Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Algeria Historical populations (in thousands) Year Pop.   ±% p.a.   1856 2,496 —     1872 2,416 -0.20% 1886 3,752 3.19% 1906 4,721 1.16% 1926 5,444 0.72% 1931 5,902 1.63% 1936 6,510 1.98% 1948 7,787 1.50% 1954 8,615 1.70% 1966 12,022 2.82% 1977 16,948 3.17% 1987 23,051 3.12% 1998 29,113 2.15% 2008 34,080 1.59% 2013 37,900 2.15% Source: (1856–1872) (1886–2008)

As of a January 2013 estimate, Algeria's population was 37.9 million, who are mainly Arab-Berber ethnically. At the outset of the 20th century, its population was approximately four million. About 90% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the inhabitants of the Sahara desert are mainly concentrated in oases, although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. More than 25% of Algerians are under the age of 15.

Women make up 70% of the country's lawyers and 60% of its judges, and also dominate the field of medicine. Increasingly, women are contributing more to household income than men. Sixty percent of university students are women, according to university researchers.

USCRI estimates that 95,700 refugees and asylum-seekers have sought refuge in Algeria. This includes roughly 90,000 from Western Sahara and 4,100 from Palestine. Between 90,000 and 165,000 Sahrawis from Western Sahara live in the Sahrawi refugee camps, in western Algerian Sahara desert. As of 2009, 35,000 Chinese migrant workers lived in Algeria.

The largest concentration of Algerian migrants outside Algeria is in France, which has reportedly over 1.7 million Algerians of up to the 2nd generation.

Ethnic groups Main article: Ethnic groups in Algeria Algerians in traditional clothes

The Berbers are the indigenous ethnic group of Algeria and are believed to be the ancestral stock on which elements from the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks as well as other ethnic groups have contributed to the ethnic makeup of Algeria. Descendants of Andalusian refugees are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities.

The overwhelming majority of Algerians are Berbers in origins, but a majority identifies with an Arabic-based culture. Berbers are divided into many groups with varying languages. The largest of these are the Kabyles, who live in the Kabylie region east of Algiers, the Chaoui of North-East Algeria, the Tuaregs in the southern desert and the Shenwa people of North Algeria.

There is also a minority of about 600,000 to 2 million Algerian Turks, descendants of Turks who came to the region during the Ottoman rule in North Africa. Today's Turkish descendants are often called Kouloughlis, meaning descendants of Turkish men and native Algerian women.

During the colonial period, there was a large (15.2% in 1962) European population who became known as Pieds-Noirs. They were primarily of French origin, but there were also Spanish colonists in the west of the country, Italians and Maltese in the east, and other Europeans such as Greeks in smaller numbers. Almost all of this population left during the war of independence or immediately after its end.

Languages Main article: Languages of Algeria Traffic sign in Isser in three languages: Arabic, Berber, and French

Modern Standard Arabic is the official language. Algerian Arabic (Darja) is the language used by the majority of the population. Colloquial Algerian Arabic is heavily infused with borrowings from French and Berber.

Berber is spoken by one fourth of the population and has been recognized as a "national language" by the constitutional amendment since 8 May 2002. The Kabyle language, the predominant Berber language, is taught and is partially co-official (with a few restrictions) in parts of Kabylie.

Although French has no official status, Algeria is the second largest Francophone country in the world in terms of speakers and French is still widely used in the government, in culture, media (newspapers, radio, local television), and both the education system (from primary school onwards) and academia due to Algeria's colonial history. It can be regarded as being the de facto co-official language of Algeria. In 2008, 11.2 million Algerians could read and write in French.

Algeria emerged as a bilingual state after 1962. Colloquial Algerian Arabic is spoken by about 72% of the population and Berber by 27–30%.

Religion Main article: Religion in Algeria See also: Early African Church Religion in Algeria, 2010 Religion Percent Islam    99% Christianity and Judaism    1%

Islam is the predominant religion with 99% of the population. Almost all Algerian Muslims follow Sunni Islam, with the exception of some 200,000 Ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia.

There are an estimated 10,000 Christians in Algeria as of 2008.

Following the Revolution and Algerian independence, all but 6,500 of the country's 140,000 Jews left the country, of whom about 90% moved to France with the pied-noirs and 10% moved to Israel.

Cities Main article: List of cities in Algeria

Below is a list of the most important Algerian cities:

v t e Largest cities or towns of Algeria ONS estimates for 2008 Rank City name Province Pop. Rank City name Province Pop. ! Algiers Oran 1 Algiers Algiers Province 4,988,145 11 Biskra Biskra Province 205,608 Constantine Sétif 2 Oran Oran Province 1,224,540 12 Bou Saâda M'sila Province 201,263 3 Constantine Constantine Province 943,112 13 Tébessa Tébessa Province 196,537 4 Sétif Sétif Province 609,499 14 Ouargla Ouargla Province 183,238 5 Annaba Annaba Province 317,206 15 Skikda Skikda Province 178,687 6 Blida Blida Province 264,598 16 Béjaïa Béjaïa Province 177,988 7 Batna Batna Province 246,379 17 Bordj Bou Arréridj Bordj Bou Arréridj Province 167,230 8 Chlef Chlef Province 235,062 18 Béchar Béchar Province 165,627 9 Tlemcen Tlemcen Province 221,231 19 Ain Beida Oum El Bouaghi Province 155,852 10 Sidi Bel Abbès Sidi Bel Abbès Province 208,498 20 Médéa Médéa Province 140,151