Country:  Algeria
- Geography
Total area: 2,381,740 km2; land area: 2,381,740 km2
 
Comparative area: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
 
Land boundaries: 6,343 km total; Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km,
Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km,
Western Sahara 42 km
 
Coastline: 998 km
 
Maritime claims:
 
Territorial sea: 12 nm
 
Disputes: Libya claims about 19,400 km2 in southeastern Algeria
 
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
 
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
uranium, lead, zinc
 
Land use: 3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 13% meadows and
pastures; 2% forest and woodland; 82% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
 
Environment: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes;
desertification
 
Note: second largest country in Africa (after Sudan)
 
- People
Population: 25,566,507 (July 1990), growth rate 2.8% (1990)
 
Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)
 
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
 
Infant mortality rate: 87 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 64 years female (1990)
 
Total fertility rate: 5.4 children born/woman (1990)
 
Nationality: noun--Algerian(s); adjective--Algerian
 
Ethnic divisions: 99% Arab-Berber, less than 1% European
 
Religion: 99% Sunni Muslim (state religion); 1% Christian and Jewish
 
Language: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
 
Literacy: 52%
 
Labor force: 3,700,000; 40% industry and commerce, 24% agriculture,
17% government, 10% services (1984)
 
Organized labor: 16-19% of labor force claimed; General Union of Algerian
Workers (UGTA) is the only labor organization and is subordinate to the
National Liberation Front
 
- Government
Long-form name: Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
 
Type: republic
 
Capital: Algiers
 
Administrative divisions: 31 provinces (wilayat, singular--wilaya); Adrar,
Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bouira, Constantine,
Djelfa, El Asnam, Guelma, Jijel, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mostaganem,
M'sila, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda,
Tamanrasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen; note--there may now be 48
provinces with El Asnam abolished, and the addition of 18 new provinces named
Ain Delfa, Ain Temouchent, Bordjbou, Boumerdes, Chlef, El Bayadh, El Oued,
El Tarf, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Mila, Naama, Relizane, Souk Ahras, Tindouf,
Tipaza, Tissemsilt
 
Independence: 5 July 1962 (from France)
 
Constitution: 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976
 
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
 
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 1 November (1954)
 
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
(cabinet)
 
Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Assembly (Assemblee
Nationale Populaire)
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
 
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Chadli BENDJEDID (since 7 February 1979);
 
Head of Government--Prime Minister Mouloud HAMROUCHE (since 9 September
1989)
 
Political parties and leaders: National Liberation Front (FLN),
Col. Chadli Bendjedid, chairman; Abdelhamid Mehri, secretary general;
the government established a multiparty system in September 1989 and
as of 1 February 1990 19 legal parties existed
 
Suffrage: universal at age 18
 
Elections:
President--last held on 22 December 1988 (next to be held December
1993); results--President Bendjedid was reelected without opposition;
 
People's National Assembly--last held on 26 February 1987 (next
to be held by February 1992);
results--FLN was the only party;
seats--(281 total) FLN 281; note--the government has promised
to hold multiparty elections (municipal and wilaya) in June
1990, the first in Algerian history
 
Communists: 400 (est.); Communist party banned 1962
 
Member of: AfDB, AIOEC, Arab League, ASSIMER, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT
(de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, ILO,
IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, ILZSG, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN,
UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abderrahmane BENSID;
Chancery at 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 328-5300;
US--Ambassador Christopher W. S. ROSS; Embassy at 4 Chemin Cheich Bachir
Brahimi, Algiers (mailing address is B. P. Box 549, Alger-Gare, 16000 Algiers);
telephone p213o (2) 601-425 or 255, 186; there is a US Consulate in Oran
 
Flag: two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white
with a red five-pointed star within a red crescent; the crescent,
star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state
religion)
 
- Economy
Overview: The exploitation of oil and natural gas products forms the
backbone of the economy. Algeria depends on hydrocarbons for nearly all of its
export receipts, about 30% of government revenues, and nearly 25%
of GDP. In 1973-74 the sharp increase in oil prices led to a booming economy
that helped to finance an ambitious program of industrialization. Plunging oil
and gas prices, combined with the mismanagement of Algeria's highly centralized
economy, have brought the nation to its most serious social and economic crisis
since independence. The government has promised far-reaching reforms, including
giving public sector companies more autonomy, encouraging private-sector
activity, boosting gas and nonhydrocarbon exports, and a major overhaul
of the banking and financial systems. In 1988 the government started to
implement a new economic policy to dismantle large state farms into
privately operated units.
 
GDP: $54.1 billion, per capita $2,235; real growth rate - 1.8%
(1988)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.9% (1988)
 
Unemployment rate: 19% (1988)
 
Budget: revenues $17.4 billion; expenditures $22.0 billion, including
capital expenditures of $8.0 billion (1988)
 
Exports: $9.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--petroleum and natural gas 98%;
partners--Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Italy, France, US
 
Imports: $7.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--capital goods 35%, consumer goods 36%, food 20%;
partners--France 25%, Italy 8%, FRG 8%, US 6-7%
 
External debt: $26.2 billion (December 1989)
 
Industrial production: growth rate 5.4% (1986)
 
Electricity: 4,333,000 kW capacity; 14,370 million kWh produced,
580 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: petroleum, light industries, natural gas, mining, electrical,
petrochemical, food processing
 
Agriculture: accounts for 8% of GDP and employs 24% of labor force;
net importer of food--grain, vegetable oil, and sugar; farm production
includes wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits, sheep, and cattle
 
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), $1.4 billion; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $8.2 billion;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.8 billion; Communist countries (1970-88),
$2.7 billion
 
Currency: Algerian dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Algerian dinar
(DA) = 100 centimes
 
Exchange rates: Algerian dinars (DA) per US$1--8.0086 (January
1990), 7.6086 (1989), 5.9148 (1988), 4.8497 (1987), 4.7023 (1986), 5.0278 (1985)
 
Fiscal year: calendar year
 
- Communications
Railroads: 4,146 km total; 2,632 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 1,258 km
1.055-meter gauge, 256 km 1.000-meter gauge; 300 km electrified; 215 km double
track
 
Highways: 80,000 km total; 60,000 km concrete or bituminous, 20,000 km
gravel, crushed stone, unimproved earth
 
Pipelines: crude oil, 6,612 km; refined products, 298 km; natural gas,
2,948 km
 
Ports: Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Jijel, Mers el Kebir, Mostaganem,
Oran, Skikda
 
Merchant marine: 75 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 900,957
GRT/1,063,994 DWT; includes 5 passenger, 27 cargo, 2 vehicle carrier,
10 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 5 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker,
9 liquefied gas, 7 chemical tanker, 9 bulk, 1 specialized liquid cargo
 
Civil air: 42 major transport aircraft
 
Airports: 147 total, 136 usable; 53 with permanent-surface runways;
2 with runways over 3,660 m; 29 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 68 with runways
1,220-2,439 m
 
Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international service in the
north, sparse in the south; 693,000 telephones; stations--26 AM, no FM, 113 TV;
1,550,000 TV sets; 3,500,000 receiver sets; 6 submarine cables; coaxial cable or
radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; satellite earth
stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Intersputnik,
1 ARABSAT, and 15 domestic
 
- Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie
 
Military manpower: males 15-49, 5,886,334; 3,638,458 fit for military
service; 293,476 reach military age (19) annually
 
Defense expenditures: 1.8% of GDP, or $974 million (1989 est.)