Algeria

**Algeria**, officially the **People's Democratic Republic of Algeria** was a country in North Africa. The country shared land borders with Libya and Tunisia to the east, Niger and Mali to the south, Mauritania and Morocco to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the north, giving it close naval borders with Spain.

## History

### Independence From France

Algeria's first president was the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) leader Ahmed Ben Bella. Morocco's claim to portions of western Algeria led to the Sand War in 1963. Ben Bella was overthrown in 1965 by Houari Boumediene, his former ally and defence minister. Under Ben Bella, the government had become increasingly socialist and authoritarian; Boumédienne continued this trend. But, he relied much more on the army for his support, and reduced the sole legal party to a symbolic role. He collectivised agriculture and launched a massive industrialization drive. Oil extraction facilities were nationalized. This was especially beneficial to the leadership after the international 1973 oil crisis.

In the 1960s and 1970s under President Houari Boumediene, Algeria pursued a programme of industrialisation within a state-controlled socialist economy. Boumediene's successor, Chadli Bendjedid, introduced some liberal economic reforms. He promoted a policy of Arabisation in Algerian society and public life. Teachers of Arabic, brought in from other Muslim countries, spread conventional Islamic thought in schools and sowed the seeds of a return to Orthodox Islam.

The Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil, leading to hardship when the price collapsed during the 1980s oil glut. Economic recession caused by the crash in world oil prices resulted in Algerian social unrest during the 1980s; by the end of the decade, Bendjedid introduced a multi-party system. Political parties developed, such as the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a broad coalition of Muslim groups.

### First Civil War and Aftermath

In December 1991 the Islamic Salvation Front dominated the first of two rounds of legislative elections. Fearing the election of an Islamist government, the authorities intervened on 11 January 1992, cancelling the elections. Bendjedid resigned and a High Council of State was installed to act as Presidency. It banned the FIS, triggering a civil insurgency between the Front's armed wing, the Armed Islamic Group, and the national armed forces, in which more than 100,000 people are thought to have died. The Islamist militants conducted a violent campaign of civilian massacres. At several points in the conflict, the situation in Algeria became a point of international concern, most notably during the crisis surrounding Air France Flight 8969, a hijacking perpetrated by the Armed Islamic Group. The Armed Islamic Group declared a ceasefire in October 1997.

Algeria held elections in 1999, considered biased by international observers and most opposition groups which were won by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He worked to restore political stability to the country and announced a 'Civil Concord' initiative, approved in a referendum, under which many political prisoners were pardoned, and several thousand members of armed groups were granted exemption from prosecution under a limited amnesty, in force until 13 January 2000. The AIS disbanded and levels of insurgent violence fell rapidly. The Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Group Islamic Armée, continued a terrorist campaign against the Government.

Bouteflika was re-elected in the April 2004 presidential election after campaigning on a programme of national reconciliation. The programme comprised economic, institutional, political and social reform to modernise the country, raise living standards, and tackle the causes of alienation. It also included a second amnesty initiative, the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which was approved in a referendum in September 2005. It offered amnesty to most guerrillas and Government security forces.

In November 2008, the Algerian Constitution was amended following a vote in Parliament, removing the two-term limit on Presidential incumbents. This change enabled Bouteflika to stand for re-election in the 2009 presidential elections, and he was re-elected in April 2009. During his election campaign and following his re-election, Bouteflika promised to extend the programme of national reconciliation and a $150-billion spending programme to create three million new jobs, the construction of one million new housing units, and to continue public sector and infrastructure modernisation programmes.

A continuing series of protests throughout the country started on 28 December 2010, inspired by similar protests across the Middle East and North Africa. On 24 February 2011, the government lifted Algeria's 19-year-old state of emergency. The government enacted legislation dealing with political parties, the electoral code, and the representation of women in elected bodies. In April 2011, Bouteflika promised further constitutional and political reform. However, elections were routinely criticized by opposition groups as unfair and international human rights groups said that media censorship and harassment of political opponents continued.

### Second Civil War and Islamist Takeover

*See Full Article: Second Algerian Civil War*

In June 2024, protests erupted in the Algerian capital of Algiers calling for an Islamic revolution to take place and for Algeria to join the North African Caliphate. The Algerian government requested that the United States and NATO be prepared for an intervention. On 15 June, protesters attacked Algerian police forces and stormed the Parliament building, causing President Bouteflika to move troops into the capital to quell the violence. On June 19, protesters and government troops clash, leading to Algerian troops firing on the crowds, killing 12 people.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Algeria proclaimed the Algerian Peoples' Islamic Liberation Army (APILA). The government forces clashed with APILA, causing the NAC to send the Islamic State troops to assist APILA. On June 28, with Algeria rapidly collapsing, France, Spain and Italy organised and depolyed a 20,000 strong force to Algeria to support the United Nations Assistance and Protection Mission to Algeria (UNAPMA) and the Algerian government. The Muslim Brotherhood also organised a rebellion in Oran, which was captured by APILA forces in July. Troops from the Polisario Front - a group supported by Algeria against Morocco in Western Sahara - moved their troops to recapture Oran. In July, APILA forces attempted to capture Algiers, but were rebuffed by Algerian and European troops.

On 14 July, a car bomb exploded in Rabat, killing 174 people. The Moroccan government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of detonating the bomb and deploys troops to Algeria. APILA and IS forces were pushed back in early September, but had recouped their loses by early October. Oran fell to Moroccan and Polisario troops in October, leading the Moroccan and Polisario forces to also clashing, leaving Oran under Moroccan control by November.

In January and February 2025, anti-war protests took place across France, Spain, Italy and other European Union countries as well as in Washington. On February 2, 28 Spanish soldiers were killed in an artillery strike on Algiers, prompting the Spanish government to recall it troops. A car bomb killed two Italian soldiers several days later, causing Italy to also recall its forces.

In March APILA-IS forces attacked Algiers for a second time, and fierce street fighting erupted. In May, French President Marine le Pen recalled French troops from Algeria. On 19 May, President Bouteflika died of old age, and the government officially collapsed. Despite this, Algerian loyalist troops continued to fight as IS-APILA forces seized control of the capital. On 2 June, the UNSC failed to pass a resolution calling for a 250,000 strong force be deployed to Algeria. On 22 July the remaining Algerian loyalists surrender to APILA-IS forces, ending the civil war.

## Government and Politics

The head of state was the president of Algeria, who was elected for a five-year term. The president was formerly limited to two five-year terms, but a constitutional amendment passed by the Parliament on 11 November 2008 removed this limitation. Algeria had universal suffrage at 18 years of age. The President is the head of the army, the Council of Ministers and the High Security Council. He appoints the Prime Minister who was also the head of government.

The Algerian parliament was bicameral; the lower house, the People's National Assembly, had 462 members who are directly elected for five-year terms, while the upper house, the Council of the Nation, had 144 members serving six-year terms, of which 96 members were chosen by local assemblies and 48 are appointed by the president.

### Foreign Relations

Algeria was a member of the Arab League, and was a member of the military organisation known as the Cairo Pact, which aimed to curb the expansion of the United Islamic Republic. Algeria maintained close relations with the members of the Cairo Pact, though its relations with Morocco were constantly strained due to disagreements over Western Sahara. Algeria also maintained close relations with the European Union as part of the European Neighbourhood Policy. During the Second Algerian Civil War, Algeria relied heavily on France, Spain and Italy for their military assistance, as well as receiving support from the United States and the United Kingdom.

## Military

The military of Algeria consisted of the People's National Army (ANP), the Algerian National Navy (MRA), and the Algerian Air Force (QJJ), plus the Territorial Air Defence Forces. Total military personnel included 147,000 active, 150,000 reserve, and 187,000 paramilitary staff. Service in the military was compulsory for men aged 19–30, for a total of 12 months. The military expenditure was 4.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012. Algeria had the second largest military in North Africa with the largest defence budget in Africa ($10 billion).

## Economy

Algeria was classified as an upper middle income country by the World Bank. The economy remained dominated by the state, a legacy of the country's socialist post-independence development model. Algeria struggled to develop industries outside hydrocarbons in part because of high costs and an inert state bureaucracy. The government's efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector did little to reduce high youth unemployment rates or to address housing shortages. The country faced a number of short-term and medium-term problems, including the need to diversify the economy, strengthen political, economic and financial reforms, improve the business climate and reduce inequalities amongst regions.

In March 2006, Russia agreed to erase $4.74 billion of Algeria's Soviet-era debt during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the country, the first by a Russian leader in half a century. In return, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika agreed to buy $7.5 billion worth of combat planes, air-defence systems and other arms from Russia, according to the head of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport.