ALGERIA IS A North African country that was occupied by France until 1962. It experienced a major insurgency from 1992 until 2002, resulting in the deaths of up to 160,000 people. It covers a land area of 919,595 sq. mi. (2,381,741 sq. Ion.) and has a population of 33,333,216 (2007 est.), of which 96 percent live in the north of the country, which covers only 17 percent of the overall area. Approximately 45 percent of the population live in urban areas. Thus, although the population density for the entire country is 26 people per sq. [Page 26]mi. (13.6 people per sq. km.), the density the north of the country is considerably higher.

Only 3 percent of the country's land is arable, yet in spite of this, ...