🌍 Countries of the world 🕌 Arab countries

Algeria

📖 In short

Algeria is an Arab country in North Africa and the biggest country in Africa by area. It faces the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and most of its land in the south is a great desert. Its capital is Algiers, called “Algiers the White”.

🤩 Did you know?

Algeria is the biggest country in Africa by area.
Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962.
The official languages are Arabic and Tamazight, and the currency is the Algerian dinar.
Algeria is about 700 kilometers from Europe across the sea.

🗂️ Fact file

Algeria is a vast country in northern Africa. Almost all its people live in the coastal areas along the Mediterranean Sea.

Emblem: the national flag with the letter jim, symbol of the Algerian Republic.

Capital: Algeria
Official language: Arabic
Official name: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Currency: The Algerian dinar = 100 centimes. One US dollar equaled 33.57 dinars in 1999
Area: 2,381,741 km²
Population: 30,045,000

🔎 Find out more

🌟 From sea to desert

Northern Algeria has green plains, the Atlas Mountains and forests, while the south is a big part of the Sahara, with its dunes, oases and rocky mountains like the Hoggar.

🔍 A long history

Algeria had ancient kingdoms like Numidia, then Islam arrived, and old cities like Constantine and Tlemcen were built. Algerians struggled for a long time before winning independence in 1962.

💡 Pictures in the desert

In the Tassili, in the desert, there are very old pictures on the rocks, made thousands of years ago, showing giraffes, cows and hunters. This shows the desert was once green!

🎯 Couscous and dates

One of Algeria's best-known dishes is couscous with vegetables and meat. And the southern oases grow excellent dates, the most famous being “deglet nour”.