Algeria is the largest country in Africa and the tenth largest in the world. Rising from its Mediterranean coast are the mountains and plateaus of the Atlas Mountains. Their slopes are covered by scrub. The rest of Algeria—about 90% of its land area—is made up of desert: the Sahara. Here, areas of sand dunes, called ergs, stretch for hundreds of kilometres. Other parts of the desert are rocky or gravelly. The jagged Ahaggar (Hoggar) Mountains rise steeply in the southeast. The north has a warm, sunny Mediterranean climate. In the mountains, the weather is milder, and winters are cold. A brisk, dry wind called the sirocco sometimes blows in from the south, bringing dust and grit from the desert.

People

Nearly all Algerians have mixed Arab and Berber ancestry. Most speak a form of Arabic called Darija, which is influenced by Berber languages; about a quarter of the population speak Berber languages. Algeria’s history as a colony of France means that French is also widely spoken. Most Algerians live along the Mediterranean coast. The desert is home to the Mozabites, who live in oases in the northern Sahara, and the Tuareg, nomadic herders.

Tuareg

About 120,000 Tuareg nomads, a Berber people, live in Algerian’s southern desert, herding and trading cattle. They move from place to place with their herds, often crossing into Mali and Niger. The Tuareg consider the Sahara a number of different deserts; they call their land “Tinariwen” meaning “the deserts”. Increasing droughts and competition with modern industries, such as oil and uranium mining, for water threaten the Tuareg’s way of life, and many have moved to settle in villages and towns.

Oil and gas

Algeria’s most important resource is its huge reserves of oil and natural gas. Huge pipelines link the oil and gas fields to processing centres along the coast. Here, factories refine oil and liquefy natural gas, increasing the value of these exports, most of which are shipped to Europe and the USA. A number of gas pipelines link directly from Algeria to Italy and Spain. Oil and gas together make up nearly all Algeria’s exports.

Farming

Only a very small part of Algeria’s land area is suitable for farming—mainly the land along the coast. Here, farmers grow barley and wheat, as well as Mediterranean crops such as grapes, tomatoes and citrus fruits. They cannot produce enough to feed Algeria’s large population, and the country has to import much of its food.

Facts about Algeria

Population 46,700,000 (2024 estimate)

Area 2,381,741 sq km

Highest point Tahat 2908 m (9541 ft)

Capital Algiers, population 4.5 million

Other major cities Oran (pop. 1.5 million), Constantine (448,000), Annaba (343,000), Blida (332,000)

Languages Arabic, French

Religion Muslim 99%, others 1%

Ethnicity Arab-Berber 84%, Berber 15%, others 1%

Currency Algerian dinar (DZD)

Chief exports oil and petroleum products, natural gas