Demographics of Algeria

Demographics of Algeria, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Location of Algeria

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Ninety-one percent of the Algerian population lives along the Mediterranean coast on 12% of the country's total land mass. Forty-five percent of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities. Currently, 24,182,736 Algerians live in urban areas, and about 1.5 millions nomads live in the Saharan area.

96% of the population follows Sunni Islam; the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadis from the Mozabite valley at 1.3% and Shia Muslims (see Islam in Algeria).

Christianity in Algeria constitutes about 1% of the total population. While significantly greater during the French colonial years, a mostly foreign Roman Catholic community still exists, as do some Protestants. The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.

Algeria's educational system has grown rapidly since 1962; in the last 12 years^[when?], attendance has doubled to more than 5 million students. Education is free and compulsory to age 16. Despite government allocation of substantial educational resources, population pressures and a serious shortage of teachers have severely strained the system, as have terrorist attacks against the educational infrastructure during the 1990s. Modest numbers of Algerian students study abroad, primarily in France and French-speaking Canada. In 2000, the government launched a major review of the country's educational system.

Housing and medicine continue to be pressing problems in Algeria. Failing infrastructure and the continued influx of people from rural to urban areas has overtaxed both systems. According to the UNDP, Algeria has one of the world's highest per housing unit occupancy rates for housing, and government officials have publicly stated that the country has an immediate shortfall of 1.5 million housing units.

Population[edit]

Vital statistics[edit]

Figures from National Office of Statistics Algeria^[2] and United Nations Demographic Yearbook:^[3]

Life expectancy[edit]

Period	Life expectancy in Years[5]
1950–1955	42.89
1955–1960	45.00
1960–1965	47.29
1965–1970	49.47
1970–1975	51.48
1975–1980	54.93
1980–1985	61.57
1985–1990	65.85
1990–1995	67.20
1995–2000	69.14
2000–2005	71.50
2005–2010	73.88
2010–2015	75.27

Cities[edit]

Below is a list of the most important Algerian cities:

v t e Largest cities or towns in Algeria According to the 2008 Census
	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.
Algiers Oran	1	Algiers	Algiers Province	2,364,230	11	Tébessa	Tébessa Province	194,461	Constantine Annaba
	2	Oran	Oran Province	803,329	12	El Oued	El Oued	186,525
	3	Constantine	Constantine Province	448,028	13	Skikda	Skikda Province	182,903
	4	Annaba	Annaba Province	342,703	14	Tiaret	Tiaret Province	178,915
	5	Blida	Blida Province	331,779	15	Béjaïa	Béjaïa Province	176,139
	6	Batna	Batna Province	289,504	16	Tlemcen	Tlemcen Province	173,531
	7	Djelfa	Djelfa Province	265,833	17	Ouargla	Ouargla Province	169,928
	8	Sétif	Sétif Province	252,127	18	Béchar	Béchar Province	165,241
	9	Sidi Bel Abbès	Sidi Bel Abbès Province	210,146	19	Mostaganem	Mostaganem Province	162,885
	10	Biskra	Biskra Province	204,661	20	Bordj Bou Arréridj	Bordj Bou Arréridj Province	158,812

Ethnic groups[edit]

Algerians are descendants from the berbers, who 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.^[6] Descendants of Andalusian refugees are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities.^[7] Moreover, Spanish was spoken by these Aragonese and Castillian Morisco descendants deep into the 18th century, and even Catalan was spoken at the same time by Catalan Morisco descendants in the small town of Grish El-Oued.^[8]

Algerian women in traditional clothes

The majority of Algerians identifies with an Arabic-based identity due to the 20th century Arab nationalism.^[9][10] The ethnic 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.^{[11][page needed]}

During the colonial period, there was a large (10% in 1960)^[12] European population who became known as Pied-Noirs. They were primarily of French, Spanish and Italian origin. Almost all of this population left during the war of independence or immediately after its end.^[13]

Religion[edit]

Islam is the predominant religion with 99% of the population.^[15][15] There are about 150,000 Ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia.^[16]

There were an estimated 10,000 Christians in Algeria in 2008.^[17] In a 2009 study the UNO estimated there were 45,000 Catholics and 50,000–100,000 Protestants in Algeria.^[18] A 2015 study estimates 380,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Algeria.^[19]

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.

Languages[edit]

Traffic sign in Isser in three languages: Arabic, Berber, and French

Arabic and Tamazight serve as both official languages and national languages in Algeria.^[20][21]

Algerian Arabic (Algerian Dziriya or Darja) is the language used by the majority of the population. Colloquial Algerian Arabic is heavily infused with loanwords from Berber and French.

Although French has no official status, Algeria is the second-largest Francophone country in the world in terms of speakers,^[22] and French is widely used in government, 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 the de facto co-official language of Algeria. In 2008, 11.2 million Algerians could read and write in French.^[23] An Abassa Institute study in April 2000 found that 60% of households could speak and understand French. In recent decades the government has reinforced the study of French and TV programs have reinforced use of the language.

Algeria emerged as a bilingual state after 1962.^[24] Colloquial Algerian Arabic is spoken by about 72% of the population and Berber by 27–30%.^[25]

Spoken and popular languages[edit]

• Arabic language: 75% (dialectal Algerian Arabic including all dialects: Eastern, Western, Algiers dialect, Saharan)
• French: 70% (as a 2nd or 3rd language, spoken by both low and highly educated people)^[26]
• Berber language: 32.5% (including all dialects: Chaouia, Kabyle, Tamahaq, Chenoua, Mozabite (Tumẓabt))
• English: 15% (as a 3rd language, spoken by highly educated people)
• Korandje language (Kwarandzyey): 0.01%

Official and recognized languages[edit]

• Modern Standard Arabic: official language of the state, as defined in the Algerian constitution. Classical Arabic can be read and written by about 69.9% of Algerians. The language is used in writing only, not in daily conversation.
• Berber language (Tamazight): official language of the state.^[27]

Literacy[edit]

Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 80.2%

Male: 87.2%

Female: 73.1% (2015 est.)

Education expenditures[edit]

14% of GDP (2015)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics[edit]

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[28]

Nationality

Noun: Algerian(s)

Adjective: Algerian

Population growth rate

1.7% (2017 est.)

Median age

total: 28.1 years

male: 27.8 years

female: 28.4 years (2017 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

-0.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population: 66% of total population (2010)

Rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Rate of urbanization: 2.3% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15–64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2012 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 27.73 deaths/1,000 live births

Male: 30.86 deaths/1,000 live births

Female: 24.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Total: 24.9 deaths/1,000 live births

Male: 27.82 deaths/1,000 live births

Female: 21.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 77 years

Male: 75.6 years

Female: 78.4 years (2017 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% ; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 21,000 (2007 est.)

Deaths: less than 1000 (2007 est.)

Obesity rate

Adult prevalence rate: 27.4% (2016 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Degree of risk: intermediate

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Vectorborne disease: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a high risk in some locations (2005)

Genetics[edit]

Y-Dna Haplogroup frequencies in coastal Algeria[edit]

In a recent genetic study by Semino et al. (2004), Algerian Arabs and Berbers were found to have more genetic similarities than was once believed.^[31] This led scientists to conclude that the North African population was mainly Berber in origin and that the population had been 'Arabised', by the migration of Near-Eastener people.

The Haplogroup J, common marker in Middle-Eastern population is found at near 30% in Algeria, which is one of the most common haplogroup of the country along with E1b1b .

Recent studies on the common J1 Y chromosome suggest it arrived over ten thousand years ago in North Africa, and M81/E3b2 is a Y chromosome specific to North African ancestry, dating to the Neolithic. A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E3b2 and J haplogroups is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East. This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005) which suggest that "contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East",^[32]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Algeria.

• (ONS.dz) Official Demographics Statistics of Algeria
• Population cartogram of Algeria
• Unexpected developments in Maghrebian fertility
• and the As of 2003^[update] U.S. Department of State website.
• Laouisset, Djamel (2009). A Retrospective Study of the Algerian Iron and Steel Industry. New York City: Nova Publishers. ISBN 978-1-61761-190-2.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2009 edition".