_#_Disputes: Libya claims about 19,400 km2 in southeastern Algeria
_#_Climate: arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers
along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau;
sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer
_#_Terrain: mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow,
discontinuous coastal plain
_#_Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
uranium, lead, zinc
_#_Land use: arable land 3%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 13%; forest and woodland 2%; other 82%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
_#_Environment: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes;
desertification
_#_Note: second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)
_*_People
_#_Population: 26,022,188 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 32 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 57 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 68 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 4.2 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Algerian(s); adjective--Algerian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Arab-Berber 99%, European less than
1%
_#_Religion: Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and
Jewish 1%
_#_Language: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
_#_Literacy: 50% (male 63%, female 36%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1987)
_#_Labor force: 3,700,000; industry and commerce 40%, agriculture
24%, government 17%, services 10% (1984)
_#_Organized labor: 16-19% of labor force claimed; General Union of
Algerian Workers (UGTA) is the only labor organization and is
subordinate to the National Liberation Front
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Algiers
_#_Administrative divisions: 48 provinces (wilayat, singular--wilaya);
Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain Temouchent, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar,
Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef,
Constantine, Djelfa, El Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma,
Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem,
M'sila, Naama, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif,
Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanghasset, Tebessa, Tiaret,
Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen
_#_Independence: 5 July 1962 (from France)
_#_Constitution: 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976
_#_Legal system: socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial
review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of
various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 1 November (1954)
_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
(cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Assembly
(Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Chadli BENDJEDID (since 7 February 1979);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Sid Ahmed GHOZALI (since
6 June 1991)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
National Liberation Front (FLN), Chadli BENDJEDID, president;
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), Abassi MADANI;
the government established a multiparty system in September 1989 and as
of 31 December 1990 over 30 legal parties existed
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President--last held on 22 December 1988 (next to be held December
1993); results--President BENDJEDID was reelected without opposition;
National People's Assembly--last held on 26 February 1987 (next
were to be held 27 June 1991 but postponed indefinitely because
of civil unrest);
results--FLN was the only party;
seats--(281 total) FLN 281; note--the government held multiparty
elections (municipal and wilaya) in June 1990, the first in Algerian
history; results--FIS 55%, FLN 27.5%, other 17.5%, with 65% of the voters
participating
_#_Communists: 400 (est.); Communist party banned 1962
_#_Member of: ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-19,
G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OAS
(observer), OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abderrahmane BENSID;
Chancery at 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 328-5300;
US--Ambassador Christopher W. S. ROSS; Embassy at 4 Chemin Cheich
Bachir El-Ibrahimi, Algiers (mailing address is B. P. Box 549,
Alger-Gare, 16000 Algiers); telephone [213] (2) 601-425 or 255, 186;
there is a US Consulate in Oran
_#_Flag: two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white
with a red five-pointed star within a red crescent; the crescent,
star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state
religion)
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The exploitation of oil and natural gas products forms
the backbone of the economy. Algeria depends on hydrocarbons for nearly
all of its export receipts, about 30% of government revenues, and nearly
25% of GDP. In 1973-74 the sharp increase in oil prices led to a booming
economy and helped to finance an ambitious program of industrialization.
Plunging oil and gas prices, combined with the mismanagement of Algeria's
highly centralized economy, have brought the nation to its most serious
social and economic crisis since independence. The government has
promised far-reaching reforms, including giving public-sector companies
more autonomy, encouraging private-sector activity, boosting gas and
nonhydrocarbon exports, and proposing a major overhaul of the banking
and financial systems, but to date has made little progress.
_#_GDP: $54 billion, per capita $2,130; real growth rate 2.5%
(1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 16.6% (1990)
_#_Unemployment rate: 26% (1990 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $16.7 billion; expenditures $17.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $6.6 billion (1990 est.)
_#_Exports: $10.2 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--petroleum and natural gas 98%;
partners--Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Italy, France, US
_#_Imports: $9.2 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--capital goods 29%, consumer goods 30%;
partners--France 25%, Italy 8%, FRG 8%, US 6-7%
_#_External debt: $26.6 billion (December 1990)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate -3% (1989 est.); accounts for
30% of GDP, including petroleum
_#_Electricity: 5,156,000 kW capacity; 14,900 million kWh
produced, 580 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: petroleum, light industries, natural gas, mining,
electrical, petrochemical, food processing
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 11% of GDP and employs 24% of labor
force; net importer of food--grain, vegetable oil, and sugar; farm
production includes wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits,
sheep,and cattle
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), $1.4
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $8.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.8 billion;
Communist countries (1970-89), $2.7 billion
_#_Currency: Algerian dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Algerian dinar
(DA) = 100 centimes
_#_Exchange rates: Algerian dinars (DA) per US$1--13.581 (January
1991), 8.958 (1990), 7.6086 (1989), 5.9148 (1988), 4.8497 (1987), 4.7023
(1986), 5.0278 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 4,146 km total; 2,632 km standard gauge (1.435 m),
1,258 km 1.055-meter gauge, 256 km 1.000-meter gauge; 300 km electrified;
215 km double track
_#_Highways: 80,000 km total; 60,000 km concrete or bituminous,
20,000 km gravel, crushed stone, unimproved earth
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 6,612 km; refined products, 298 km; natural
gas, 2,948 km
_#_Ports: Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Jijel, Mers el Kebir,
Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda
_#_Merchant marine: 75 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 903,179
GRT/1,063,994 DWT; includes 5 short-sea passenger, 27 cargo, 2 vehicle
carrier, 10 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 5 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
(POL) tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 7 chemical tanker, 9 bulk, 1 specialized
tanker
_#_Civil air: 42 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 145 total, 134 usable; 53 with permanent-surface runways;
3 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 66 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international service in
the north, sparse in the south; 693,000 telephones; stations--26 AM, no
FM, 113 TV; 1,550,000 TV sets; 3,500,000 receiver sets; 6 submarine
cables; coaxial cable or radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco,
and Tunisia; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1
Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Intersputnik, 1 ARABSAT, and 15 domestic
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Territorial Air Defense,
National Gendarmerie
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 6,142,818; 3,780,873 fit for
military service; 293,175 reach military age (19) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $857 million, 1.8% of GDP (1991)
_%_
_@_American Samoa
(territory of the US)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 199 km2; land area: 199 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 116 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;