什麼是阿爾及利亞

正式名稱阿爾及利亞人民民主共和國（Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria）

非洲北部國家。面積2,378,907平方公里。人口約30,821,000（2001）。首都：阿爾及爾。多數人民為阿拉伯人，柏柏爾人是主要的少數族群。語言：阿拉伯語（官方語）、法語和柏柏爾語。宗教︰伊斯蘭教。貨幣：阿爾及利亞第納爾（DA）。阿爾及利亞是非洲大陸上第二大的陸地區域（次於蘇丹）。海岸線上有數個小海灣和小河流。北方有阿特拉斯山和撒哈拉阿特拉斯山橫貫，最高峰為謝利亞山，海拔2,331公尺。阿爾及利亞中央和南部構成了撒哈拉沙漠的北部多數地區。阿爾及利亞集中計畫發展的經濟以石油和天然氣的生產和出口貿易為主。自取得獨立後，將大部分經濟活動歸為國有。政府形式為共和國，兩院制。總統是國家元首，總理為政府首腦。

腓尼基商人在西元前第一個千年期即在這一帶活動。數世紀後羅馬人侵略此地，在西元40年時控制地中海沿岸。5世紀羅馬帝國勢衰，導致汪達爾人及拜占庭人先後入侵。7世紀阿拉伯人也開始侵略此地，到了711年全部的北非處於伍麥葉王朝哈里發的控制之下。後來建立幾個伊斯蘭教柏柏爾帝國，最著名的為阿爾摩拉維德王朝（1054年～1130），將其領土延伸至西班牙，和阿爾摩哈德王朝（1130年～1269）。在海上活動的巴巴里海岸海盜已控制地中海的貿易達數世紀，1830年法國人藉口平定海盜而佔領阿爾及利亞。到了1847法國已在該地建立起控制，到了19世紀末期已有公民統治。民眾運動導致了1954～1961年間的血腥阿爾及利亞戰爭；1962年舉行公投，獲得獨立。1990年代政府軍隊試圖鎮壓伊斯蘭教異議分子，導致全國實際已陷入內戰。

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.