Algeria

• 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

• mostly high plateau and desert;
• some mountains;
• narrow, discontinuous coastal plain

total:

6.07 cu km/yr (22%/13%/65%)

per capita:

185 cu m/yr (2000)

• soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices;
• desertification;
• dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters;
• Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff;
• inadequate supplies of potable water

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.86 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

noun:

Algerian(s)

adjective:

Algerian

conventional long form:

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

conventional short form:

Algeria

local long form:

Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah

local short form:

Al Jaza'ir

name:

Algiers

geographic coordinates:

36 45 N, 3 03 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 8 September 1963;
• revised 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976;
• revised 3 November 1988, 23 February 1989, 28 November 1996, and 12 November 2008

• 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

chief of state:

President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999)

head of government:

Prime Minister Ahmed OUYAHIA (since 23 June 2008)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a third term under 2008 amendment to constitution);
• election last held 8 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA reelected president for second term; percent of vote - Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA 85%, Ali BENFLIS 6.4%, Abdellah DJABALLAH 5%

• Ahd 54 [Ali Fauzi REBAINE];
• Algerian National Front or FNA [Moussa TOUATI];
• Islamic Salvation Front or FIS (outlawed April 1992) [Ali BELHADJ, Dr. Abassi MADANI, Rabeh KEBIR];
• National Democratic Rally (Rassemblement National Democratique) or RND [Ahmed OUYAHIA];
• National Entente Movement or MEN [Ali BOUKHAZNA];
• National Liberation Front or FLN [Abdelaziz BELKHADEM, secretary general];
• National Reform Movement or Islah (formerly MRN) [Mohamed BOULAHIA];
• National Renewal Party or PRA [Mohamed BENSMAIL];
• Rally for Culture and Democracy or RCD [Said SADI];
• Renaissance Movement or EnNahda Movement [Fatah RABEI];
• Socialist Forces Front or FFS [Hocine Ait AHMED];
• Social Liberal Party or PSL [Ahmed KHELIL];
• Society of Peace Movement or MSP [Boudjerra SOLTANI];
• Workers Party or PT [Louisa HANOUNE]

note: a law banning political parties based on religion was enacted in March 1997

• The Algerian Human Rights League or LADDH [Hocine ZEHOUANE];
• SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR];
• Somoud [Ali MERABET]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Abdallah BAALI

chancery:

2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 265-2800

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-2174

chief of mission:

Ambassador David D. PEARCE

embassy:

05 Chemin Cheikh Bachir, El-Ibrahimi, El-Biar 16000 Algiers

mailing address:

B. P. 408, Alger-Gare, 16030 Algiers

telephone:

[213] 770-08-2000

FAX:

[213] 21-60-7355

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

26.8% (1995)

general assessment:

• a weak network of fixed-main lines, which remains low at less than 10 telephones per 100 persons, is partially offset by the rapid increase in mobile cellular subscribership;
• in 2007, combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density surpassed 90 telephones per 100 persons

domestic:

• privatization of Algeria's telecommunications sector began in 2000;
• three mobile cellular licenses have been issued and, in 2005, a consortium led by Egypt's Orascom Telecom won a 15-year license to build and operate a fixed-line network in Algeria;
• the license will allow Orascom to develop high-speed data and other specialized services and contribute to meeting the large unfulfilled demand for basic residential telephony;
• Internet broadband services began in 2003 with approximately 200,000 subscribers in 2006

international:

• country code - 213;
• landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia;
• microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia;
• coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia;
• participant in Medarabtel;
• satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat, Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2007)

• condensate 1,532 km;
• gas 13,861 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 2,408 km;
• oil 6,878 km (2007)

total:

3,973 km

standard gauge:

2,888 km 1.435-m gauge (283 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,085 km 1.055-m gauge (2006)

total:

108,302 km

paved:

76,028 km (includes 645 km of expressways)

unpaved:

32,274 km (2004)

total:

33

by type:

bulk carrier 6, cargo 8, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 4, roll on/roll off 2

foreign-owned:

18 (Jordan 7, UK 11) (2008)

males age 16-49:

9,736,757

females age 16-49:

9,590,978 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

8,141,864

females age 16-49:

8,215,895 (2008 est.)

male:

374,365

female:

360,942 (2008 est.)

• Algeria, and many other states, rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara;
• the Polisario Front, exiled in Algeria, represents the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic;
• 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

refugees (country of origin):

90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf)

IDPs:

undetermined (civil war during 1990s) (2007)

current situation:

• Algeria is a transit country for men and women trafficked from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude;
• Algerian children are trafficked internally for the purpose of domestic servitude or street vending

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - Algeria did not report any serious law enforcement actions to punish traffickers who force women into commercial sexual exploitation or men into involuntary servitude in 2007;
• the government again reported no investigations of trafficking of children for domestic servitude or improvements in protection services available to victims of trafficking;
• Algeria still lacks victim protection services, and its failure to distinguish between trafficking and illegal migration may result in the punishment of victims of trafficking (2008)