Foundation Islamic Union
Algeria
Official Name: Democratic People's Republic of Algeria (DZ)
Capital city; : Algeria
Important Cities: Tilimsan, Constantine, Oran, Buleyde, Annaba, Bicape.
Area: 2,381,741 km2 (2021)
Population : 45,024 (2021) 50% of the people live in cities.
Number of People Per Km2: 11.3
Population Growth Rate: 2.6
Average Human Lifespan: 66 Years
Ethnicity: 78 per cent of Algeria's people are Arabs and 20 per cent are Berbers.
Language: The official language of Algeria is Arabic. However, until recently, French was the official language of Algeria. More than 90 per cent of Algerians speak French.
Religion: The official religion of Algeria is Islam. 99 per cent of the population is Muslim. Catholic Christians and a small number of Jews make up the remaining population. The vast majority of Muslims are Sunnites. The majority of Sunnites are Maliki and a few are Hanafi.
Geographical Situation: It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea from the north, Tunisia and Libya from the east, Niger from the southeast, Mali and Mauritania from the southwest, and Morocco from the west. The largest river is the river al-Shelif. There are small rivers that dry up in dry periods.
16% of its territory is arable. Most of the territory and 31 of the provinces are in Northern Algeria, which is under the influence of the Mediterranean climate and accounts for only 16 per cent of the country's territory. The length of the coast is approximately 1,000 kilometres. The country's largest cities are also located along the coastline.
Mode of Government: On 16 January 1992, a military junta seized power. State administration was handed over to the Supreme State Council, which was formed by the military junta, and its president is the head of state. The government is appointed by this council and the head of government is the prime minister.
Administratively, it is divided into 31 provinces. The provinces are also divided into districts with a total number of nearly 200.
International organisations of which it is a member: UN, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab Union, Organisation of African Unity, OPEC, IMF and Islamic Development Bank
Political Parties: Until the constitutional amendment in 1989, the country's only political party was the National Liberation Front Party. This party was created as a continuation of the National Liberation Front which organised the war of independence. However, with the change in the management staff and the liquidation of the scholars, the party became completely anti-Islamic, westernist and socialist.
Islamic Salvation Front: was formed on 12 September 1989 under the leadership of Prof. Abbasi Medenî. It attracted attention with its success in both the local elections on 12 June 1990 and the general elections on 26 December 1991. This party was closed down by the junta in March 1992.
Islamic Society Party: It is a party with an Islamic understanding founded under the leadership of Mahfuz Nahnah, the leader of the Algerian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Administrative Division: Algeria consists of 48 provinces, 160 districts and 1508 local units.
History: It was conquered by Islamic armies after the middle of the 7th. century and joined the lands of the Islamic state. Algeria, which was then under the rule of various dynasties, was conquered by Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha (Hızır Reis) and his brother Oruç Reis in 1517 and joined the Ottoman lands. In the same year, the Ottoman province of Algeria was established. This province survived until 1830.
The first struggle for independence against the French occupation was initiated by Emir Abdulkadir in the second year of the occupation. Emir Abdulkadir fought against the occupiers for 14 years and was arrested by the French on 23 December 1947. The French occupiers suppressed all resistance with violence and cruelty. On 5 August 1945 alone, the French killed 45,000 Algerians in one day.
The second war of independence against the French occupation began in 1954. This war was led by the National Liberation Front. The National Liberation Front was formed under the leadership of the Jamat Ulema, which had an important role in raising the awareness of the Algerian people.
During the eight-year war of independence, 1.5 million Algerian Muslims were martyred by the French occupiers.
Recent History: The second major uprising began on 5 October 1988 and lasted one week. At least five hundred people were killed in clashes between government forces and the population. The government could not suppress the uprising by force and could only pacify the population by making some important promises. The most important promise of the government was the transition to multi-party democratic life.
On 12 June 1990, in the first multi-party local elections, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won 55% of the votes and won local elections in many places. On 26 December 1991, the first round of the first multi-party general elections was held. The FIS also showed great success in these elections. According to official sources it received 55 per cent of the votes and according to its own sources 80 per cent.
The success of the Islamic Salvation Front disturbed all Western powers, especially France, which had important interests in Algeria. Therefore, they resorted to mobilising the Algerian army as the only remedy. As a result, the army seized power in a coup d'état on 16 January 1992, cancelled the second round of the elections and arrested most of the FIS leaders, including the president, Prof. Abbasi Medeni. The junta also dismissed the mayors and municipal council members of the FIS, who had previously won the local elections, and arrested many of them. The number of FIS members arrested in the first arrest campaign exceeded six thousand. Many of them were sent to concentration camps at temperatures of 45 degrees centigrade. In the following periods, a large number of FIS members were arrested in connection with certain incidents and provocations. In March, the junta announced that it closed the FIS completely.
Internal Problems: The most important internal problem is the problem arising from the suspension of democratic order. The military junta government faced a large-scale public reaction and tried to suppress the reaction with oppression and blood. For this purpose, it formed a Special Gendarmerie Force made up of unemployed young people with low morals. In response, members of the Islamic movement formed an armed resistance force. Armed clashes between the state militia and the opposition Islamic forces resulted in many deaths on both sides.
Another internal issue is the Berber issue produced by the French.
External Problems: Algeria's most important external problem stems from economic dependence and France's political pressure on the country by exploiting this dependence.
Islamic Movement: Despite all the oppression and persecution of the occupiers and the western-controlled socialist system established after independence, the Islamic movement in Algeria has always been alive.
Economy: The most important export product of Algeria, which has significant reserves of oil, natural gas, phosphate, iron, lead, zinc, copper, mercury and uranium, is oil. The share of oil and natural gas in the gross domestic product is 19 per cent. In 1992, 423 million barrels of crude oil were produced. The oil reserve in 1993 was estimated at 10 billion 400 million barrels. After the agreement between OPEC countries in 1993, daily oil production is 750 thousand barrels. Algeria ranks fourth in the world in natural gas production. In 1992, it produced 52 billion 90 million m3 of natural gas. Its natural gas reserves in 1993 were announced as 3 billion 650 million m3.
A large part of Algeria's forests were destroyed by the French during the occupation period. The state carries out reforestation works. Forest products also contribute to the economy.
Currency: Algerian Dinar.
National Income Per Capita: 3.364 USD (2021).
Gross National Income: 151.459.million dollars. (2021)[1]
Foreign Trade: The main exports are oil and its by-products, natural gas and some manufactured goods. The main imports are defence equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, transport equipment and spare parts, chemicals and foodstuffs. Its foreign trade is with the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Industry: Algeria has developed industries based on oil and its by-products, as well as steel, cement, fertiliser, textile, garment, leather, glass, paper, stationery, office supplies, sugar, soft drinks, furniture, metal goods, plastic and food industries. There are iron and steel production and processing plants in some places, especially in Annabe. In addition to the tractor and diesel engine factories, car and truck assembly is carried out in the country with the patents of some European companies producing automobiles, especially Renault. There are also factories producing industrial products such as commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment, some heavy machinery, valve pumps, etc.
Energy: In 1991, Algeria produced 17 billion 345 million kw/h of electricity, consumed 16 billion 685 million kw/h and exported 660 million kw/h. 98.2 per cent of the electricity is obtained from thermal power plants and 1.8 per cent from hydroelectric power plants.
Transportation: There are 25 airports with scheduled flights, 3 of which are open to international traffic. Exports and imports by sea are carried out from the ports of Algiers, Annabe and Vehrân on the Mediterranean coast. Algeria has 150 ships capable of carrying cargo over 100 gph. It has 90 thousand km of road network, 63 thousand km of which are asphalted, and 4300 km of railway network, 300 km of which are electrified. In this country, there is one motorised transport vehicle for 20 people on average.
Health: Algeria has nearly 300 hospitals, 25.460 doctors, 7250 dentists, 25.000 nurses. There is one doctor for 1060 people.
Education: Elementary school is 6 years, middle school 4 years, high school 3 years. There are 13,600 primary schools, 3300 general secondary schools and 150 vocational secondary schools. Higher education is dominated by French. Algeria has 15 universities. There are also colleges and institutes. The rate of young people of higher education age enrolled in these institutions in Algeria is 9%.
From the beginning of the Islamic period until the end of the 20th century, education in Algeria was carried out in small schools and zawiyas in villages and in masjids and madrasas in cities. In addition to memorising the Qur'an, basic knowledge of Arabic and some jurisprudential issues were taught in these institutions. These institutions were supported by the revenues of foundations. The zawiyas in the mountainous regions, Sahara and Wahran regions produced great jurists.
[1] ticaret.gov.tr (October-2021 Access)
