Algeria

Index

More Facts & Figures

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

Current government officials

Ethnicity/race: Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%

Religion: Islam (Sunni) 99% (state religion), Christian and Jewish 1%

National Holiday: Revolution Day, November 1

Literacy rate: 79%

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $262.1 billion; per capita $7,200. Real growth rate: 2.9%. Inflation: 4.0%. Unemployment: 10%. Arable land: 3.17%. Agriculture: wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle. Labor force: 11.04 million; agriculture 14%, industry 13.4%, construction and public works 10%, trade 14.6%, government 32%, other 16% (2003 est.). Industries: petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc. Exports: $78.51 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.): petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%. Imports: $49.84 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.): capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods. Major trading partners: France, Italy, China, Germany, Spain, U.S., Turkey (2006)

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2.923 million (2011); mobile cellular: 32.78 million (2011). Radio broadcast stations: AM 25, FM 1, shortwave 8 (1999). Television broadcast stations: 46 (plus 216 repeaters) (1995). Internet hosts: 561 (2011). Internet users: 4.7 million (2011).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,973 km (2011). Highways: total: 111,261 km ; (2011). Ports and harbors: Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Djendjene, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda. Airports: 143 (2011).

International disputes: Algeria supports the Polisario Front exiled in Algeria and who represent the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; Algeria rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; most of the approximately 90,000 Western Saharan Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco.

Major sources and definitions