Independence Day in Algeria

People all across ALGERIA commemorate their country's independence today. Algeria achieved independence from France in 1962. Happy Independence Day!

Algeria is Known for...

●    Tuareg desert nomads
●    Sahara sand dunes
●    Algiers' old quarter
●    Hoggar Mountains
●    Raï music

Listed in The Africa Book; the MLA citation is below. What are other "trademarks" of this African country? Feel free to share your thoughts with a comment!

Phillips et al. The Africa Book: A Journey through Every
          Country in the Continent. Lonely Planet, 2007.

— #AfricaWeek —

Algeria Exports

The following produce and materials are major exports of ALGERIA: barley, citrus fruits, grapes, iron ore, natural gas, oats, olives, petroleum and derivative products, phosphates, uranium, wheat, and zinc. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries buying and importing most of those exports in 2016 include Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, India, Italy, Japan, Malta, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Map of Algeria

The beginning of 2015 was the last time I created a "blue country map" (Andorra) for the GeoFact of the Day Blog, but I did at least make a map of Angola's provinces in late March. Today, I randomly decided to make a map of Algeria, replacing my Algeria flag-in-the-country-shape "clip art." For general information — more info will be added soon — about the largest country in Africa, visit my Algeria post. Thanks for visiting the GeoFact of the Day Blog today!

Algeria Flag

Now Africa's largest country because of the Sudan-South Sudan split, ALGERIA has a tri-colored flag. The flag's central element is a red star and crescent which represents Islam, the dominant religion in Algeria and some other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The star and crescent are juxtaposed on top of where green and white vertical bars meet in the middle. The flag's left side is green which represents Islam like the star and crescent, and the right side is white which represents peace.

For more information about Algeria, visit my Algeria post!

Algeria Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ lists over 50 species that are either endangered or critically endangered in ALGERIA, the largest African country located south of the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa. Fish and sharks, antelopes and gazelles, birds, insects, and more are found on the endangered and critically endangered list. The critically endangered list, which is one category below extinction, includes the Cuvier's Gazelle (Edmi), Northern Bald Ibis bird (Waldrapp), and White Antelope (Addax). Several angel shark species are also on the list: the regular Angel Shark (Squatina squatina), Smoothback Angel Shark (Squatina oculata), and Spiny Angel Shark (Squatina aculeata).

Algeria's National Parks

The large North Africa country of ALGERIA protects some land in the Sahara Desert and areas near the northern Mediterranean Sea coast. The largest national park is Tassili-n-Ajjer (Tassili N'Ajjer) National Park; it is located in Southeastern Algeria in the Sahara Desert. Southwest of that park is Ahaggar National Park, which also encompasses a large area. Parks in Northern Algeria include El Kala N. Park, Théniet El Had N. Park, and Tlemcen N. Park.

Algeria Provinces (Wilayas)

In North Africa, ALGERIA is west of Libya and Tunisia, north of Mali and Niger, northeast of Mauritania, and east of Morocco and the Western Sahara territory. The country is administratively divided up into 48 provinces, which are locally called wilayas. The provinces near the northern Mediterranean coast are quite small, while southern provinces in the Sahara Desert are large. The capital, Algiers, is located in Northern Algeria in the county with the same name; there is a small inset map of the Algiers province to the top-left of the main map.

The shapefiles used to make this map in ArcGIS 10.1 came from the website Global Administrative Areas, located at www.gadm.org. Click here to enlarge the map in a pop-up window or tab.

10 Largest Countries

Here are the 10 largest countries in area:

1) Russia
2) Canada
3 or 4) * United States of America
3 or 4) * China
5) Brazil
6) Australia
7) India
8) Argentina
9) Kazakhstan
10) Algeria — was formerly Sudan until South Sudan separated from Sudan

*** Visit this wikipedia page for the whole list of countries by area.

* The areas of the USA and China may vary depending on what is included and excluded from the total area; both total areas are similar.

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.