Algeria

Colonial Africa

Algeria

Algeria, or The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria as it is formally called, is located in the North West of Africa. It borders on Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco in the west, the Mediterranean Sea in the North, Tunisia and Libya in the east and on Niger and Mali in the South. The population is approximately 33 million, the majority of whom speak Arabic. A significant portion of the population still does speak a Berber dialect (around 15%) and French is also widely spoken. The Berbers were once the dominant ethnic group of Algeria, however through centuries of hand-over, they are now largely outnumbered by the Arab majority. People of Arab-Berber decent compose around 99% of the population. Although they do intermix, the relations between the Arab-speaking and Berber-speaking Algerians have long been marked by tension.

The government in Algeria, as suggested by its name, is considered a republic. The head of state is the president, currently Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is elected for a five- year term and is eligible to run for a second term. The president appoints the Prime Minister. Algeria has a bicameral parliament that consists of the National People’s Assembly and the Council of Nations. The National People’s Assembly, whose 389 members are elected by popular vote, also serves a five- year term. The Council of nations is composed of 144 seats, one third of which are appointed by the president while the other two thirds are elected by indirect vote. The whole council serves a six-year term. For Administrative purposes, the country of Algeria is divided into 48 provinces (“Algeria вЂ" AOL”) .

Currently, the Algerian government is working towards integration into the World Trade Organization. The Algerian economy relies heavily on the hydrocarbons sector, which accounts for approximately 60% of the budget revenues and roughly 30% of GDP (“Algeria (10/07)”). Algeria has the ninth largest reserves of natural gas in the world and its “key oil and gas customers are Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States”(“Algeria (10/07)”). The Algerian Government has been striving to stabilize their economic system and venture further into the global stage.

Unfortunately the government has had little success at reducing high unemployment rates and improving living standards as of yet. Besides economic disaster, Algeria has been hit hard politically as well. There have been over 100,000 deaths through the 1990s due to terrorist activity (“Algeria (10/07)”). The security situation has greatly improved since then, however dealing with the ramifications of that time frame and the underlying causes of it is still a legitimate concern and a constant focus of the current government. Before going too much into the current situation in Algeria, it would be prudent to retrace the steps of Algeria through history. Several of the current problems in Algeria derive specifically from aspects of its past occupations and subsequent governmental changes.

The very earliest recorded inhabitants of Algeria were the Berbers who lived in small, organized villages throughout the country around the 9th century BC. When Carthage was founded in modern-day Tunisia, the Carthaginians established various trading posts around the area, eventually taking over Algeria from the Berbers. Under Carthaginian rule, the small villages were united. In 146 BC Rome took the area over from Carthage and built up impressive cities, roads and aqueducts. By the 5th century, the Roman civilization in Algeria deteriorated under incursions of Berbers and the various cases of destruction caused by vandals who passed through Algeria on their way to Tunisia (“Algeria-AOL”).

In the 7th and 8th centuries, Muslim Arabs conquered Algeria and replaced the Byzantine Empire that had settled in after the decline of the Roman Empire. Few Arabs settled in the region, however many Berbers quickly became Muslim (which accounts for the Sunni Muslim faith being the current state religion) and the Arabs absorbed the Berbers into their language and culture. It is important to note the significance of this point in Algerian history.

In the late 15th century, Spain removed the Muslims from Algeria. The Algerians then, at a loss, turned to Turkish pirates for help. With the aid of these pirates and the Ottoman Empire, the Spanish control of Algeria was ended and consequently fell under Ottoman control. “In 1671 the dey (ruler) of Algiers, chosen by local civilian, military, and pirate leaders to govern for life…became head of Algeria”. During this time, the country was split into three provinces each governed by a dey. Privateering and piracy reached their height during this time and lead to consequent attention from Europe (“Algeria-AOL”).

In the 1820s, disputes with the French lead to the imposing a naval blockade of Algeria followed by an invasion of the country, as ordered by Charles X. In 1837 the French were in occupation of Algeria and it was considered an official French territory in 1848. “By 1880, persons of European descent numbered about 375, 000 and they controlled most of the better farmland”(). The Algerians put up a fierce resistance to this French occupation, and in the 1900s the country was given administrative and financial autonomy. The appointed governor-general, whose advisers were mainly European, introduced roads, railroads, schools and hospitals, however these were of little benefit to the Algerians since they were made for the purposes of Europeans. The French policy was that of assimilation. They had the intention of integrating Algerians into European ways in preparation for full citizenship, however little was done to facilitate this and the Algerians, far from being treated like the Europeans, were given practically no political or economic power (“Algeria-AOL”).

Post World War I, two protest groups were formed by the Muslims in Algeria. The first of these groups called for an independent Muslim controlled Algeria, it was called the Algerian People and the Movement for the Triumph (MTLD). The other group argued for assimilation with the French and the equality of Muslim and Europeans. The latter of these groups disbanded after awhile and joined the group for Algerian independence by the early 1950s (“Algeria-AOL”). During World War II, Algeria became allied with Charles de Gualle’s Free French government. A nationalist uprising that resulted in the killing of more