Algeria Population
Algeria
The country confronts many of the challenges that states making the transition from a state-administered to open market economy face. The country had a total population of approximately 31.5 million. The Government launched a large 4-year spending program in 2001 to stimulate the economy and modernize key sectors; however, progress continued to be slow. The Government's draft laws for liberalizing the hydrocarbons sector have stalled due to opposition from labor unions. The hydrocarbons sector was the backbone of the economy, accounting for approximately 60 percent of budget revenues, 26 percent of GDP, and over 95 percent of export earnings. Official estimates placed unemployment at 30 percent; however, as much as 70 percent of the population under the age of 30 were unable to find adequate employment. Despite macroeconomic stability, the delay in the reforms and a non-performing public sector privatization process stunted economic growth. ... [Read More]
Algeria
The $147.6 billion economy is slowly developing from a state-administered to a market-oriented system. The Government has implemented stabilization policies and structural reforms. However, privatization of state enterprises has made little progress, and there has been little progress on reform of the banking and housing construction sectors. The state-owned petroleum sector's output represented approximately a quarter of the national income and more than 96 percent of export earnings during the year. Noncompetitive and unprofitable state enterprises constitute the bulk of the nonhydrocarbon industrial sector. The agricultural sector, which produces grains, fruit, cattle, fiber, vegetables, and poultry, makes up 10 to 12 percent of the economy. Algeria is a middle-income country; annual per capita income is approximately $1,700 in a population of 31.5 million. Officially, about 30 percent of the working-age population is unemployed, and about 70 percent of persons under the age of 30 c ... [Read More]
Algeria
Voter turnout of 46 percent was the lowest since the country's independence. Problems were reported by credible sources at some polling stations, notably ballot envelopes filled with positive votes for the FLN. The Kabylie region launched a sometimes violently enforced boycott to protest the lack of transparency, increased corruption, and overt discrimination against Amazigh parties and candidates, successfully limiting the vote to 15 percent in some regions and 7 percent in Tizi Ouzou. Residents in the Kabylie region boycotted local elections in October 2002, with many protests leading to violent confrontations with the police, who used excessive force to quell protests. In December, indirect elections for one-third of the Council of the Nation (upper house) were held. According to the Constitution, the Council is comprised of 144 seats; two-thirds of the members are indirectly elected by members of their regional assemblies - the Popular Communal Assemblies and the ... [Read More]
US Department Of State Post Report
A majority of Algeria's population falls into two ethnics groups, Arab and Berber, with additional populations of Turkish and West African (in the Sahara) origin. Many Algerians are a mixture of Arab and Berber. As of January 2005, the population is estimated at 32.6 million and is expected to increase to 33.2 million by January 2006. The population is 99 % Muslim with a majority in the Sunni sect of Islam. The remaining 1% of the population is Catholic and Jewish. The principal languages are Arabic and French, although only Arabic has status as official language. The Berber language, Tamazight, achieved status as "national language" in 2004. French is still widely used for official and business purposes despite the strong program of Arabization. Few people speak English. [Read More]
Algeria
The Constitution declares Islam to be the state religion but prohibits discrimination based on religious belief, and the Government generally respects this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Islam is the only state-sanctioned religion, and the law limits the practice of other faiths; however, the Government follows a de facto policy of tolerance by not inquiring into the religious practices of individuals. Self-proclaimed radical Muslim terrorists continue to justify their killing of security force members and civilians by referring to interpretations of religious texts; however, the level o ... [Read More]
Algeria
The country has a total land area of 6,406,880 square miles, and its population is approximately 32,818,500. The vast majority of citizens are Sunni Muslims. Official data on the number of non-Muslim residents is not available, however practitioners report it to be in the tens of thousands. Many citizens who practice non-Muslim faiths have fled the country due to the civil unrest; as a result, the number of Christians and Jews in the country is significantly lower than the estimated total before 1992. The small Christian community, which is predominantly Roman Catholic, has approximately 25,000 members, and the Jewish community numbers perhaps fewer than 100 persons. There are no reliable figures on the numbers of atheists in the country, and very few persons identify themselves as such. ... [Read More]
Algeria
The Constitution declares Islam to be the state religion and prohibits discrimination by providing various individual liberties. Though the Constitution does not specifically prohibit discrimination based on religious belief, the Government generally respects religious freedom in practice; however, there were some restrictions. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Islam is the only state-sanctioned religion, and the law limits the practice of other faiths, including prohibiting public assembly for purposes of practicing a faith other than Islam. However, the Government follows a de facto policy of tolerance by allowing, in limited instances, the conduct of religious services by registered, non-Muslim faiths in the capital, which are open to the public. The Government continues to require religious organizations to register; ... [Read More]
Algeria
Four journalists were imprisoned for the first time, unlike in previous years when only fines were imposed. The most prominent case was against Mohamed Benchicou, the managing editor of the opposition paper Le Matin and author of a book critical of the president, "Bouteflika--An Algerian Imposter." In February, plainclothes policemen instructed several bookstores not to display Benchicou's book or attempt to sell it; otherwise their copies would be seized. According to the independent press, Minister of the Interior Zerhouni ordered the police to conduct an investigation to determine the publisher of the book and to take all measures to prevent the book from being marketed. Police searched vehicles and the headquarters of Le Matin for copies of the book. Others were detained for questioning by plainclothes policemen in Algiers: Saida Azzouz, a journalist for Le Matin; Ali Dilem, the cartoonist for Liberte; and Hamou L'hadj Azouaou, a chauffeur for Le Matin. While no official reason ... [Read More]
Algeria
COUNTRY DESCRIPTION: Algeria is the second largest country in Africa, with over four-fifths of its territory covered by the Sahara desert. The country has a population of 33 million people mainly located on the northern coast. Algeria is a multi-party, constitutional republic. Facilities for travelers are available in populated areas, but sometimes limited in quality and quantity. Read the Department of State Background Notes on Algeria at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/8005.htm for additional information. ... [Read More]
Algeria (12/04)
Ninety-one percent of the Algerian population lives along the Mediterranean coast on 12% of the country's total land mass. Forty-five percent of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities. About 1.5 million nomads and semi-settled Bedouin still live in the Saharan area. According to the National Office of Statistics (ONS) the data for the year 2002 indicate that 75% of the Algerian population is below 30. ... [Read More]
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