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Algeria, Africa’s 2nd largest country, is situated in northwestern Africa. Its first known inhabitants were Berber-speaking nomads who settled along the Mediterranean Sea in northern Algeria in circa 2000 BC. After enduring centuries of  conquest by military rulers and empires, including the Ottoman, Turks and French, Algeria finally gained its independence from France in 1962.
Algiers, its capital city, founded by the Romans in the 10th century, has a population of slightly more than 3.7 million people. (Note: Click here for Algiers photo gallery). Other major cities include Oran, a major coastal port, Constantine, Annaba, Blida, and Tlemcen. Algeria's most destructive earthquake in more than 2 decades, with a magnitude of 6.7, struck near Algiers on May 21, 2003, killing more than 2,000 and injuring thousands more. Tourist travel to Algeria at this time is not advisable primarily due to the country’s continuing civil unrest.
Geography and Climate
Algeria has a total land area of 2,381,741 square kilometers, over 85% of which is located in the barren Sahara Desert. The country is bordered on the west by Morocco and Western Sahara, by Mauritania and Mali along its southwest border,  by Niger in the southeast, by Libya and Tunisia on its east border, and by the Mediterranean in the north. The majority of the country’s estimated 31 million people live in a fertile area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlas mountains.
Climate wise, Algeria’s northern coastal area is warm and temperate, while its inland conditions, extending beyond the Atlas Mountains into the Sahara Desert, range from moderately hot and arid in the north to extremely hot and arid in the south. Algeria's weather, however, often varies somewhat from year to year, particularly during seasonal climate changes. The best time to visit the Sahara Desert area is during the winter months, November through March. Winter desert nights, however, can be very cold, so bring some winter clothes.
Land Area: 2,381,741 Square Miles
Terrain: Mostly high plateau and desert, some mountains, narrow coastal plain
Population: 31,200,000
Languages: Arabic, French, Berber dialects
Religions: Sunni Muslim (99%), Christian, and Jewish
Literacy: 62%
Main Cities: Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Batna, Annaba
Mountains: Ahaggar, Atlas, Aurès
Lakes: Tonga and Oubeira
Rivers: Cheliff
Brief Modern Civil History
Algerians elected their first prime minister, Ahmed Ben Bella, in 1962. Ben Bella, however, was later deposed by Houari Boumedienne, who was then succeeded by Chadli Benjedid in 1978. After Islamic fundamentalists gained control of the parliament  in 1992, the army forced Benjedid to resign. A civilian-led state council was then installed, but the country’s real power and control was still firmly held by the army.
In retaliation to the army’s control, the country’s fundamentalists launched an insurrection in the early 1990s. In 1994, General Liamine Zeroual, the defense minister, was appointed president, and replaced the fundamentalist controlled council as Algeria’s main governing body. Zeroual, however, resigned early in 1999 and a new presidential election was held, which was won by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the designated candidate of the military oligarchy. Bouteflika, in an effort to end Algeria’s ongoing unrest, offered amnesty to the fundamentalist insurgents, which has stabilized the country to some extent in recent years. Click here for more extensive information about Algeria.
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