Algeria Facts for Kids

Algeria is the second biggest country in Africa, it is known as the people’s democratic republic of Algeria and its total area is 2,381,741 sq km.
The national day is also called the Revolution Day, it is on the 1st of Nov; this is the day Algeria finally decided to be an independent state but the actual Independence Day is on 5th July 1962.
The population of Algeria is roughly 41 million (40,969,443) as of July 2017
People of Algeria are called Algerians and

The currency is Dinar (DZD).
The official language is Arabic, Berber (Tamazight and Amazigh) or French.
English is taught at school but is not a commonly spoken.
Algeria is an Islamic country with Sunni Islam being the most dominant and it is illegal to try and convert people into any other religion.

The French court system and Shari law is the legal system of the country.
The capital city of Algeria is Algiers, which is the largest city in the country.
Mount Tahat is the highest mountain in Algeria, it stands at 3,003 meters.
The longest river is the Chelif. It starts from the Aflou city through the tell Atlas into the Mediterranean and is 700 kilometers (435 miles) long.
The current Algerian flag was accepted on the 3 July 1962.
The major exports of the country are Petroleum, natural gas and petroleum products 97% while the major imports are capital goods, foodstuffs and consumer goods, petroleum and natural gas make up 98% of the country’s export and income with 12,200 million barrels of oil.
The industries mostly found are petroleum, natural gas, mining, petrochemical, light industries, food processing industries.
The country is the 16th largest in the world.
The flag of Algeria was designed to remind everyone of its history. The colors are green, red and white. The green is the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite color, it represents Islam and paradise. The Red shows the many sacrifice of the people of Algeria during the fight for independence and liberty. The white is for peace and purity. The exact length that each color carries is specified.

The national animal of Algeria is the Fennec fox, the fennec is a small desert fox with disproportionately large ears, with the national sport being football (soccer). The national soccer team is named after the animal “Les Fennecs”
Algeria is Africa’s largest oat market.
More men can read and write in Algeria as women are traditionally discouraged from attending school and are told to stay at home to help take care of their mother and home. French is the preferred language for speaking but the English language is taught.
Women make up 60% of the student population and 70% of the lawyers are women with 60% of judges being women. The women bring in more of the women than men.
Algeria was the middle man in a negotiation between Iran and the U.S in 1980, to free the American hostages, Iran kidnapped from the American embassy. This became the Algiers accords and the prisoner’s release.
Algeria is home to many architectural sites of historical interest and seven of them have been called UNESCO world heritage sites. Some of these are ruins built by the Roman others, were built by indigenous people. Cultural: 1.Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad (1980), 2. Djemila (1982), 3. Kasbah of Algiers (1992), 4. M’zab valley (1982), 5. Timgad (1982), 6. Tipasa (1982); Mixed: 1. Tassili n’Ajjer (1982).
Algeria is home to two Nobel prize winners, Albert Camus(literature 1957) and Claude Cohen-Tannoudj (physics, 1997). Camus was also the goal keeper for the football (soccer) team while still at the university of Algiers.
Algeria’s Tassili National Park is also called “Plateau of the Rivers”. It is a large open sky museum where there are many prehistoric rock art drawings and other archaeological sites from the Neolithic era. Some drawings are called the ‘Aliens on the rocks’.
Algeria is the only country that owes no external debt but one in every four of its citizens lives on less than a dollar a day. This situation is made worst by the fact that Algeria has the highest cost of living in Northern Africa.
Only roughly 3% percent of the land is cultivated, leaving far too little for the population to sufficiently feed on. As a result, Malnutrition is one of the major health problems of the country. The world bank says five percent of Algeria’s population are undernourished
Citrus fruit, grapes, cherries, figs, wheat and famous dates are all produced in Algeria, just not enough to feed the entire population that is why 45% of its food is imported.