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Algeria
Area: 2,381,740 sq km
Population: 32 million
Capital City: Algiers
People: Arab-Berber (99%), European less than 1%
Languages: Arabic (official), French, Amazigh (national but not official language)
Religion(s): Sunni Muslim (99%), Christian and Jewish (1%)
Currency: 1 Algerian dinar (DA) = 100 centimes
Major political parties: Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), Rassemblement Nationale Democratique (RND), Front des Forces Socialistes (FFS), Rassemblement pour la Culture et la Democratie (RCD), Mouvement de la Societe pour la Paix (MSP), Mouvement de la Réforme Nationale (el-Islah) (MRN) and Parti des Travailleurs (PT).
Government: Republic/Presidential
Head of State: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Head of Government/Premier: Mr Abdelaziz Belkhadem
Foreign Minister: Mr Mohamed Bedjaoui
GEOGRAPHY
(28 00 N, 3 00 W)
Algeria is in North Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea between Morocco and Tunisia. In the South it has frontiers with Libya, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. It is the second largest country in Africa. Over four fifths of its territory is covered by the Sahara desert.
HISTORY
The original inhabitants of Algeria were the Berbers. In the classical period the country was colonised by the Phoenicians and by the Romans. The Arabs arrived in the 8th and 11th Centuries introducing Islam. Moors and Jews settled in Algeria following their expulsion from Spain in 1492. In 1518 the country became an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1830 Algeria was annexed and colonised by the French, and ruled as part of the metropolitan France from 1848 and 1962. A bitter war of independence was fought between 1954 and 1962, which claimed the lives of up to 1.5 million people. From independence in 1963 until the late 1980s Algeria was a one-party socialist state run by the FLN (National Liberation Front). In 1989 the constitution was amended to introduce a multi-party system.
POLITICS
In the 1960s and 1970s, under President Houari Boumediene, Algeria pursued a programme of industrialisation within a state-controlled socialist economy. Boumediene’s successor, Chadli Bendjedid, introduced some liberal economic reforms and prosecuted a policy of Arabisation in Algerian society and public life. Teachers of Arabic, brought in from other Muslim countries, spread radical Islamic thought in schools and sowed the seeds of political Islamism. Economic recession caused by the crash in world oil prices and resulting social unrest in the 1980s forced Bendjedid to bring in a multi-party system at the end of the decade. Political parties developed, such as the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), a broad coalition of Islamist groups. In December 1991 the FIS dominated the first of two rounds of legislative elections. Fearing the election of an Islamist Government, the authorities intervened on 11 January 1992, cancelling the elections. President Chadli Bendjedid resigned and a High Council of State was installed to act as Presidency. The FIS was subsequently banned, triggering a vicious civil insurgency between its armed wing, the Armée Islamique du Salut (AIS), and the armed forces in which over 100,000 are thought to have died. The AIS declared a ceasefire in October 1997.
Algeria held elections in 1999 which were won by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Bouteflika focused on a restoring stability to the country following his election and announced a ‘Civil Concord’ initiative, approved by popular referendum, under which many political prisoners were pardoned, and several thousand members of armed groups were granted exemption from prosecution under a limited amnesty which was in force up to 13 January 2000. The AIS disbanded and levels of insurgent violence fell rapidly. The Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Group Islamic Armée, continued a terrorist campaign against the Government. Bouteflika was re-elected in April 2004 after campaigning on a programme of national reconciliation. The programme comprised economic, institutional, political and social reform to modernise the country, raise living standards and tackle the causes of alienation. It also included a second amnesty initiative, the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which was approved in a referendum in September 2005 and offers an amnesty to most guerrillas and Government security forces. The window for seeking amnesty expired in late August 2006. The remaining provisions of the Charter apply until 28 February 2007.
Elections
The President is elected by a popular vote for a five-year term. The last presidential election was held on 8 April 2004. Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected for a second term with 85% of the vote. Turnout was around 58%. Five other candidates stood, including a female candidate. Despite some complaints, the results were deemed by international observers to reflect the will of the electorate.
Legislative elections were last held on 30 May 2002. The two main Berber parties - the Front des Forces Socialistes (FFS) and the Rassemblement pour la Culture et la Democratie (RCD) - boycotted the poll. The average turnout was 46%. The former ruling party, the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) doubled its vote and won a majority (199) of the 388 seats. The three legal Islamist parties won 82 seats (down from 123). The former largest party, the Rassemblement National Democratique (RND), saw its representation fall to 48 seats (from 156). Ahmed Ouyahia (RND) continued as Head of Government (Algeria does not have a Prime Minister) at the head of a three party coalition comprising the FLN, RND and MSP. In 2006 President Bouteflika replaced Ahmed Ouyahia with the FLN's Abdelaziz Belkhadem. Belkhadem has proposed changes to the constitution which would allow President Bouteflika to run for a third term in office when his present mandate expires in 2009. Legislative elections are scheduled for late May 2007, just before the end of the current assembly's term.
Municipal elections were held on 10 October 2002. The FLN won control of most municipalities, with around 34.6% of the vote. The RND was the second largest party with 17.5%, and the two main Islamic parties polled 22.7% between them. The FFS, the only Kabylie-based party to stand, got 2.7% overall. Official turnout was 50.11%. The next round of local elections are scheduled for October 2007.
ECONOMY
Basic economic facts
GDP: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$84.6 billion (2004)
GNI: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$73.3 million (2004)
GNI per head: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$2270 (2004)
Annual GDP Growth: 5.2% (2004)
Inflation, GDP deflator, annual percentage: 10.2% (2004)
Source: World Development Indicators Database, August 2005
Major Industries: Petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing
Major trading partners: France, Italy, USA, Germany
Exchange rate: £1=137 dinars (July 2006), \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$1=74 dinars (July 2006)
TRADE AND INVESTMENT
UK exports to Algeria were worth £145.1 million in 2005, while Algerian exports to the UK were worth £465 million. Major British companies present in Algeria include British Petroleum, Glaxo SmithKline, Unilever and British American Tobacco. The UK is Algeria's largest foreign investor.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Algeria is active internationally, taking a leading role on developing world issues and acting as a champion for independence movements. Algeria has also been active in the UN - it was elected to the Security Council for 2004-5 - as well as being a prominent member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the African Union (AU) and the Arab League. Algeria sits on the steering committee of the New Partnership for Africa's Development Initiative (NEPAD) and participates in the Peer Review Mechanism.
Algeria signed an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) in April 2002, under which Algeria will open its markets over the next 12 years. The United Kingdom ratified the Agreement on 1 March 2004, one of the first member states to do so. The Agreement came into force on 1 September 2005 with the first Council meeting taking place in May 2006.
Algeria’s relations with its neighbour Morocco have often been strained over the issue of Western Sahara. The ‘Polisaro Front’ which claims to represent the population of Western Sahara and are campaigning for self-determination, are based in Tindouf in western Algeria. Algeria supports calls for a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. Active diplomatic efforts to find a solution regarding the sovereignty of Western Sahara are ongoing within the UN. The UK supports the efforts of the UNSG and his personal envoy Peter Van Walsum to find a resolution to the issue of the status of Western Sahara.
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