Embassies

Chinese Embassy in Algeria
Ambassador: Liu Yuhe
Address: 34,Boulevard des Martyrs, Alger, Algérie
Tel: 00213-21-692724 or 692962
Fax: 00213-21-693056,693124,693086
Website: http://dz.chineseembassy.org 
Email: chinaemb_dz@mfa.gov.cn


Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Algeria in Beijing
Ambassador: H.E. Mr. Djamel Eddine Grine
Address: No. 7, San Li Tun Road, Chaoyang District
Postal Code: 100600
Tel: (+86)10 6532 1231, 65321496
(+86)10 6532 1220 (for Military Attaché's Office)
Fax: (+86)10 6532 1648



Geography

ALGERIA, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area. It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, a few kilometers of the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in the southwest, Morocco in the west and northwest, and the Mediterranean Sea in the north. Its size is almost 2,400,000 km2 with an estimated population near to 35,000,000.
Most of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and there are a few natural harbours. The area from the coast to the Tell Atlas is fertile. South of the Tell Atlas is a steppe landscape, which ends with the Saharan Atlas; further south, there is the Sahara desert. The Ahaggar Mountains also known as the Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, southern Algeria. They are located about 1,500 km (932 miles) south of the capital, Algiers and just west of Tamanghasset.
Algiers, Oran, Constantine, and Annaba are Algeria's main cities.
In this region even in winter, midday desert temperatures can be very hot. After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat, and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.
The highest temperature recorded in Tiguentour is 140.9 °F (60.5 °C) and is probably the highest reliable temperature ever recorded in Algeria under standard conditions.
Rainfall is fairly abundant along the coastal part of the Tell Atlas, ranging from 400 to 670 mm annually, the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east. Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria, where it reaches as much as 1000 mm in some years. Farther inland, the rainfall is less plentiful. Prevailing winds that are easterly and north-easterly in summer change to westerly and northerly in winter and carry with them a general increase in precipitation from September through December, a decrease in the late winter and spring months, and a near absence of rainfall during the summer months. Algeria also has ergs, or sand dunes between mountains, which in the summer time when winds are heavy and gusty, temperatures can get up to 110 °F (43 °C).




Government

The head of state is the President of Algeria, who is elected for a five-year term. The president, as of a constitutional amendment passed by the Parliament on November 11, 2008, is not limited to any term length.[27] Algeria has universal suffrage at 18 years of age.[3] The President is the head of the Council of Ministers and of the High Security Council. He appoints the Prime Minister who is also the head of government. The Prime Minister appoints the Council of Ministers.
The Algerian parliament is bicameral, consisting of a lower chamber, the National People's Assembly (APN), with 380 members; and an upper chamber, the Council Of Nation, with 144 members. The APN is elected every five years.
Under the 1976 constitution (as modified 1979, and amended in 1988, 1989, and 1996) Algeria is a multi-party state. All parties must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior. To date, Algeria has had more than 40 legal political parties. According to the constitution, no political association may be formed if it is "based on differences in religion, language, race, gender or region."




Population

The population of Algeria is 35,190,000 (jan 2009 est.).About 70% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the minority who inhabit the Sahara are mainly concentrated in oases, although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. Almost 30% of Algerians are under 15. Algeria has the fourth lowest fertility rate in the Greater Middle East after Cyprus, Tunisia, and Turkey.
99% of Algerians are classified ethnically as Arab or Berber by unofficial sources and according to their native language, whether it is a predominantly Arab dialect or a predominantly Berber dialect (because all Algerian dialects are in fact an arabic-berber mix, none is pure arabic or pure berber), but this doesn't really reflect the real ancestry of Algerians, which is mostly a mixed ancestry made of Berber and different European and Middle Eastern populations that have invaded northwest Africa at different periods of history and mixed with its inhabitants; these groups include Arabs, Turks, Vandals, Phenicians, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians. Thusly, the spoken language bares no indication of the true ancestry of those who speak it.
Europeans account for less than 1% of the population, inhabiting almost exclusively the largest metropolitan areas.
Islam is the predominant religion, followed by more than 99.99 percent of the country's population. This figure includes all these born in families considered of Muslim descent. Officially Algerians are Muslims at nearly 100% . Nearly all Algerians belong to the Sunni Islam, with the exception of some 200,000 ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia.
There are also some 50,000 Christians in the country, among whom 10,000 Catholics and 30,000 to 50,000 Protestants.
Population: 34,178,188 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 37
Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.4% (male 4,436,591/female 4,259,729)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 11,976,965/female 11,777,618)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 798,576/female 928,709) (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
Birth rate: 16.9 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 124
Death rate: 4.62 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 198
5.17 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Urbanization 65% of total population (2008)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 74.02 years
country comparison to the world: 92
male: 72.35 years
female: 75.77 years (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living
with HIV/AIDS:		 3,700 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 21,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 76
Religions: Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Education expenditures: 5.1% of GDP (1999)
country comparison to the world: 64




Economy

The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the fourth-largest gas exporter; it ranks 15th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent years have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic indicators. Algeria is running substantial trade surpluses and building up record foreign exchange reserves. Algeria has decreased its external debt to less than 5% of GDP after repaying its Paris Club and London Club debt in 2006. Real GDP has risen due to higher oil output and increased government spending
The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards
GDP (purchasing power parity): $235.5 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 49
$228.6 billion (2007)
$218.6 billion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate): $171.3 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 137
4.6% (2007 est.)
2.2% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $7,000 (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 124
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 8.1%
industry: 62.5%
services: 29.4% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 9.44 million (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 49
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 14%, industry 13.4%, construction and public works 10%, trade 14.6%, government 32%, other 16% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate: 12.9% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 139
Household income
or consumption by % share		 lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Population below poverty rate
Budget: revenues: $73.26 billion
expenditures: $51.19 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt: 13.8% of GDP (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 106
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.6% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 46
Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle
Industries: petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing
Electricity - production: 33.12 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 61
Electricity - consumption: 26.91 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 62
Telephones - main lines in use: 3.068 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 48
Telephones - mobile cellular: 27.563 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 31
Telephone system general assessment: a weak network of fixed-main lines, which remains low at less than 10 telephones per 100 persons, is partially offset by the rapid increase in mobile cellular subscribership; in 2007, combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density surpassed 90 telephones per 100 persons
Internet hosts: 477 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 161
Internet users: 3.5 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 51



- Imagine Media, 2009 -