Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

Social_nav_masthead_logged_in

Member Photos

sali11

sali11
Algeria

To post a comment, please login >

| 06:27 AM Nov 28 2009

sali11

Algeria

History
Excavations in Algeria have indicated that Homo erectus resided there between 500,000 and 700,000 years ago. Phoenician traders settled on the Mediterranean coast in the 1st millennium B.C. As ancient Numidia, Algeria became a Roman colony, part of what was called Mauretania Caesariensis, at the close of the Punic Wars (145 B.C. ). Conquered by the Vandals about A.D. 440, it fell from a high state of civilization to virtual barbarism, from which it partly recovered after an invasion by Arabs about 650. Christian during its Roman period, the indigenous Berbers were then converted to Islam. Falling under the control of the Ottoman Empire by 1536, Algiers served for three centuries as the headquarters of the Barbary pirates. Ostensibly to rid the region of the pirates, the French occupied Algeria in 1830 and made it a part of France in 1848.
Algerian independence movements led to the uprisings of 1954–1955, which developed into full-scale war. In 1962, French president Charles de Gaulle began the peace negotiations, and on July 5, 1962, Algeria was proclaimed independent. In Oct. 1963, Ahmed Ben Bella was elected president, and the country became Socialist. He began to nationalize foreign holdings and aroused opposition. He was overthrown in a military coup on June 19, 1965, by Col. Houari Boumédienne, who suspended the constitution and sought to restore economic stability. After his death, Boumédienne was succeeded by Col. Chadli Bendjedid in 1978. Berbers rioted in 1980 when Arabic was made the country’s only official language. Algeria entered a major recession after world oil prices plummeted in the 1980s.

| 06:27 AM Nov 28 2009

sali11

Algeria

Government
Parliamentary republic.

| 06:26 AM Nov 28 2009

sali11

Algeria

Geography
Nearly four times the size of Texas, Algeria is bordered on the west by Morocco and Western Sahara and on the east by Tunisia and Libya. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north, and to the south are Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. The Saharan region, which is 85% of the country, is almost completely uninhabited. The highest point is Mount Tahat in the Sahara, which rises 9,850 ft (3,000 m).

| 06:25 AM Nov 28 2009

sali11

Algeria

President: Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika (1999)
Prime Minister: Ahmed Ouyahia (2008)
Total area: 919,590 sq mi (2,381,741 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 34,178,188 (growth rate: 1.2%); birth rate: 16.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 27.7/1000; life expectancy: 74.2; density per sq mi: 36
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Algiers, 3,917,000 (metro. area), 1,742,800 (city proper)
Other large cities: Oran, 752,200; Constantine, 530,100; Batna, 278,100; Annaba, 246,700
Monetary unit: Dina

Member Photos

Learn English and Meet Friends with Ebaby! member photos. Sharing your photos is a great way to practice English.

View all member photos >