People and Society of Algeria

For the first two thirds of the 20th century, Algeria's high fertility rate caused its population to grow rapidly. However, about a decade after independence from France in 1962, the total fertility rate fell dramatically from 7 children per woman in the 1970s to about 2.4 in 2000, slowing Algeria's population growth rate by the late 1980s. The lower fertility rate was mainly the result of women's rising age at first marriage (virtually all Algerian children being born in wedlock) and to a lesser extent the wider use of contraceptives. Later marriages and a preference for smaller families are attributed to increases in women's education and participation in the labor market; higher unemployment; and a shortage of housing forcing multiple generations to live together. The average woman's age at first marriage increased from about 19 in the mid-1950s to 24 in the mid-1970s to 30.5 in the late 1990s. Algeria's fertility rate experienced an unexpected upturn in the early 2000s, as the average woman's age at first marriage dropped slightly. The reversal in fertility could represent a temporary fluctuation in marriage age or, less likely, a decrease in the steady rate of contraceptive use. Thousands of Algerian peasants - mainly Berber men from the Kabylia region - faced with land dispossession and economic hardship under French rule migrated temporarily to France to work in manufacturing and mining during the first half of the 20th century. This movement accelerated during World War I, when Algerians filled in for French factory workers or served as soldiers. In the years following independence, low-skilled Algerian workers and Algerians who had supported the French (known as Harkis) emigrated en masse to France. Tighter French immigration rules and Algiers' decision to cease managing labor migration to France in the 1970s limited legal emigration largely to family reunification. Not until Algeria's civil war in the 1990s did the country again experience substantial outmigration. Many Algerians legally entered Tunisia without visas claiming to be tourists and then stayed as workers. Other Algerians headed to Europe seeking asylum, although France imposed restrictions. Sub-Saharan African migrants came to Algeria after its civil war to work in agriculture and mining. In the 2000s, a wave of educated Algerians went abroad seeking skilled jobs in a wider range of destinations, increasing their presence in North America and Spain. At the same time, legal foreign workers principally from China and Egypt came to work in Algeria's construction and oil sectors. Illegal migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Malians, Nigeriens, and Gambians, continue to come to Algeria in search of work or to use it as a stepping stone to Libya and Europe. Since 1975, Algeria also has been the main recipient of Sahrawi refugees from the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara (today part of Morocco). More than 100,000 Sahrawis are estimated to be living in five refugee camps in southwestern Algeria near Tindouf.

Nationality

noun: Algerian(s) adjective: Algerian

Ethnic Groups

Arab-Amazigh 99%, European less than 1%

Population

34,586,184

Population (Male / Female)

male: 23,854,821 female: 23,167,652

Population Distribution

the vast majority of the populace is found in the extreme northern part of the country along the Mediterranean Coast

Urban Population

urban population: 75.3% of total population rate of urbanization: 1.99% annual rate of change

Population in Major Urban Areas

2.902 million ALGIERS (capital), 936,000 Oran

Age Structure

0-14 years: 30.8% (male 7,411,337/female 7,062,794) 15-64 years: 62.3% (male 14,846,102/female 14,441,034) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 1,597,382/female 1,663,824)

Median Age

total: 29.1 years male: 28.8 years female: 29.4 years

Sex Ratio at Birth

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female

Hospitals and clinics in Algeria are available and improving in the large urban centers but are still not up to Western standards. Doctors and hospitals often expect immediate cash payment for services. Most medical practitioners speak French; English is not widely used. Prescription medicines are not always readily available. Some pharmacies may at times be out-of-stock. In addition, the medicine may be sold under a different brand name and may contain a different dosage from that sold in the United States. Please be aware that some newer medications may not yet be available in Algeria. It is usually easy to obtain over-the-counter products. Emergency services are satisfactory, but response time is often unpredictable. In all cases, response time is not as fast as in the United States. Cases of tuberculosis are regularly reported but do not reach endemic levels. For further information on tuberculosis, please consult the CDC’s information on TB. Every summer, public health authorities report limited occurrences of water-borne diseases, such as typhoid. In addition, HIV/AIDS is a concern in the remote southern part of the country, especially in border towns.

Life Expectancy at Birth

total population: 77.9 years male: 77.2 years female: 78.7 years

Infant Mortality Rate

total: 18.7 deaths/1,000 live births male: 19.8 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.5 deaths/1,000 live births

Major Infectious Diseases

on 23 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Algeria is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Drinking Water Source

improved: urban: 99.6% of population rural: 98.8% of population total: 99.4% of population unimproved: urban: 0.4% of population rural: 1.2% of population total: 0.6% of population

Sanitation Facility Access

improved: urban: 98.3% of population rural: 91.3% of population total: 96.5% of population unimproved: urban: 1.7% of population rural: 8.7% of population total: 3.5% of population

Tobacco Use

total: 21% male: 41.3% female: 0.7%

Alcohol Consumption

total: 0.59 liters of pure alcohol beer: 0.31 liters of pure alcohol wine: 0.2 liters of pure alcohol spirits: 0.08 liters of pure alcohol other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol

Literacy Definition

age 15 and over can read and write

• Sunni Muslim (state religion)99.0%
• Christian and Jewish1.0%

Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Arabic (official), French (lingua franca), Tamazight (official) (dialects include Kabyle (Taqbaylit), Shawiya (Tacawit), Mzab, Tuareg (Tamahaq))

• Arabic
• French

• Abd-el-Kader

  1808–883

  Founder of modern Algeria and leader of its struggle against the French. His family were sherifs or descendants of Mahomet, and his father, Mahi-ed-Din, was celebrated throughout North Africa for his piety and charity. His father had led a harassment campaign against the French, who invaded Algeria in 1830. Abdelkader succeeded his father as emir in 1832. In November 1839, Abd-el-Kader proclaimed the Jihad and sacked the Mitidja plain, where colonization had just started. The smalah (camp) of Abd-el-Kader was seized on 16 May 1843 by Duke of Aumale, one of Louis-Philippe’s sons. The Emir fled to Morocco. Later The French overpowered his forces and arrested him by 1846. Upon his parole in 1853, he chose a life of exile, eventually settling in Damascus. Revered for his exemplary life and ideals, in 1860 he showed himself to be a model of decency and probity when, at great risk to his own safety, he sheltered thousands of Christians during a Druze uprising. During his life of exile, he composed a philosophical treatise, of which a French translation was published in 1858 under the title of Rappel à l’intelligent. Avis à l’indifférent. He also wrote a book on the Arab horse. He died at Damascus on the 26th of May 1883.

• Abdelkader Alloula

  Author · 1929–1994

  Abdelkader Alloula a playwright, born in 1929 and assassinated in 1994. He was working on an Arabic version of Tartuffe when he was assassinated by two members of FIDA (Islamic Front for Armed Jihad) during Ramadan on March 10, 1994. His death concided with the murder of some 70 journalists over an eight-year period that decimated Algeria’s tiny independent press. Other prominent cultural figures, murdered during this time included g them the revered popular singers Cheb Hasni and Matoub Lounes, the poet Tahar Djaout and the director of the national theater, Azzedamine Medjoubi. His death is the result of the two major "Islamist" groups fighting the government in Algeria which have made no secret of their assault on Algeria’s intellectuals. Accusing them of "frivolity" and of insulting the Muslim religion.

Crime Information

The crime rate in Algeria is moderate. Serious crimes have been reported in which armed men posing as police officers have entered homes and robbed the occupants at gunpoint. Petty theft and home burglary occur frequently, and muggings are on the rise, especially after dark in the cities. Theft of contents and parts from parked cars, pick-pocketing, theft on trains and buses, theft of items left in hotel rooms, and purse snatching are common. Alarms, grills, and/or guards help to protect most foreigners' residences. Kidnappings, orchestrated by both criminals and terrorists, are a common occurrence in Algeria. Kidnappings for ransom occur frequently in the Kabylie region, but also in other parts of southern Algeria. Kidnapping by terrorist organizations or armed criminal groups is an immediate threat in both the Kabylie region in northeastern Algeria and the trans-Sahara region in the south. An Italian tourist was kidnapped by AQIM in February 2011 and later released in April 2012. In January 2011, two Frenchmen were kidnapped by AQIM in Niamey, Niger, and were killed during a rescue attempt near the Malian border. In October 2011, two Spanish nationals and one Italian national were kidnapped from a refugee camp near the town of Tindouf, near the borders of Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania by the newly formed Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). In April 2012, seven Algerian diplomats were kidnapped in Kidal, northern Mali by MUJAO, and in September 2012, one diplomat was killed, and three were released. MUJAO still holds three Algerian diplomats. Don’t buy counterfeit and pirated goods, even if they are widely available. Not only are the bootlegs illegal in the United States, but you may also be breaking local law too. Social unrest has become commonplace in Algeria. The frequency and intensity of localized, sporadic, and usually spontaneous civil disturbances have risen dramatically since 2010. In 2012, there were similar spontaneous protests and demonstrations with some being well-organized in advance. These disturbances are overwhelmingly based on longstanding, deeply seated socio-economic grievances. Some people involved in these protests, demonstrations, and riots have ignited fireworks, thrown Molotov cocktails, brandished knives, looted businesses, damaged property, and robbed passersby. Most victims displayed obvious signs of wealth and were targets of opportunity. Travelers should avoid crowds, protests, demonstrations, and riots.