Algeria is the second largest country in Africa. Its neighbours include Niger, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Mali. The name Algeria is derived from Algiers which in turn is derived from Arabic word ‘al-jazir’. Al-jazir means ‘the islands’ when translated in to English. Therefore by transitive property Algeria means ‘the islands’.

Algeria has an estimated population of 32.854,000 people, making it the thirty fifth largest nation in the world population wise. Size wise, it is the eleventh largest nation in the world with approximately 2,381,741 sq km of territory. Its capital city is Algiers. Its official language is Arabic.

In between 1830 and 1962, Algeria was a French colony. Its present President is Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Algeria’s current Prime Minister is Abdelaziz Belkhadem. Its currency is the Algerian dinar.