Algeria

C

Plants and Animals

The northern sections of Algeria have suffered from centuries of deforestation and overgrazing. Remnants of forests exist in a few areas of the higher Tell Atlas and Saharan Atlas. Trees include pines, Atlas cedar, and various oaks, including cork oak. Lower slopes are bare or covered with a scrub vegetation of juniper and other shrubs. Much of the High Plateau is barren, but tracts of steppe vegetation containing esparto grass and brushwood are present. Plant life in the Sahara is widely scattered and consists of drought-resistant grasses, acacia, and jujube trees.

The relatively sparse vegetation of the country can support only a limited wildlife population. Animal life includes fennec fox, jerboa, ibex, boar, jackal, hare, antelope, and reptiles such as monitor lizards. Servals—small, spotted cats—are rare. The endangered scimitar oryx and dama gazelle disappeared from Algeria in the 1990s.

D

Environmental Issues

Algeria is more advanced in nature conservation than its neighbors in Africa. It has a comprehensive environmental law that includes nature conservation, a system of protected areas, and universities and institutions with specialized training in conservation. The government manages national parks, nature preserves, and special hunting areas. Other protected areas include special forest areas and private holdings. No marine parks exist, but the government has the authority to close maritime areas to fishing. National parks, including the giant Tassili N’Ajjer National Park in the eastern corner of the country, comprise a large proportion of the protected area.

The effects of Algeria’s human population on the fragile landscape have been severe. The greatest ecological threats are deforestation and burning of scrub vegetation, conversion of steppe habitat to arable land, and soil erosion due to overgrazing and poor farming practices. Pollution of Mediterranean coastal waters is pervasive. Wetlands are in particular danger of destruction. In addition, desertification caused by the encroaching Sahara poses a constant ecological and environmental menace.

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III

People

The population consists almost entirely of Berbers, Arabs, and people of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry. Until 1962 about 1 million European settlers, mainly French, and an indigenous population of 150,000 Jews lived in Algeria. More than 90 percent of this group, however, emigrated after Algeria became independent in 1962. Most of Algeria’s urban dwellers live along the coast. The rural population, lives in villages and on small farms. A few thousand Tuareg live in the south, in Algeria’s part of the Sahara, speaking a Berber language and maintaining their tribal traditions.

The population of Algeria (2007 estimate) is about 33,333,216. Approximately 90 percent of the population is concentrated in the coastal region. The population is young: About 27 percent of Algerians are under 15 years old. The population growth rate was 1.2 percent in 2001, down from rates as high as 3 percent in the 1980s. During the 1970s and 1980s Algeria’s birth rates ranked among the highest in the world. In recent decades many Algerians have emigrated from their homeland to other countries. Approximately 1 million Algerians live in France.

A

Principal Cities

Algiers is the capital, chief seaport, and largest city. Other important cities are Oran, a port and a trading and industrial center; Annaba, a port and shipping center as well as an industrial center; Arzew and Skikda, both centers for petroleum refining; and Constantine, the hub of a livestock- and wheat-producing region.

In 1970 nearly 60 percent of the Algerian people lived in rural areas. The ratio of urban to rural dwellers had been nearly reversed by the year 2000. Today, 58 percent of Algeria’s population is urban. Urbanization has occurred both because of population growth, which has turned villages into towns and cities, and because rural Algerians have moved to cities in search of work.

B

Language and Religion

Arabic is the official language of Algeria. The Berber population speaks Berber dialects, such as Kabyle, Chaouia, Chenoua, and Tamazight. French is still widely read and spoken by many Algerians. Islam is the official religion and is professed by the vast majority of the population; almost all are Sunni Muslims.

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