ALGERIA

Algeria is the second largest country on the African continent. Constitutionally, it is defined as an Islamic, Arab, and Amazigh (Berber) country. The name Algeria is derived from the name of the city of Algiers (French Alger), from the Arabic word al-jazā’ir, which translates as the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525. Al-jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name jazā’ir banī mazghannā, "the islands of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.


Capital:
- Algiers
Area:
- Total: 2,381,741 km² (11th) 919,595 sq mi
- Water (%): negligible

Independence:
- Ziyanid dynasty: from 1236
- Ottoman rule: from 1516
- French rule: from 1830
- Independence: July 5, 1962

Official languages:
Arabic
Population:
- 2005 estimate: 32,854,000 (35th)
- 1998 census: 29,100,867
- Density: 14/km² (196th) 36/sq mi