|
|
| HISTORY |
|
|
|
The earliest known inhabitants of certain areas of Algeria were
cattleherds and hunters living in the Al Hajjar region between 8,000
and 2,000BC. These may have been tribal Berbers. Phoenicians settled
some of the coastal areas of Algeria from their north-African state
of Carthage which was in modern day Tunisia. The first Algerian
kingdom was established by the Berber chieftain Massinissa during
the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage which took place between
the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Massinissa reigned over his kingdom
of Numidia from 202-148BC and his dynasty lasted until 106BC when
his grandson Jugurtha became a Roman client. As part of the Roman
Empire Numidia flourished, becoming known as the 'granary of Rome'
. A road system and a series of Roman garrisons which became small
Roman cities were built during the Roman period. With the decline
of the Roman Empire, Roman armies were withdrawn from Algeria and
in the 3rd century AD, the Donatists, a North African Christian
sect which had been suppressed by the Romans, declared a short-lived
independent state.
top
|
|
Algeria
was invaded by the Vandals in the 5th century who occupied the country
for a hundred years before being driven out by the Emperor Justinian's
Byzantine army. It was Justinian's aim to restore the Holy Roman Empire
but the spread of Islam and the Arab conquest of North
Africa during
the 7th century thwarted the expansion of Byzantium and permanently
changed the character of North Africa.
The Arab invasion
was not without resistance. The Berbers, led by a tribal high priestess
named Kahina who claimed conversion to Judaism, fought the invaders
but eventually surrendered to the mayyad Khalif. The Berbers quickly
embraced Islam and, in the 8th century, formed their own Islamic
government. Several tribes
Embraced Shi'ism
and founded Shi'a tribal kingdoms, the most powerful of which was
the Rustamid Kingdom at
Tahert in central
Algeria which flourished during the 8th and 9th centuries. Algeria
became part of the powerful Berber empires of the Almoravids and
Almohads which dominated the Magreb and Andalusia. Tlemcen became
the eastern capital of the Almohads and flourished as a centre of
Islam. During this period Algerian seaports like Algiers, Annaba
and Bijaya thrived on trade with European markets.
|
| GEOGRAPHY |
|
|
|
Algeria is the largest of the three countries (including Morocco
and Tunisia) which form the region of western North Africa known
tra -ditionally as Al Maghrib (" the West").
top
|
|
It
is also the second largest country in Africa and the tenth largest
country in the world in terms of land area, equal in size to Western
Europe.
The name Algeria
derives from the Arabic Jaza'ir which is the plural for the word
meaning "island" or "peninsula".
The name Jaza'ir
comes from the ancient regional descriptive, Barr al Jaza'ir (Lands
of the Islands), indicating the three countries of the Magreb region.
The total area of Algeria is 2,381,741sq km, sharing its western
border with Morocco, its southern border with Niger, Mali and Mauritania
and its eastern border with Libya and Tunisia. Its 1,200 km of northern
coastline runs along the Mediterranean Sea.
|
| TOPOGRAPHY |
|
|
The country is characterized by four distinct parallel geographical
regions running east to west: The Tell region is the northern band
of terrain extending along the country's northern coastal area, between
80 and 190km (50-120 miles) wide. This region is a narrow, discontinuous
coastal strip in which the majority of the country's population lives.
The Tell is formed of hills and fertile valleys which contain the
majority of Algeria's arable land. The main coastal cities of Algiers,
Oran and Annaba are located on the plains of the Tell. The southern
perimeter of this region is bounded by the Tell Atlas mountain range
which extends from the Moroccan frontier of Cap Carbon to the east
near Bijaya. The Bijaya plain is another highly productive agricultural
area. The highest peak of the Tell Atlas range is Jebel Warsenis with
an elevation of 1,985m. Algeria's main river, Chelif, flows from the
Tell Atlas for 725km (450mi) to the Mediterranean Sea.
The second geographical
region is known as the High Plateau, a tableland interspersed with
large shallow basins
top
|
|
which
collect water during the rainy season, becoming dry lake beds or salt
flats called chotts, or shotts, in the hot season. This region extends
on a southwest to northeast axis from east of Shott ash-Shargui to
Shott al-Hodna, terminating east of Batna. The High Plateau is mostly
a barren, arid wasteland, although its western area is known for its
abundance of esparto grass, a needlegrass which grows in the deserts
of North Africa and which is an age-old material used for making ropes,
sandals, baskets and other traditional items.
The third geographical
region is known as the Saharan Atlas which is formed of three mountain
chains: the Jibal Amor in the southwest; the Jibal Awlad Nail in
the centre and the Monts du Zab in the northeast. The Saharan Atlas
receive more rain than the High Plateau with the result that the
region contains large areas of pasture land. The fourth and largest
region of Algeria is the Sahara Desert, which covers 90% of the
country's total land area. This is mostly a desolate flatland covered
with gravel, but there are wide expanses of sand desert composed
of two 'uruq, or dune chains, called the Great Western 'Irq and
the Great Eastern 'Irq. At the Sahara's geographical centre lies
the Hajjar massif, a volcanic highland 800km wide and 3,000m in
elevation. Jebel Tahat, located in the Hajjar, is the highest peak
in Algeria at 3,003m (9,852ft). There are also scattered oasis settlements
throughout the Sahara where dates are cultivated and small-scale
farming is carried out.
|
| POPULATION |
|
|
|
As of 1994,
the population of Algeria was registered at 27,815,000 (1995 estimate
28,581,000) with a projected rise to 32,693,000 by the turn of the
century, which indicates a 100% increase in population within 30
years. The average annual population is rising at the rate of 24%
per annum in contrast to an average of 16% for the rest of the world.
This population explosion presents the country with a major crisis
for the future, particularly since 92% of the population is confined
to the fertile northern region of the country which covers only
14% of the land area. Over 52% of all Algerians live in cities and
towns. Algeria's largest population centre is the capital of Algiers.
The greater city, which is also the country's industrial centre,
contains a population of over 3 million.
top
|
|
Algeria's
overall population density of 11.7 people per square kilometre is
misleading given the heavy population concentrations in the northern
region of the country. In the north of the country there are not less
than 30 people per square kilometre, rising to as many as 1,100 people
per square metre. The overriding racial characteristic of the Algerian
population is Arab (83% of the population) or Berber (17% of the population)
or Berber-Arab through intermarriage. Prior to independence in 1962
one million Europeans lived in Algeria, primarily French, as well
as 150,000 Jews. After independence 90% of the Jewish and European
communities emigrated. Of the present population over 50% live in
what are classified as rural, agrarian areas. The nomadic Touareg
tribes living in the Sahara are believed to have emigrated to Africa
from southwestern Asia in 3,000BC. The Arab historian Ibn Khaldoun
records that the Touaregs were converted to Islam in the 9th century
and apostatized 14 times before finally submitting.
|
|
|
