Algeria

Algeria (official name: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria) is a country in the Western part of North Africa. The capital city is Algiers. It is the largest country in Africa. The name is from the city of Algiers. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the north, Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mauritania and Mali in the southwest, Western Sahara in the west and Morocco in the northwest.

History
Algeria has had people since 10.000 BC. This can be seen in Tassili National Park. By 600-BC, Phoenician were at Tipasa. The first Muslim Arabs came to Algeria in the mid-7th century. Many people chose this religion.

In the 11th century the Arab tribes of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym were installed between Tunisia and eastern Algeria (Constantois). The famous mathematician, Fibonacci (1170—1250) lived in Algeria as a teenager. This is where he learned the Hindu-Arabic number system and realized it was simpler to use. In the 1500s and 1700s the Spanish Empire ruled a lot of Algeria. Algeria was made part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Pirates worked from the Barbary Coast. They took people to sell as slaves.

France ruled Algeria starting in 1830. In 1954, the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale or FLN) wanted freedom from France. They fought a war. It became independent from France in July 5, 1962. In 1963 Ahmed Ben Bella became the first President of Algeria.

The Algerian Civil War started in 1991. It ended in 2002. After many people protested, like in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the government stopped the state of emergency on 24 February 2011.

Geography
A large part of southern Algeria is the Sahara Desert. The Aures and Nememcha mountain ranges are in the north. The highest point is Mount Tahat (3,003 m).

Languages
Official languages are Arabic and Berber. French is widely spoken too.

Population
Algeria's population is about 39.5 million people. There are over 40 cities with more than 100,000 people.

Divisions
There are 48 provinces (since 1983) in Algeria, they are:


 * 1 Adrar
 * 2 Chlef
 * 3 Laghouat
 * 4 Oum el Bouaghi
 * 5 Batna
 * 6 Bejaaa
 * 7 Biskra
 * 8 Bechar
 * 9 Blida
 * 10 Bouira
 * 11 Tamanghasset
 * 12 Tebessa


 * 13 Tlemcen
 * 14 Tiaret
 * 15 Tizi Ouzou
 * 16 Algiers
 * 17 Djelfa
 * 18 Jijel
 * 19 Setif
 * 20 Saïda
 * 21 Skikda
 * 22 Sidi Bel Abbes
 * 23 Annaba
 * 24 Guelma


 * 25 Constantine
 * 26 Medea
 * 27 Mostaganem
 * 28 M'Sila
 * 29 Mascara
 * 30 Ouargla
 * 31 Oran
 * 32 El Bayadh
 * 33 Illizi
 * 34 Bordj Bou Arréridj
 * 35 Boumerdès
 * 36 El Tarf


 * 37 Tindouf
 * 38 Tissemsilt
 * 39 El Oued
 * 40 Khenchela
 * 41 Souk Ahras
 * 42 Tipasa
 * 43 Mila
 * 44 Ain Defla
 * 45 Naama
 * 46 Ain Temouchent
 * 47 Ghardaia
 * 48 Relizane

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria including Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, the first capital of the Hammadid empire; Tipasa, a Phoenician and later Roman town; and Djémila and Timgad, both Roman ruins; M'Zab Valley, a limestone valley containing a large urbanized oasis; also the Casbah of Algiers is an important citadel. The only natural World Heritage Sites is the Tassili n'Ajjer, a mountain range.