Algeria

Officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, ALGERIA is a vast Maghreb country in North Africa. It is the largest country on the African continent and is the first African country in alphabetical order. There are 6 bordering countries: Libya to the east, Mali to the south, Mauritania to the southwest, Morocco to the west, Niger to the southeast, and Tunisia to the east. Extreme western Algeria barely borders Western Sahara, a territory belonging to Morocco.

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ●  Being the tenth largest country in the world, it is no surprise that there are over 37.5 million citizens in Algeria. The capital and largest city is Algiers, also called Alger. There are over 2 million residents in Algiers with plenty of surrounding cities, including 'Aïn Beniau, Bejaïa, Blida, Bordj el Kiffan, Chlef, Larba, and Médéa. Other cities throughout the country include Constantine, El Oued, Oran, Sétif, and Tamanrasset. The official language is Arabic, and the Berber language Tamazight became a national language in 2002. Islam is the country's official religion. Non-nomadic and nomadic Berber people speak several languages. For example, nomadic Taureg Berbers in southern Algeria speak Taureg. Algerians use the Algerian Dinar as their currency, and its ISO 4217 currency code is DZD. As the post link below further explains with a large map, Algeria is administratively divided up into almost 50 provinces (wilayas).

Information and Map of Algeria's Provinces (link opens in new tab or window)

● ● ● ● ●  Land Features  ● ● ● ● ●  Algeria borders the Mediterranean Sea, being south of it. Therefore, the country has seen multiple European influences over thousands of years, being colonized by France in the 1800s up until the 1960s. With a land area of almost 920,000 square miles (2,383,000 sq. kilometers), Algeria is mainly known for the large Sahara desert stretching across much of southern Algeria. However, there are other desert and non-desert features worth mentioning. The picturesque sand dunes of the Grand Erg Occidental (west) and Grand Erg Oriental (east) erg regions in central Algeria are contrasted with rocky surfaces of Hamada du Drâa in the southwest (barely south of Morocco) and Hamada du Tinrhert in the southeast (south of Grand Erg Oriental). Tassilli-n-Ajjer and Tassili Oua-n Ahaggar are plateau regions in southeast Algeria.

The Atlas mountain range spans horizontally across northern Algeria and extends into much of Morocco and northern Tunisia. The smaller Atlas Saharien range is south of the main Atlas mountain range, and the Hauts Plateaux (High Plains) steppe-like region is in the middle of the two. The Ahaggar (Hoggar) mountain range of southeast Algeria lies in Tamanghasset, the country's largest province (wilaya). Algeria's largest mountain, Tahat, is located in the Ahaggar range. This peak stands over 9,570 feet (about 2,920 meters) tall. Chott Melrhir and Chott Merouane are salt pans, intermittent lakes, and wetland areas in northeastern Algeria. A depression lies east of those chotts, near the Tunisian border.