3. History Algerians gained their independence from France in 1962 Name derives from the City of Algiers Land consists of mostly high plateau and desert, some mountains and narrow, discontinuous costal plains Acts of terror have been carried out on Algeria- April 2007: 35 killed and 100s wounded when suicide bombers attacked a government building in Algiers and a police station

4. Basics Parliamentary Republic Government Chief of State: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Head of Government: President Abdelmalek Sellal The Government controls 48.9% of the economy Population: 38,087,812 Slightly less than 3.5x the size of Texas- largest country in Africa Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia National Anthem: Kassaman (We Pledge)

5. Constitution Use a constitution from 1976 known as the “second constitution” Issued by the Revolutionary Command Council- Houari Boumédienne Focuses on socialism and restoring political institutions to the best they can be and that it was more important than the military Modified in 1996- allowed the formation of political parties so long as they weren’t formed around any bias

6. Branches of Government-Executive President has a Council of Ministers President is the head of the High Security Council The Prime Minister is the co-head of the two councils The President is elected by absolute majority in a 2 round process The Prime Minister is appointed by the president President- 5 years Prime Minister- 5 years

7. Branches of Government-Legislative Council of Ministers Appointed by the Prime Minister Has less power than the executive branch Upper house: Council of the Nation 96 members indirectly appointed by an electoral college 48 members appointed by the President Lower house: People’s National Assembly 462 members based of a closed-list/ population system Algeria is governed under the constitution of 1976 as amended

8. Branches of Government – Judicial Supreme Council- 150 judges split up into 4 sections: civil and commercial social security and labor criminal administrative Constitutional Council- 9 members 3 appointed by President 4 appointed by the 2 houses of Parliament 1 appointed by the Council of State 1 appointed by the Supreme Court

9. Foreign Policy Is the lead of working with the issues related to the African continent Aug 2009, started a regional counterterrorism approach with Mali, Niger, and Mauritania Wanting to increase their security cooperation “Strengthening the international legal regime against ransom payment for terrorist kidnappings, including the call for a UN- sponsored resolution condemning such payments”

10. Flag Consists of two equal vertical bars, green and white, with a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two- color boundary Green: Islam- believed to be a favorite color of Prophet Muhammad and his daughter, mentioned several times in the Quran, and is compared to paradise Red: liberty- the bloodshed and sacrifice of martyrs who died in the struggle for independence of Algeria White: peace and purity Crescent and star: Islamic symbols- the majority religion of Algeria

11. National Anthem We swear by the lightning that destroys, By the streams of generous blood being shed, By the bright flags that wave, Flying proudly on the high djebels, That we are in revolt, whether to live or to die, We are determined that Algeria should live, So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness! We are soldiers in revolt for truth And we have fought for our independence. When we spoke, nobody listened to us, So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm And the sound of machine guns as our melody, We are determined that Algeria should live, So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness! From our heroes we shall make an army come to being, From our dead we shall build up a glory, Our spirits shall ascend to immortality And on our shoulders we shall raise the Standard. To the nation's Liberation Front we have sworn an oath, We are determined that Algeria should live, So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness! The cry of the Fatherland sounds from the battlefields. Listen to it and answer the call! Let it be written with the blood of martyrs And be read to future generations. Oh, Glory, we have held out our hand to you, We are determined that Algeria should live, So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

12. Language Arabic- about 81% speak it official language since 1963 “Berber” -become recognized as one of the nation’s language it has been since 2002 and about 99% of the country used it to speak it mostly spoken in the mountains called Kabylia and Aures and the coast east of Algiers Only about 20% can read and write Influence by Turkish and French Algerian Sign Language All students have to learn Arabic in school Rare languages: Kabyle, Tachawit, Tumzabt, Chenoua, Tamahaq, Tagargrent, Taznatit, and Tamazight Examples of Arabic: مرحباً, or Marhaban, is the formal word for "Hello." مع السّلامة, or Maa ssalamah, is the word for "Goodbye."

14. Works Cited "Algeria." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Algeria Facts and Culture." Algeria Facts, Culture, Recipes, Language, Government, Eating, Geography, Maps, History, Weather, News, Economy, Family, Fashion, Events. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Algeria Flag - All about Algeria Flag - Colors, Meaning, Information & History." Algeria Flag - All about Algeria Flag - Colors, Meaning, Information & History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Algeria: Government." GlobalEDGE: Your Source for Global Business Knowledge. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Algeria / Languages - LookLex Encyclopaedia." Algeria / Languages - LookLex Encyclopaedia. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Arabic Writing - Google Search." Arabic Writing - Google Search. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Geography." Infoplease. Infoplease. Web. 24 Sept. 2015. "Languages Spoken in Algeria." Languages of Algeria. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "Online Education & Expert Training." Algeria National Anthem Lyrics. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.