什么是阿尔及利亚

正式名称阿尔及利亚人民民主共和国（Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria）

非洲北部国家。面积2,378,907平方公里。人口约30,821,000（2001）。首都：阿尔及尔。多数人民为阿拉伯人，柏柏尔人是主要的少数族群。语言：阿拉伯语（官方语）、法语和柏柏尔语。宗教︰伊斯兰教。货币：阿尔及利亚第纳尔（DA）。阿尔及利亚是非洲大陆上第二大的陆地区域（次於苏丹）。海岸线上有数个小海湾和小河流。北方有阿特拉斯山和撒哈拉阿特拉斯山横贯，最高峰为谢利亚山，海拔2,331公尺。阿尔及利亚中央和南部构成了撒哈拉沙漠的北部多数地区。阿尔及利亚集中计画发展的经济以石油和天然气的生产和出口贸易为主。自取得独立後，将大部分经济活动归为国有。政府形式为共和国，两院制。总统是国家元首，总理为政府首脑。

腓尼基商人在西元前第一个千年期即在这一带活动。数世纪後罗马人侵略此地，在西元40年时控制地中海沿岸。5世纪罗马帝国势衰，导致汪达尔人及拜占庭人先後入侵。7世纪阿拉伯人也开始侵略此地，到了711年全部的北非处於伍麦叶王朝哈里发的控制之下。後来建立几个伊斯兰教柏柏尔帝国，最着名的为阿尔摩拉维德王朝（1054年～1130），将其领土延伸至西班牙，和阿尔摩哈德王朝（1130年～1269）。在海上活动的巴巴里海岸海盗已控制地中海的贸易达数世纪，1830年法国人藉口平定海盗而占领阿尔及利亚。到了1847法国已在该地建立起控制，到了19世纪末期已有公民统治。民众运动导致了1954～1961年间的血腥阿尔及利亚战争；1962年举行公投，获得独立。1990年代政府军队试图镇压伊斯兰教异议分子，导致全国实际已陷入内战。

Algeria

Nation, northern Africa. Area: 918,497 sq mi (2,378,907 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 29,476,000. Capital: Algiers. Most of the population is Arabic; Berbers are the main minority group. Languages: Arabic (official), French, Berber. Religion: Islam (official). Currency: Algerian dinar. Algeria has the second-largest land area (after Sudan) on the continent. The coastline has few inlets and the rivers are small. It is traversed in the north by the Atlas and Saharan Atlas Mtns.; its highest peak is Djebel Chélia, at 7,648 ft (2,331 m). Central and southern Algeria occupy much of the northern Sahara Desert. Algeria has a centrally planned developing economy based primarily on the production and export of oil and natural gas. Since achieving independence, the country has nationalized much of its economy. It is a republic with two legislative bodies; its chief of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. Phoenician traders settled there early in the 1st millennium BC; several centuries later the Romans invaded, and by AD 40 they had control of the Mediterranean coast. The fall of Rome in the 5th century led to invasion by the Vandals, and later by Byzantium. The Islamic invasion began in the 7th cent; by 711 all of northern Africa was under the control of the Umayyad caliphate. Several Islamic Berber empires followed, most prominently the Almoravid (c. 1054-1130), which extended its domain to Spain, and the Almohad (c. 1130-1269). The Barbary Coast pirates, operating in the area, had menaced Mediterranean trade for centuries, and France seized this pretext to enter Algeria in 1830. By 1847 France had established control in the region, and by the late 19th century had instituted civil rule. Popular movements resulted in the bloody Algerian War (1954-61); independence was achieved following a referendum in 1962. In the 1990s Islamic fundamentalists opposing the military brought Algeria to a state of virtual civil war.