Formally called the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the country of Algeria lies in the North West of Africa in the Maghreb region. The city of Algiers is its capital. Geographically situated at a vantage point, Algeria is a gateway between Africa and Europe. The country has the largest land area in Africa and more than four fifths of the land is covered by the harsh and unforgiving Sahara desert. The country is blessed with natural reserves of oil and gas, making it a powerful member of the OPEC. Besides, OPEC, Algeria is also part of the African Union, the Arab League and the United Nations and a founding member of the Arab Maghreb region.

Algeria has a rich and ancient history dating back to before the middleages. Originally called kingdom of Numidia, the indigenous people of Algeria are the Berbers. Algeria has seen conquests by the Romans, the Turkish Ottomans and other dynasties and finally the Arabs who brought Islam into Algeria in mid 7th century. Another important milestone in the history of the country was the arrival of the French in 1832 and subsequent colonization of Algeria. The country received its independence from France as recently as 1962, through the efforts of the National Liberation Front. The 1990s were a turbulent period for the country as there were violent clashes between the military and Islamist militants. Today, due to consistent discovery of natural resources of oil and gas in the country, the Algerian economy is on the road to improvement.

The country exhibits typical desert climate with extremely hot days and high midday temperatures. The nights tend to range from mildly chilly to extremely cold as the temperature continues to dip. There is considerable rainfall along the coast, but decreases as you move inward.

Majority of the Algerians descend from the Berber lineage and do not have an Arab ancestry. The population is mostly Islamic, with very few people following other faiths like Judaism or Christianity. As a result of long term French colonization, French is the ‘unofficial’ official language in the country. As of 2010 census, the population of Algeria was 34.9 million.