in the world |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Two equal vertical bands of green and white bearing a red crescent and five-pointed star — raised at independence on 3 July 1962; fixed by Law No. 63-145 of 1963 down to the wavelength of its colors, and declared immutable by the Constitution.Flag of Algeria |
|---|---|
| National emblem | A crescent and star over a mountain landscape with the rising sun, hands of Fatima, wheat and olive branches and industrial motifs — adopted 1976 |
| National anthem | "Kassaman" ("We Pledge") — words by Moufdi Zakaria, written in a French prison in 1955; music by the Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi; adopted 1962 |
| National motto | "By the people and for the people" (Min al-shaʿb wa ilā al-shaʿb) — written into the Constitution |
| National colors | Green, white and red |
| National animal | Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) — the desert fox of the Sahara, mascot of the national football team, "Les Fennecs" — widely cited |
| National dish | Couscous — inscribed by UNESCO in 2020 as intangible heritage shared by Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania — widely cited |
| National sport | Football — Africa Cup of Nations champions in 1990 and 2019 |
| National hero | Emir Abdelkader (1808–1883), who led the resistance to the French invasion from 1832 to 1847 |
| Symbol status | The flag, emblem, anthem and motto are fixed by the Constitution and law; the animal and dish are widely cited, not designated |
Geography
| Location | North Africa, in the Maghreb, with the Mediterranean to the north; the Sahara covers more than four-fifths of the country |
|---|---|
| Coastline | 998 km (620 mi) on the Mediterranean |
| Land borders | 6,734 km (4,184 mi) with six neighbors, plus a short frontier with Western Sahara |
| Border with Morocco | 1,941 km (1,206 mi) — closed to land traffic since 1994 |
| Border with Mali | 1,359 km (845 mi) |
| Border with Tunisia | 1,034 km (642 mi) |
| Border with Libya | 989 km (615 mi) |
| Border with Niger | 951 km (591 mi) |
| Border with Mauritania | 460 km (286 mi) |
| Highest point | Tahat, 2,908 m (9,541 ft), in the Ahaggar (Hoggar) mountains near Tamanrasset |
| Lowest point | Chott Melrhir, a salt lake in the northeast, about 40 m (131 ft) below sea level |
| Mean elevation | 800 m (2,625 ft) |
| Longest river | The Chelif (Cheliff), about 700 km (435 mi), from the Saharan Atlas to the Mediterranean west of Algiers |
| Other rivers | Seybouse, Soummam, Isser, Medjerda (into Tunisia), Tafna; most Saharan wadis flow only after rain |
| Largest lakes | The chotts — Chott Melrhir, Chott ech Chergui, Chott el Hodna — vast salt lakes that fill in winter and dry to crusts in summer |
| Mountain ranges | The Tell Atlas along the coast; the Saharan Atlas to the south of the High Plateaus; the Aurès in the east; the Ahaggar and the Tassili n'Ajjer in the deep Sahara |
| Deserts | The Sahara — the Grand Erg Occidental and Grand Erg Oriental sand seas, the Tanezrouft, the rocky Hamada du Draa |
| Regions | The Tell (the fertile north), the High Plateaus, the Saharan Atlas, the Sahara |
| Climate | Mediterranean on the coast — mild wet winters, hot dry summers; continental on the plateaus; hyper-arid in the Sahara, where the sirocco blows sand north in summer |
| Natural hazards | Earthquakes — Chlef 1980 and Boumerdès 2003 among the deadliest; floods; drought; desertification |
| Natural resources | Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc |
| Land use | Agricultural land 17.4%, arable 3.2%, forest under 1%; more than four-fifths of the territory is desert (2023 est.) |
| National parks | 11 — Tassili n'Ajjer and the Ahaggar, the two Saharan giants, plus Djurdjura, Chréa, El Kala, Belezma, Gouraya, Taza, Theniet El Had, Tlemcen and Djebel Aissa |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 7 — the Qal'a of Beni Hammad (1980); Djémila, Timgad, Tipasa, the M'Zab Valley and the Tassili n'Ajjer (all 1982); the Kasbah of Algiers (1992) |
| Administrative divisions | 58 wilayas (provinces) since 2019, each under a wali appointed by the President |
People
| Population | About 47.4 million (UN, 2025); 47.7 million by the CIA World Factbook's 2025 estimate |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 20 per km² (52 per sq mi) overall — but nine in ten Algerians live in the northern tenth of the country |
| Population growth | About 1.5% a year |
| Median age | About 29 years |
| Life expectancy | About 77 years (2023) |
| Fertility rate | About 2.8 births per woman (2023) |
| Urban population | About 74% |
| Adult literacy | About 81% (2018 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | Arab-Berber 99% — Berber (Amazigh) speakers, chiefly Kabyle, Chaoui, Mozabite and Tuareg, form a large minority; European under 1% |
| Languages | Arabic (Algerian Arabic the everyday tongue), Tamazight (Kabyle the largest variety), French widely used |
| Religion | Sunni Islam, about 99% — the state religion under the Constitution |
| Largest cities | Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Annaba, Blida, Batna, Sétif, Djelfa |
| Human Development Index | 0.763 (2023 data, 2025 report) — high human development |
| Diaspora | Several million people of Algerian origin abroad, above all in France |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
|---|---|
| President | Abdelmadjid Tebboune, since 19 December 2019; re-elected 7 September 2024 for a second five-year term |
| Prime Minister | Sifi Ghrieb, since 28 August 2025 (acting), confirmed with his government on 15 September 2025 |
| Parliament | Bicameral — the National People's Assembly (lower house) and the Council of the Nation (upper house, 174 seats) |
| Legal system | Civil law with Islamic law in family matters; a Constitutional Court since 2020 |
| Administrative divisions | 58 wilayas |
| United Nations | Member since 8 October 1962; a non-permanent Security Council seat in 2024–25 |
| African Union | Founding member of the OAU (1963) and of the African Union; headquarters of the Pan-African Parliament's northern region |
| Arab League | Member since 1962 |
| OPEC | Member since 1969 |
| Other memberships | The Arab Maghreb Union (headquartered in Rabat), the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, the Non-Aligned Movement; not a member of the WTO |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$286 billion (2025, IMF April 2026) — among the largest in Africa |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$6,050 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 3.8% (2025) |
| Economy by sector | Hydrocarbons dominate — oil and gas supply about 90% of export earnings and a large share of state revenue |
| Currency | Algerian dinar (DZD) |
| Main exports | Natural gas (pipeline and LNG), crude oil and refined products, fertilizers; small volumes of dates and steel |
| Export partners | Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United States |
| Import partners | China, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey |
| National oil company | Sonatrach — the largest company in Africa |
| Key fields | Hassi Messaoud, the great oil field of the Sahara (1956); Hassi R'Mel, one of the world's largest gas fields |
| Gas to Europe | By pipeline under the Mediterranean — Transmed to Italy, Medgaz to Spain — and by LNG tanker; Algeria was the first exporter of liquefied natural gas, in 1964 |
| Income classification | Upper-middle income (World Bank) |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers |
|---|---|
| Main ports | Algiers, Oran, Annaba, Skikda and Béjaïa; Arzew and Skikda for hydrocarbons |
| East–West Highway | About 1,200 km (750 mi) from the Tunisian to the Moroccan border, the spine of the Tell |
| Trans-Saharan Highway | Algiers to Tamanrasset and on to Niger and Nigeria — about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) in Algeria |
| Railways | About 4,000 km (2,500 mi), the network densest in the north; new lines push south to the mines |
| Algiers Metro | Opened 2011 — the first metro in the Maghreb |
| Border crossings | Oum Teboul and Bouchebka to Tunisia; the Moroccan border closed since 1994; In Guezzam to Niger |
History in dates
| c. 7000 BC onward | The rock art of the Tassili n'Ajjer — some of the richest prehistoric art on Earth |
|---|---|
| 3rd century BC | The Numidian kingdom of Massinissa |
| 46 BC | Numidia becomes a Roman province; Timgad is founded in AD 100 |
| 7th century | The Arab conquest brings Islam |
| 1516 | The Regency of Algiers under Ottoman suzerainty |
| 1830 | The French invasion; Emir Abdelkader's resistance, 1832–47 |
| 1848 | Algeria annexed as departments of France |
| 1945 | The Sétif and Guelma massacres of 8 May |
| 1954 | The war of independence begins, 1 November |
| 1962 | The Évian Accords, 18 March; independence, 5 July |
| 1969 | Algeria joins OPEC |
| 1991–2002 | The civil war of the "black decade" |
| 2016 | Tamazight becomes an official language |
| 2019 | The Hirak protests; Tebboune elected in December |
| 2024 | Tebboune re-elected, 7 September |
Records & firsts
| Largest country in Africa | 2,381,741 km² — also the largest in the Arab world and on the Mediterranean, and tenth in the world |
|---|---|
| The world's tallest minaret | The Djamaa el Djazaïr, the Great Mosque of Algiers (2019) — 265 m (869 ft); the mosque is the largest in Africa |
| First LNG exporter | The first cargo of liquefied natural gas ever shipped sailed from Arzew in 1964 |
| Africa's largest company | Sonatrach, the state oil and gas group |
| The Tassili n'Ajjer | One of the world's great galleries of prehistoric rock art — some 15,000 engravings and paintings |
| Deepest desert | More than 80% of the country is Sahara — the largest share of the desert held by any country |
| The Maghreb's first metro | Algiers, 2011 |
| Roman Africa | Timgad and Djémila, two of the best-preserved Roman towns anywhere |
| Africa Cup of Nations | Won twice, 1990 and 2019 |
| Nobel laureates by birth | Albert Camus (Literature, 1957) was born at Mondovi, now Dréan; Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (Physics, 1997) at Constantine |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Algeria?
The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria — al-Jumhūriyya al-Jazāʾiriyya al-Dīmuqrāṭiyya al-Shaʿbiyya in Arabic. The short name, al-Jazāʾir, means "the islands," after the rocky islets off the coast of Algiers from which the capital, and then the country, took its name.
What is the capital of Algeria?
Algiers (al-Jazāʾir), on the Mediterranean coast in the far north. It is also the largest city, with about 3 million people in the city and several million more in its metropolitan area, and its old town, the Kasbah, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
How big is Algeria?
At 2,381,741 km² (919,595 sq mi) Algeria is the largest country in Africa, in the Arab world and on the Mediterranean, and the tenth largest in the world. More than four-fifths of it is Sahara.
What are the highest and lowest points of Algeria?
Tahat, 2,908 m (9,541 ft), in the Ahaggar (Hoggar) mountains of the deep south, is the highest point; the Chott Melrhir, a salt lake in the northeast about 40 m (131 ft) below sea level, is the lowest.
What currency and time zone does Algeria use?
The Algerian dinar (ISO code DZD), divided into 100 centimes and issued by the Bank of Algeria. Clocks keep Central European Time, UTC+1, all year — Algeria does not observe summer time.
What are the national symbols of Algeria?
The green-and-white flag with the red crescent and star, the emblem, the anthem "Kassaman" and the motto "By the people and for the people" are fixed by the Constitution and by law. The fennec fox, mascot of the national football team, is the widely cited national animal, and couscous the national dish; neither is designated by statute.
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