General background: After a century of rule
by France, Algeria became independent in 1962. The surprising
first round success of the fundamentalist FIS (Islamic
Salvation Front) party in the December 1991 balloting
caused the army to intervene, crack down on the FIS,
and postpone the subsequent elections. The FIS response
has resulted in a continuous low-grade civil conflict
with the secular state apparatus, which nonetheless
has allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate
religious-based parties. FIS's armed wing, the Islamic
Salvation Army, disbanded itself in January 2000 and
many armed militants surrendered under an amnesty program
designed to promote national reconciliation. Nevertheless,
residual fighting continues. Other concerns include
Berber unrest, large-scale unemployment, a shortage
of housing, and the need to diversify the petroleum-based
economy.
Area comparative: Slightly
less than three and a half times the size of Texas.
Climate: Arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters
with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters
and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden
wind especially common in summer.
Terrain: Mostly high plateau and desert; some
mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Population: 32,277,942 (July 2002 est.)
Ethnic groups: Arab-Berber 99%, European less
than 1%
Religions: Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%,
Christian and Jewish 1%
Language: Arabic (official), French, Berber
dialects
Government type: Republic
Capital: Algiers
Legal system: Socialist, based on French and
Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in
ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various
public officials, including several Supreme Court
justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
Economic overview: The hydrocarbons sector
is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly
60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of
export earnings. Algeria has the fifth-largest reserves
of natural gas in the world and is the second largest
gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves. Algeria's
financial and economic indicators improved during
the mid-1990s, in part because of policy reforms supported
by the IMF and debt rescheduling from the Paris Club.
Algeria's finances in 2000 and 2001 benefited from
the temporary spike in oil prices and the government's
tight fiscal policy, leading to a large increase in
the trade surplus, record highs in foreign exchange
reserves, and reduction in foreign debt. The government's
continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting
foreign and domestic investment outside the energy
sector has had little success in reducing high unemployment
and improving living standards. In 2001, the government
signed an Association Treaty with the European Union
that will eventually lower tariffs and increase trade.
Communication/Telephone system: Telephone
density in Algeria is very low, not exceeding five
telephones per 100 persons; the number of fixed main
lines increased in the last few years to a little
more than 2,000,000, but only about two-thirds of
these have subscribers; much of the infrastructure
is outdated and inefficient .Good service in north
but sparse in south; domestic satellite system with
12 earth stations (20 additional domestic earth stations
are planned) 5 submarine cables; microwave radio relay
to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial
cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel;
satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic
Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik, and 1 Arabsat
(1998).
Places of interest:
Travel Tips: Stay away!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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