I.

Introduction

Algeria (in French, Algérie), officially People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, republic of western North Africa; bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea; to the east by Tunisia and Libya; to the south by Niger, Mali, and Mauritania; and to the west by Morocco. Its total area is 2,381,741 sq km (919,595 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Algiers.

II.

Land and Resources

Algeria has four main physical regions, which extend east to west across the country in parallel zones. In the north, along the Mediterranean coast and extending inland for 80 to 190 km (50 to 118 mi), is the Tell. The region consists of a narrow and discontinuous coastal plain backed by the mountainous area of the Tell Atlas Mountains. The numerous valleys of this region contain most of Algeria’s arable land. South of the second region, the High Plateau, lie the mountains and massifs of the Saharan Atlas. The fourth region, comprising more than 90 per cent of the country’s total area, is the great expanse of the Algerian Sahara. Much of the terrain is covered by gravel, although the Great Eastern Erg and the Great Western Erg are vast regions of sand dunes. In the south, rising above the desert, are the Ahaggar Mountains, which culminate in Mount Tahat (3,003 m/9,852 ft), the highest peak in Algeria.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The country’s principal river, the Chelif (725 km/450 mi long), rises in the Tell Atlas and flows to the Mediterranean Sea; no permanent streams are found south of the Tell. The High Plateau, the region lying to the south and south-west, is a highland region of level terrain. Several basins here collect water during rainy periods, forming large, shallow lakes; as these dry they become salt flats, called chotts, or shotts.

B.

Climate

The Tell region in the north has a typical Mediterranean climate, with warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. This is the most humid area of Algeria, with an annual precipitation ranging from 400 to 1,000 mm (16 to 39 in). The mean summer and winter temperatures are 25° C (77° F) and 11.1° C (52° F), respectively. During the summer an exceedingly hot, dry wind, the sirocco (known locally as the chehili), blows north from the Sahara. To the south the climate becomes increasingly dry. Annual precipitation in the High Plateau and Saharan Atlas ranges from about 200 to 400 mm (8 to 16 in). The Sahara region experiences daily temperature extremes, wind, and great aridity; annual rainfall is less than 130 mm (5 in) in all places.

C.

Natural Resources

Most of the natural wealth of Algeria lies in its sizeable mineral deposits, notably oil, natural gas, phosphates, and iron ore. Other minerals include coal, lead, and zinc. The arable land comprises only about 3 per cent of the total area and is located mainly in the valleys and plains of the coastal region.

D.

Plants and Animals

The northern sections of Algeria have suffered from centuries of deforestation and overgrazing. Remnants of forests exist in a few areas of the higher Tell and Saharan Atlas. Trees include pines, Atlas cedar, and various oaks, including cork oak. Lower slopes are bare or covered with a scrub vegetation of juniper and other shrubs. Much of the High Plateau is barren, but tracts of steppe vegetation containing esparto grass and brushwood are present. Plant life in the Sahara is widely scattered and consists of drought-resistant grasses, acacia, and jujube trees.

The relatively sparse vegetation of the country can support only a limited wildlife population. Scavengers, such as jackals, hyenas, and vultures, are found in most regions. Some antelopes, hares, gazelles, and reptiles are also present.

E.

Environmental Concerns

Among the North African countries, Algeria is the most advanced in nature conservation, with a comprehensive environmental law that includes nature conservation, a protected areas system, and universities and institutions with specialized training in conservation. The government now manages nine national parks, five nature reserves, and five special hunting areas. Other protected areas include special forest areas and private holdings. No marine parks exist, but the government has the authority to close maritime areas to fishing. Overall, about 24 per cent of the country is within the protected area system, although only about 2.5 per cent (1997) is truly protected. National parks, including the giant Tassili N’Ajjer National Park in the eastern part of the country, comprise a large proportion of this total.

The country is approximately 0.8 per cent (1995) forested, with most of this land in the northern region. Algeria possesses 250 endemic plants and representatives of a total of 3,140 plant species, over one third of which are nationally threatened. A number of Algeria's animal species are also threatened with global extinction, including 15 (1996) mammals and 8 (1996) birds. Algeria's population grew rapidly after independence from France in 1962, and the impact of people on the fragile landscape has been severe. The greatest ecological threats are deforestation and burning of maquis vegetation, conversion of steppe habitat to arable land, and soil erosion due to overgrazing and poor farming practices.

Pollution of Mediterranean coastal waters is pervasive. Wetlands, including part of a recently established national park, are in particular danger of destruction. Fresh water is scarce in Algeria, but per capita consumption is low, and the majority of urban and rural populations have access to potable supplies. Algeria is an oil-producing country, and as such, generates much of its energy from fossil fuels. However, it has a keen interest in alternative energy technologies and has applied to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Solar Program for funding of several projects, including solar electrification of villages. Algeria has agreed to cooperate with other nations in protecting the Mediterranean Sea from pollution, preventing the degradation of sensitive habitats, and to work towards a goal of the protection of more than 5 per cent of its land. Algeria has ratified the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, is party to the World Heritage Convention, and has two designated biosphere reserves under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program.

III.

Population

The population consists almost entirely of Berbers, Arabs, and people of mixed Arab-Berber stock. Until 1962 about 1 million European settlers, mainly French, and an indigenous population of 150,000 Jews lived in Algeria; 90 per cent of this group, however, emigrated after Algeria became independent in 1962. Christians and Jews together now make up 1 per cent of the population. More than half the population is classified as rural, living in villages and on small farms.

A.

Population Characteristics

Algeria has a population of 33,739,635 (2008 estimate). The overall population density is 14 people per sq km (37 people per sq mi). Approximately half the population is concentrated in the coastal Tell region. Life expectancy at birth in 2008 was 72.1 years for men and 75.5 years for women.

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.

IV.

Economy

Algeria is one of the wealthiest nations of Africa. It has the fifth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is one of the world’s major oil producers. Efforts to reform one of the most centrally planned economies in the Arab world began after the 1986 collapse of world oil prices plunged the country into a severe recession. In 1989 the government launched a comprehensive programme supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to achieve economic stabilization and to introduce market mechanisms into the economy.

Despite substantial progress, in 1992 the reform drive stalled as the country became embroiled in political turmoil. In September 1993 a new government resumed the structural adjustment process. The slump in world oil prices, with subsequent heavy foreign debt, led to a one-year standby arrangement with the IMF in 1994. Rescheduling of debts was concluded with a number of creditors in 1995 and 1996. A recovery in growth since then has been helped by expansion in the oil and gas industries and increased diversification in other areas. Unemployment is still high and living standards low.

Agriculture plays a declining but still important role in the Algerian economy, while mineral production accounts for the largest part of the gross domestic product (GDP). The gross national product (GNP) in 2004 was around US$73,316 million (World Bank figure) or US$3,030 per capita. The estimated national budget in 2006 included US$49,756 million in revenue and US$20,207 million in expenditure.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Rich soils are rare in Algeria. The most fertile lands, located in the Tell region, nearest the coast, are relatively poor in humus and have suffered from overcultivation. The plains have considerable alluvial deposits, but the uplands have poorer soils and can support only grasses suitable for grazing.

Although farming employed 20.7 per cent of the workforce in 2004, it accounts for only about 8.5 per cent of GDP (2005 estimate). Productivity is low and foodstuffs must be imported. The principal crops, with production in tonnes in 2006, are wheat (2.7 million), potatoes (2.18 million), barley (1.2 million), oranges (270,000 in 1994), dates (265,000 in 1994), grapes (398,018), and olives (130,000 in 1994). Of the livestock raised, sheep numbered about 19.6 million in 2006, goats 3.8 million, and cattle 1.6 million.

Forests, which contain much brushwood, covered 1 per cent of Algeria’s land area in 2005. Substantial reforestation projects were undertaken in the 1970s. Harvested wood is used principally for heating and industrial needs. Bark is cut for tanning and cork for commercial purposes. Charcoal is also used for fuel.

Fishing is an important industry; in 2005 the total catch was 126,628 tonnes. The bulk of the yield included sardines, anchovies, sprats, tuna, and shellfish.

B.

Mining

The chief mineral products are crude petroleum and natural gas from the Sahara. Crude oil production in 2004 was about 1.6 million barrels per day; natural gas production totalled 82.4 billion cu m (2.91 trillion cu ft) annually. In November 1996 a 1,400-km (868-mi) pipeline began transporting natural gas to Spain.

Other major mineral products are iron ore and pyrites, coal, zinc, lead, mercury, and copper. More than 500 million tonnes of phosphates are thought to exist in hilly regions of Djebel Onk in the north. In 2004, phosphate rock production was estimated at 240,000 tonnes. Virtually all mining and industrial activity is state controlled.

C.

Manufacturing

Much of the nation’s industry is centred around the cities of Algiers and Oran. Since the late 1960s the government has instituted major industrialization programmes. Major products are carpets and textiles, chemicals, refined petroleum, plastics, construction materials, olive oil, wine, and processed tobacco. Rapidly growing industries include those producing iron and steel, paper, and electrical items.

D.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Algeria is the Algerian dinar of 100 centimes (67.32 dinars equalled US$1; early 2008). All government banking and monetary functions are carried out by the Central Bank of Algeria (Banque d’Algerie). Since 1966 all foreign and private banks have been nationalized.

E.

Commerce and Trade

The principal Algerian exports are natural gas, petroleum, iron ore, vegetables, tobacco, phosphates, fruit, cork, and hides. Major imports are machinery, textiles, sugar, cereals, iron and steel, coal, and petrol. The EU is Algeria’s main trading partner, taking nearly two thirds of its exports, including much of its oil. Other major partners are the United States and Japan. In 2004, exports totalled about US$32,083 million and imports about US$18,386 million. Algeria’s trade volume and balance depend heavily on petroleum prices.

F.

Labour

The General Union of Algerian Workers, founded in 1956 during the struggle for independence, consists of 1 million members divided by trade into ten sectors. In 1973 a National Union of Algerian Peasants was formed, consisting of about 700,000 farmer members. The labour force consisted of about 13.9 million in 2006, of whom some 26 per cent engaged in industry, 21 per cent in agriculture, and 53 per cent in services in 2004.

G.

Transport

The rail and road systems mainly serve the northern third of the country. There were 725,000 passenger cars in 1996, with a ratio of 23 people per car. Five railway lines run to the northern edge of the Sahara, and roads link the Sahara oilfields to the coast. In 2005 Algeria had about 3,572 km (2,220 mi) of railway track and in 2004 about 108,302 km (67,296 mi) of roads, of which 70 per cent was paved in 2004. Algeria’s segment of a trans-Saharan highway, extending from the Mediterranean coast past Tamanrasset to the Niger border, was completed in 1985. Air Algérie, the national airline, provides domestic and international air service. Houari Boumédienne International Airport lies at Algiers.

H.

Communications

All news media, including the country’s 17 (2004) daily newspapers, are government controlled. Book publishing and the radio and television networks are under the auspices of government agencies. In 1997 Algeria had around 7.1 million radios, 3.4 million televisions, and in 2005 78 telephones per 1,000 people.

V.

Government

Under the constitution adopted in February 1989 and subsequently revised in 1996, Algeria is a socialist republic.

A.

Executive and Legislature

The constitution of 1989 provides for a president elected to a five-year term by universal adult suffrage. The bicameral legislature consists of the directly elected lower house, the National People's Assembly, whose 380 members sit for 5 years, and the upper house, the National Council, has 144 members: 96 elected by communal councils and 48 members appointed by the president. The socialist National Liberation Front (FLN) has dominated Algerian politics since independence. Elections were annulled and the Assembly was suspended in January 1992 to prevent the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a Muslim fundamentalist party, from gaining a legislative majority; Algeria was subsequently governed by the High Council of State, headed by a president. Constitutional revisions in 1996, following the first popular election of a president in 1995, limited the president to one five-year term and banned Islamist party platforms. Local and legislative elections scheduled for 1997 resulted in the pro-government National Democratic Rally (RND) winning the majority of seats in both polls. In the 2002 elections for the National People’s Assembly the National Liberation Front (FLN) won an outright majority. Other prominent parties include the Movement for National Reform (Islah); the National Rally for Democracy (RND); the Islamist Movement of the Society for Peace (MSP); and the socialist Workers’ Party (PT).

B.

Judiciary

The highest court of Algeria is the Supreme Court, which functions both as the high court of appeal and the council of state. Three Algerian courts of appeal and special criminal courts (for economic crimes against the state) are located in Algiers, Oran, and Constantine. Numerous justices of the peace and commercial courts complete the judicial system.

C.

Local Government

Algeria is divided into 48 departments (wilaya). These are subdivided into nearly 700 local communes. Each department is headed by a governor appointed by the federal government. Municipal councils enact local laws and elect all administrative officers.

D.

Health and Welfare

The government sponsors social welfare programmes providing allowances for the aged, needy, and disabled; benefits for non-agrarian workers; agrarian reform; public works; and accelerated public-housing programmes.

Since 1974 medical care has been provided free to all Algerian citizens. In the early 1990s Algeria had more than 280 public hospitals and more than 24,700 doctors. In 2004 there were 1,182 people per doctor. The infant mortality rate in 2008 was 28 deaths per 1,000 live births; around 7 per cent of the country’s national budget was spent on health care. Average life expectancy at birth in 2008 was 72.1 years for men and 75.5 years for women. Public health officials are engaged in an effort to eliminate epidemic diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. Other health problems are widespread malnutrition and eye ailments such as trachoma. Smallpox and cholera have been brought under control.

E.

Defence

The president is commander-in-chief of the military forces. The nucleus of the 120,000-strong army in 2004 was provided by the liberation forces after Algerian independence was secured. A 10,000-strong air force is equipped with Soviet- and French-built jet planes and helicopters. Naval forces numbered 7,500. In 2003, Algeria spent US$2,206 million (3.4 per cent of its GDP) on defence.

F.

International Organizations

Algeria is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the African Union.

VI.

History

The earliest inhabitants of what is now Algeria were Berbers, tribal peoples of unknown origin. Cave paintings in the Ahaggar region depict a people who raised cattle and hunted game in the area between 8000 and 2000 bc. Much later, about 1100 bc, the Phoenicians, a seafaring people from the eastern Mediterranean, founded a North African state at Carthage in what is now Tunisia. During the Punic Wars (3rd-2nd century bc) between Carthage and Rome, Masinissa (reigned 202-148 bc), a Berber chief allied with Rome, established the first Algerian kingdom, Numidia. His grandson, Jugurtha, was subjugated by Rome in 106 bc.

Numidia prospered under Roman rule. Large estates produced so much grain and olive oil that the region became known as the granary of Rome. A system of military roads and garrisoned towns protected the inhabitants from nomads. In time, these towns grew into miniature Roman cities.

The decline of the Roman Empire brought many changes. Roman legions were withdrawn to defend other frontiers, and in the 3rd century ad regional independence was briefly expressed in the Donatist movement, a North African Christian sect persecuted by the Roman authorities. The Vandals, a Germanic people, invaded the region in the 5th century and established their own kingdom there. Barely a century later these warriors were themselves overthrown by an army of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, whose dream was to restore the glory of the Roman Empire.

A.

Medieval Islamic Dynasties

Justinian’s dream was short-lived. In the 7th century the Arabs invaded North Africa, bringing with them a new religion, Islam. In Algeria they were resisted by a woman leader—Kahina, the high priestess of a people supposedly converted to Judaism—but eventually the Berbers submitted to Islam and Arab authority; Algeria became a province of the caliphate of the Umayyads. The Arabs, however, remained largely an urban elite.

An internal conflict over the succession to the caliphal throne enabled the Berbers to form their own Islamic government in the 8th century. Many of them joined the branch of Islam known as Shiism, and they founded several tribal kingdoms. One of the most prominent was that of the Rustamids at Tahert in central Algeria. Tahert prospered in the 8th and 9th centuries. Between the 11th and 13th centuries two successive Berber dynasties, the Almoravids and the Almohads, brought north-west Africa and southern Spain under a single central authority. Tlemcen, the capital under the Almohads, became a city of fine mosques and schools of Islamic learning, as well as a handicrafts centre. Algerian seaports like Bejaïa, Annaba, and the growing town of Algiers carried on a brisk trade with European cities, supplying the famed Barbary horses, wax, fine leather, and fabrics to European markets.

B.

Ottoman Turkish Rule

The collapse of the Almohads in 1269 set off fierce trade competition among Mediterranean seaports, both Christian and Muslim. To gain advantage, city governments began to hire corsairs—pirates who seized merchant ships and held crews and cargo for ransom. Algiers became a primary centre of corsair activities.

In the 16th century the Christian Spaniards occupied various North African ports. Algiers was blockaded and forced to pay tribute. Other ports were captured outright. The desperate Muslims called for help from the Ottoman sultan, then the caliph of all Islam. Two corsair brothers, the Barbarossas (“Redbeards”), persuaded the Ottoman Empire to send them with a fleet to North Africa. They drove the Spaniards out of most of their new possessions, and in 1518 the younger Barbarossa, Khayr ad-Din, was appointed beylerbey, the sultan’s representative in Algeria.

Because of its distance from the Turkish capital at Constantinople, Algiers was governed as an autonomous province. Externally, the effectiveness of its corsair fleet made Algiers a power in its own right; Algerian pirates dominated the Mediterranean. European states paid tribute regularly to ensure protection for their ships, and prisoner ransom brought a rich income to the province. Internal security was maintained by Ottoman janissary garrisons.

In the late 18th century improved firepower and ship construction enabled the Europeans to challenge corsair domination. By then, the days of Ottoman Algiers were numbered. International agreements to outlaw piracy made collective action against the corsair capital possible. In 1815 the United States sent a naval squadron against Algiers. The following year an Anglo-Dutch fleet nearly destroyed its defences, and in 1830 the city was captured by a French army.

C.

French Colonization

France annexed Algeria in 1834, and the new regime aroused fierce resistance from inhabitants accustomed to indirect Turkish rule. Their leader, Abd al-Qadir, an Islamic holy man claiming descent from Muhammad, used hit-and-run tactics that were highly effective; he was not completely subdued until 1847, and he remains a hero to modern Algerian nationalists.

With Abd al-Qadir out of the way, France began to colonize Algeria in earnest, and European settlers poured into the country. To encourage settlement, the French confiscated or purchased lands at low prices from Muslim owners. Algeria became an overseas department of France, controlled for all practical purposes by the European minority, the colons (colonists). The colons formed a privileged elite. With the help of large infusions of capital, they developed a modern economy, with industries, banks, schools, shops, and services similar to those at home. Algerian agriculture was geared to the French economy; large estates produced wines and citrus fruit for export to France, just as North Africa had once served Rome. Some Europeans made vast fortunes, but the majority were small farmers, tradespeople, shopkeepers, and factory workers. All, however, shared a passionate belief in Algérie Française—a French Algeria.

The Muslim population, although benefiting from social services and economic development, remained a disadvantaged majority, subject to many restrictions. By French law they could not hold public meetings, carry firearms, or leave their homes or villages without permission. Legally, they were French subjects, but to become French citizens, with full rights, they had to renounce their faith. Few did so.

The Muslim population grew steadily; by 1930, it numbered 5 million. A small minority, educated in French schools, adopted French culture, although they were not accepted as equals by the colons. From this group came the initial impetus for Algerian nationalism.

D.

Rise of Algerian Nationalism

Algerian nationalism developed after World War I among groups of Muslims who at first wanted only equality with the Europeans. Ferhat Abbas and Ahmed Messali Hadj, a Communist, were among the most prominent Algerian leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1936 the French government devised a plan providing full equality for Muslim war veterans and professionals, but it was scuttled by colon deputies in the French National Assembly. Frustrated by the colons’ stubborn resistance to reform, Abbas joined forces with Messali during World War II to organize a militant anti-French party, the Friends of the Manifesto and Liberty. After the war the Algerian Organic Statute (1947) set up Algeria’s first parliamentary assembly, with an equal number of European and Muslim delegates, but this satisfied neither natives nor colons and proved ineffective. The more militant nationalists were by then beginning to favour armed revolt. In the early 1950s many went into hiding or exile.

E.

War of Independence

In March 1954 Ahmed Ben Bella, an ex-sergeant in the French army, joined eight other Algerian exiles in Egypt to form a revolutionary committee that later became known as the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN). A few months later (on November 1), the FLN launched its bid for Algerian independence by coordinated attacks on public buildings, military and police posts, and communications installations.

A steady rise in guerrilla action over the next two years forced the French to bring in reinforcements; eventually, 400,000 French troops were stationed in Algeria. FLN strategy combined Abd al-Qadir’s guerrilla tactics with deliberate use of terrorism. The guerrilla tactics effectively immobilized superior French forces, while indiscriminate murders and kidnappings of Europeans and Muslims who did not actively support the FLN created a climate of fear throughout the country. This in turn brought counter-terrorism, as colons and French army units raided Muslim villages and slaughtered the civilian population.

In 1956 the war spread to the cities. In Algiers, even cafés, schools, and shops became targets, as the nationalists sought to weaken colon morale and draw international attention to their cause. The Algiers uprising was ruthlessly put down. Elsewhere, the French gradually gained the upper hand by using new tactics. Collective punishment was meted out to whole villages suspected of aiding guerrillas. Other groups were deported to guarded refugee camps. Electrified fences along the Tunisian and Moroccan borders cut off the main FLN army from units inside Algeria.

Despite their military superiority, the French were unable to find a political solution satisfactory to both the colons and the FLN. International criticism of France increased, and its allies in NATO worried about the commitment of French forces to an unpopular war.

In May 1958 the colons and French army officers joined hands in Algiers to overthrow the French government, charging it with vacillation. A Committee of Public Safety demanded the return to office of General Charles de Gaulle, the wartime leader of the Free French, as the only one who could settle the war and preserve French Algeria. De Gaulle, however, was a realist. Once in power, he recognized that the war was unwinnable. In 1959 he announced his intention of allowing Algerians to choose between independence and continued association with France.

The plan struck the colons like a thunderbolt. Outraged, they staged an unsuccessful revolt against de Gaulle early in 1960, and in 1961 a group of army generals again tried to overthrow him. Both times, however, the bulk of the army remained loyal to the government. Associated with the generals’ plot was a group of military and colon extremists, called the Secret Army Organization, which at the same time carried on a brutal campaign of counter-terrorism against both the FLN and French authorities.

In March 1962 a ceasefire was finally arranged between government and FLN representatives at Evian in France. In the long-awaited referendum, held the following July, Algeria voted overwhelmingly for independence. The colons began a mass evacuation; before the end of the year most of them had left the country.

F.

Independence

The Evian agreements provided for immediate independence for Algeria, with special aid from France to help the country recover from eight years of devastation. The French also returned the Sahara, with its vast French-developed oil and gas deposits. On its side, the FLN guaranteed protection and full civil rights for the remains of the European population; after a three-year period they would choose between Algerian and French citizenship.

The material and human costs of the war were staggering. French casualties were about 100,000, Algerian more than 1 million, and another 1.8 million became refugees. An additional 150,000 pro-French Muslims became victims of the FLN as it settled old accounts after the ceasefire.

The departure of the Europeans deprived Algeria of nearly all its skilled labour force. To make matters worse, factional rivalries within the FLN, kept in the background during the war, now became visible. At a meeting in Tripoli, Libya, FLN leaders approved a charter that specified Algeria as a socialist state, with the Front as the only legal political organization. Authority would be exercised by a central FLN political bureau. The economy would be state controlled, with former colon lands managed by committees of their workers.

The leaders were able to agree on little else, and open warfare soon broke out between factions. Colonel Houari Boumedienne, Chief of Staff of the Army of National Liberation, threw his support behind Ahmed Ben Bella, who in September 1962 was elected the first president of independent Algeria.

Ben Bella served as president for three years and made a start towards putting the country back on its feet. The first constitution was approved by voters in 1963, providing a presidential form of government. The only check on the president’s power would be censure by two thirds of the National Assembly. With such unrestricted authority, Ben Bella became totally absorbed in his personal power and prestige, more and more preoccupied with international leadership, and at the same time more autocratic at home. By mid-1965 Boumedienne, then minister of defence, felt Ben Bella had gone too far; he had him arrested in a bloodless coup and assumed supreme power.

G.

The Boumedienne Regime

Under Boumedienne, Algeria finally began to capitalize on its vast resources. The army rather than the FLN became a dominant force. Boumedienne formed a 26-member Council of the Revolution as supreme authority; its members were army commanders and his close associates. Factionalism and personal rule were strictly prohibited. Although Boumedienne remained first among equals—he was simultaneously president, prime minister, and minister of defence—the principle of collegiate leadership was maintained.

In addition to rapid economic development, Boumedienne brought to the country a viable political system. The constitution of 1976 defined Algeria as a socialist state under FLN leadership. Boumedienne was legally elected the president. When he died in 1978, Colonel Chadli Benjedid was elected to succeed him. Benjedid continued his predecessor’s policies but relaxed some of Boumedienne’s strict controls; he released and pardoned (1980) former president Ben Bella. Benjedid was re-elected in 1984, running unopposed.

H.

New Elections and Civil Strife

In 1988, prompted by clashes between mostly youthful protesters and government troops, Benjedid loosened the FLN’s monopoly on political power. Re-elected in December to a third five-year term, he secured passage of a new constitution in February 1989, which was approved by referendum, opening the door to other political groups. In the 1990 provincial and municipal elections, the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front defeated the FLN by an overwhelming margin.

In January 1992, after a first round of balloting made it likely that the Islamic fundamentalists would win control of parliament, a group of military and civilian officials forced Benjedid to resign. They cancelled the election, declared a state of emergency, suspended parliament, and established a new High Committee of State with Mohammed Boudiaff as the new president. This precipitated a continuing internal conflict between the government and security forces and Islamic extremists.

The fundamentalists targetted for bloody attacks soldiers, officials, police, and their families; foreign nationals; intellectuals and schoolteachers; conspicuously “un-Islamic” women (including those who refused to act as “temporary wives” for fundamentalist fighters); and anyone else suspected of pro-Western or pro-government leanings. The government responded with summary detention (and reported summary executions) of anyone suspected of involvement with the fundamentalists.

I.

Increase of Fundamentalist Violence

When Boudiaff was assassinated in June 1992, Ali Kafi was named to replace him as head of state. He was replaced by a five-member collective presidency, known as the High Council, with Kafi at its head. In March 1993 Algeria cut diplomatic ties to Iran and Sudan, accusing both of supporting fundamentalist violence. In January 1994, the council named Defence Minister Liamine Zeroual as Algeria’s president for a three-year interim term that was expected to lead to new multi-party elections, and was then disbanded. A former diplomat and career soldier who fought for Algeria’s independence from France, Zeroual was given wide latitude to negotiate with the Islamic Salvation Front and other fundamentalist groups. Violence continued through 1994, and in October Zeroual admitted that he had failed to open up constructive dialogue with the militants and called for presidential elections to be held before 1996.

In December 1994 an Air France airbus was hijacked at Algiers by Islamic fundamentalists demanding the release of jailed Islamic Salvation Front leaders; after the killing of three hostages, the terrorists were killed and the remaining hostages released unharmed when French commandos stormed the plane at Marseille. A peace proposal drafted by the Islamic groups was rejected by the government in January 1995, while a car bomb detonated in Algiers on March 10 killed over 60 people. By mid-1995 there were signs that determined army efforts had begun to yield successes against the fundamentalists. Zeroual continued to reject negotiation with the fundamentalist groups as long as they kept up their campaigns of violence.

In November 1995 the government held the first multi-party presidential elections in the Algerian republic’s history. The Islamic Salvation Front and other opposition groups boycotted the election; however, the poll of over 80 per cent was large enough for the government to claim a victory for moderation when voters returned President Zeroual to office. His new government, formed in January 1996, included some moderate members of the fundamentalist opposition. However, terrorist atrocities continued, including the killing of seven French Trappist monks in May 1996. In the same month, Zeroual announced a package of constitutional reforms including proportional representation, a bicameral legislature, and the banning of parties campaigning on an Islamic platform. A government-sponsored Conference of National Concord in September 1996 did little to reduce levels of anti-government violence. A referendum held in November 1996 gave strong approval to the constitutional reforms; opposition groups denounced the results as fraudulent.

Violence continued unabated in 1997, beginning with over 300 murders during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (January-February). Algeria’s first multi-party legislative elections were finally held in June 1997, resulting in a victory for the government’s National Democratic Rally and its ally the FLN, from a turnout of around 65 per cent. The Islamic Salvation Front boycotted the election, and the unexpectedly low turnout partly reflected its influence; international observers cited many instances of government electoral malpractice, but declared the overall result to be sufficiently fair.

Fundamentalist massacres continued in September and October 1997, including the killing of 85 people (possibly as many as 200) in a suburb of Algiers. The Algerian authorities, which for the first time allowed the local press to witness a counter-terrorist operation, criticized the French and Italian governments for suggesting that something ought to be done about the Algerian massacres. The army claimed successes in an offensive conducted against the Armed Islamic Group just south of Algiers, but the killing of civilians continued both there and in western Algeria.

In local elections held in late October 1997, the National Democratic Rally won most of the seats, after which thousands of people marched through the streets of Algiers in protests organized by opposing parties, who declared the elections fraudulent. Following further massacres in 1998, the army pressed on with its offensive against Islamic fundamentalist rebels in the west of the country. In September 1998 a UN investigation team refuted accusations that the Algerian government was covertly encouraging fundamentalist atrocities against civilians. In the same month, President Zeroual announced he would step down to assist reconciliation. In the April 1999 presidential elections, all of the candidates except Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the official candidate backed by the army, withdrew on the day before polling, alleging massive electoral fraud. Bouteflika was elected by default, but the result threatened to prolong Algeria's political instability.

J.

Under Bouteflika

In July 1999, President Bouteflika's 'civil concord' peace plan was launched, offering amnesty to the armed wing of the FIS, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) in return for a ceasefire, and promising the release of imprisoned militants as well as a lifting of the ban against the FIS. Despite some continued tensions the AIS agreed to disband.

International human rights investigators, encouraged by the recommencement of the Red Cross monitoring of Algerian prisons in December 1999, visited the country in May 2000 at Bouteflika’s invitation. In August there was a new prime minister, Ali Benflis, and new Cabinet. In September and October, with many peace plan promises still unfulfilled, violent clashes again began to break out, led by hardline rebel groups who had refused to join the deal but who were now backed by those who had initially taken advantage of the amnesty. The violence escalated in the Ramadan month of December, accompanied by criticism of Bouteflika’s handing of the situation. By the end of January 2001 over 1,200 people had died or been massacred. The EU reopened dialogue with Algeria in February but failed to persuade the government to agree to UN involvement.

Throughout 2001 there were clashes between government forces and members of the minority Berber community, protesting for greater political freedoms and official recognition of their language—Tamazight. In October 2001 President Bouteflika acquiesced to the Berber language demands, promising a constitutional amendment to recognize the legitimacy of Tamazight and the following March he said that the language would receive official recognition as a national language. In early November torrential storms hit Algiers, especially the poorer areas of the city, including Bab El Oued district. In the worst floods for over 40 years over 1,000 people were believed to have died. The government was heavily criticized for allowing such conditions to arise whereby so many people could lose their lives.

Parliamentary elections in May 2002 saw the FLN retain power in the National People’s Assembly, though the election had the lowest turnout since independence. Disaffection was particularly evident in the Berber region of Kabylie. In March 2003 Jacques Chirac made the first state visit by a French premier since Algerian independence more than 40 years previously. Prime Minister Ali Benflis was dismissed by President Bouteflika in May and replaced by the former prime minister, Ahmed Ouyahia.

An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre 50 km (30 mi) to the east of Algiers, hit the district of Boumerdes on May 21, 2003. There were an estimated 2,000 deaths and 10,000 people injured. The high casualty figures were blamed on the collapse of poorly constructed substandard housing; over 70,000 Algerians were left homeless, with the government pledging a renewed building programme to construct 20,000 new homes.

The leader of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) Abassi Madani and his deputy Ali Belhadj were released from prison in June 2003, having served a 12-year sentence.

In October 2003 the FLN, the majority party in the National People’s Assembly, withdrew its ministers from the Cabinet in a long-running dispute with the president. The FLN accused President Bouteflika of seeking to stop its leader Ali Benflis from running in the April 2004 presidential elections. President Bouteflika announced in February 2004 his intention to seek re-election. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Berber minority declared their intention to boycott the presidential elections in light of their ongoing dispute over the status of the Tamazight language. Bouteflika won the election, gaining 85 per cent of the vote against the 6 per cent gained by Ali Benflis. In November the president announced plans for a general amnesty to those groups previously associated with violence. In May 2006 Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia resigned and was replaced by Abdelaziz Belkhadem.