Algeria (Arabic: الجزائر, al-Jazā’ir; Tamazight: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ, Dzayer, French: Algérie), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa. In terms of land area, it is the largest country on the Mediterranean Sea, the second largest on the African continent[9] after Sudan, and the eleventh-largest country in the world.[10]

Algeria is bordered in the northeast by Tunisia, in the east by Libya, in the west by Morocco, in the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, in the southeast by Niger, and in the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Its size is almost 2,400,000 square kilometres (930,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of about 35.7 million (2010).[11] The capital of Algeria is Algiers.

Algeria is a member of the Arab League, United Nations, African Union, and OPEC. It is also a founding member of the Arab Maghreb Union.

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Ancient history
2.2 Middle Ages
2.3 Arrival of Islam
2.4 Spanish enclaves
2.5 Ottoman rule
2.6 French rule
2.7 Post-independence
2.7.1 Algerian political events (1991–2002)
2.7.2 Post war
3 Geography
3.1 Tropic of Cancer in the torrid zone
4 Politics
5 Foreign relations and military
6 Maghreb Union
7 Provinces and districts
8 Economy
9 Agriculture
10 Demographics
10.1 Ethnic groups
10.2 Languages
10.2.1 Arabic
10.2.2 Berber
10.2.3 French
10.3 Religion
10.4 Cities
11 Health
12 Education
13 Culture
14 Landscapes and monuments of Algeria
15 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria
16 International rankings
17 See also
18 Notes
19 References
20 Bibliography
21 External links
21.1 Government [edit] Etymology
The name of the country is derived from the city of Algiers. A possible etymology links the city name to الجزائر Al-jazā’ir, a truncated form of the city's older name of جزائر بني مازغان jazā’ir banī mazghanā, the Arabic for "the islands of Mazghanna", as used by early medieval geographers such as