Algeria

Algeria is a former French colony that became an independent republic in 1962, with the Mediterranean city of Algiers as its capital. Located on the North African coast, Algeria is a state bordered in [Page 19]the west by Morocco and Mauritania, in the east by Tunisia and Libya, and in the south by Mali and Niger. Algeria's land mass makes it the second largest country in Africa and its geography is dominated by the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains. This harsh, hot terrain has led 70 percent of its 34 million people to live in the northern urban regions. Algeria is a member of the United Nations (UN), OPEC, the African Union, and the Arab League.

The ethnic base of the country is Arab, Berber, ...