ALGERIA. - A. comprises the central section of the Atlas and a broad stretch of the northern Sahara (conquered by France between 1830 and 1870). The latter, divided into 4 territories (Ain Sefra, Ghardaia, Touggourt and the Southern Oases) and almost entirely desert, absorbs 9/10 of the surface area (2 million sq km), but less than 1/10 of its population (650 thousand inhabitants), and depends on the military authority. The rest (210 thousand sq km, with over 6.7 million inhabitants, almost all Berbers more or less Arabized, and only 1/8 European) constitutes part of France, and like it is divided into departments (Algiers, Constantine, Oran), although the whole country is governed by a Governor General. The sub-coastal zone, traversed by the Little Atlas, gives way to a series of short plains, and in it the greater part of the population is concentrated (over 200 inhabitants per sq km in Kabylia); the interior is a land of arid plateaus, steppes with a pastoral vocation (sheep).
A. is a typically Mediterranean region, with crops that are above all tree crops (vine, olive; wine production places A. fourth in the world), but it also supplies a good quantity of cereals, early produce and tobacco. Its mineral resources (iron, phosphates, zinc, lead) are anything but negligible, but the industries that process them in situ are of little account.
Communications are favored by a good railway network (5,000 km.), connected with Tunisia and Morocco.
Algiers is the second French port by volume of shipping, and, after Alexandria, the most active commercial center in Africa. It has today 360 thousand inhabitants; Oran more than 200 thousand and Constantine more than 100 thousand; six other centers exceed 40 thousand inhabitants (Bona, Philippeville, Sidi-bel-Abbès, Tlemcen, Blida and Tizi-Ouzou).
| Departments | Area in sq km | Pop. census 1936 | Density per sq km | Capitals (pop. in 1000 inhab.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algiers | 54,701 | 2,240,911 | 41 | Algiers (367) |
| Constantine | 87,502 | 2,727,766 | 31 | Constantine (114) |
| Oran | 67,353 | 1,623,356 | 24 | Oran (201) |
| Ain Sefra | 650,151 | 193,347 | 0.3 | Colomb Bechar (5) |
| Ghardaia | 143,712 | 166,366 | 1 | Laghouat (10) |
| Touggourt | 134,865 | 243,363 | 2 | Touggourt (12) |
| Oases of the Sahara | 1,066,500 | 39,575 | 0.03 | Ourgla (6) |
| TOTAL | 2,204,784 | 7,234,684 | 3 |
For Christian history and archaeology v. AFRICA (III: Ancient Christian history; v: Christian monuments); ALGERI.