Algeria

B

Principal Cities

Algiers is the capital, chief seaport, and largest city, with a population of 3,060,000 (2003 estimate). Other important urban towns are Oran, population 655,852 (1998), a trading centre, and Constantine, population 462,187 (1998), the centre for a livestock- and wheat-producing region.

C

Religion

Islam is the official religion and is professed by the vast majority of the population.

D

Language

Eighteen languages are spoken in Algeria. Standard Arabic is the official language, although it is not a mother tongue as it is learnt in schools and places of worship and is used in official domains only. Algerian Spoken Arabic is also widely used (by 83 per cent of the population). Twelve Berber languages in all are spoken in Algeria, including Chaouia (1.4 million speakers), Kabyle (over 2.5 million), and Tamazight (fewer than 500,000). French is also known (mainly in the cities), usually by educated people.

E

Education

Primary education is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 14. The Algerian educational system, long patterned after the French, was changed by a programme of Arabization shortly after independence. The government introduced new teaching methods and began training Algerian teachers and bringing in foreign, Arabic-speaking teachers. In 1976 all private schools were abolished and a compulsory period of nine years of education was introduced. Adult literacy was 81 per cent for males and 63.6 per cent for females in 2005.

In 2000 some 4.7 million pupils attended 15,426 primary schools and about 3 million were enrolled in 3,950 middle and secondary schools. The government also maintains vocational and teacher-training schools. In 1999, 24.4 per cent of government expenditure was spent on education.

Algeria has in the region of 30 universities, including two universities of science and technology; the total enrolment at all institutions of higher education was 682,775 in 2002–2003. The University of Algiers (1859) has faculties of law, medicine, science, and liberal arts. Seven of the universities and nearly all of the 20 or so specialized colleges have been founded since independence.

F

Culture

French tradition formerly dominated the cultural life of Algeria. Even before independence, however, there was a growing movement among Algerian artists and intellectuals to revive national interest in Arab-Berber origins, a movement that, since 1962, has gained official support.

Foremost among Algerian libraries is the National Library (1835) in Algiers, which has about 1 million volumes, including important works on African subjects. Collections are maintained by the University of Algiers, which has more than 700,000 volumes, and by the Municipal Library in Constantine, which contains about 25,000 volumes.

The Prehistory and Ethnographic Museum (1928), the National Museum of Antiquities (1897), and the National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers (1930) are located in Algiers. The Museum of Cirta (1853) in Constantine contains art and archaeological collections.

Although much Algerian writing was suppressed by the French during the 1950s, the war for independence stimulated a considerable resurgence of interest in the Arabic-language national literature. Noted 20th-century Algerian writers who wrote in French are Kateb Yacine, Mohammad Dib, and Malek Haddad. The French novelist Albert Camus was born and educated in Algeria.