National name: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah

Geography  
Capital: Algiers
Major Town: Oran, El-Jazair, Batna, Constantine, Annaba
Location: 36°42'N, 3°13'E
Time Zone: CET (UTC+1)
Size: 2,381,741 km²
Borders with the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco and Tunisia
Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m ; Highest point: Tahat 3,003 m

Politics 
Head of State: President: Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika (1999); Prime Minister: Ahmed Ouyahia (2003)
Form of Government: Republic
Independancy (from France): 05 July 1962
Currency: Algerian dinar (DZD)

Industry 
Main industries: Petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing
Agriculture: wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle.Industries: petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing.
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc.  

Population and People  
Population: 33,333,216 (July 2007 est.)
Density per sq mi: 36
Growth rate (birth rate): 17.11 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.86 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 27.7/1000
Religion: Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Languages: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
Ethnic groups / Tribes: Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%
Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.2% (male 4,627,479/female 4,447,468); 15-64 years: 67.9% (male 11,413,121/female 11,235,096); 65 years and over: 4.8% (male 752,058/female 857,994) (2007 est.)  
Life expectancy: 73.7
Literacy (definition: age 15 and over can read and write): Total population: 69.9%, male: 79.6%
female: 60.1% (2002 est.)

• 99% Berber country
•  85% of the country are desert (Sahara)
•  “al-jaza’ir” in Arabic means “the island”
•  “Les hommes bleus”: blue-robed Touaregs
•  99% Sunni Muslim
•  famous Atlas Mountains
•  olive and tobacco plantations
•  still around 1.5 million nomads
•  Women make up 70 percent of Algeria’s lawyers and 60 percent of its judges. Women dominate medicine
• Albert Camus, the famous novelist of the 20th century, was born in 1913 in Algeria
• 130 years of French colonization
• Algeria is a leading military power in North Africa
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria: including Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, the first capital of the Hammadid empire; Tipasa, a Phoenician town; and Djémila and Timgad, both Roman ruins.
• Two landscapes are World Heritage Sites: M'Zab Valley, a limestone valley and Tassili n'Ajjer, a mountain range.
• Also the Casbah of Algiers is an important citadal
• camels and caravans
• Yves Saint Laurent, the famous designer, is Algerian born
• Arabs conquered North Africa in the seventh century
• couscous, Algeria's national dish; exotic spices such as saffron, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon
• ancient ruins, Turkish houses and palaces in Algier
• Maghreb flair Tipasa with Roman, Punic and Christian ruins, and a Numidian mausoleum
• Chiffa Gorges and Kabylia Tlemcen with the Grand Mosque, the Mansourah Fortress and the Almohad ramparts Ouargla, “the golden key to the desert”