Iran & Algeria::Trade & Exhibition Information

conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
conventional short form: Algeria
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah

Algeria is situated along the North African coast, bordered to the east by Tunisia and Libya, to the southeast by Niger, to the southwest by Mali, and to the west by Mauritania and Morocco. It is Africa’s second-largest country, with 1,200km (750 miles) of coastline. Along the coastal strip are the main towns, fertile land, beach resorts and 90% of the population. Further south lies the area of the Hauts Plateaux, mountains of up to 2,000m (6,600ft) covered in cedar, pine and cypress forests with broad arable plains dividing the plateaux. The remaining 85% of the country is the Sahara Desert in its various forms, sustaining only 500,000 people, many of whom are nomadic tribes with goat and camel herds. The oil and minerals boom has created new industrial centres like Hassi Messaoud, which have grown up within previously barely inhabited regions of the northern Sahara. The plains of gravel and sand in the deep south are interrupted by two mountain ranges: the dramatic Hoggar massif, rising to almost 3,000m (9,800ft), and the Tassili N’Ajjer or ‘Plateau of Chasms’. Both have long been important centres of Tuareg culture.

Capital:

Algiers

Location:

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia

Area:

total: 2,381,740 sq km
land: 2,381,740 sq km

Climate:
arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

Population:

32,531,853 (July 2005 est.)

Languages:

Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Economy- Overview:

Industries:

petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing

Exports:
$78.23 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 42
$60.6 billion (2007 est.)

Exports - partners:
US 23.9%, Italy 14.9%, Spain 11.1%, Canada 9.6%, France 8.6%, Netherlands 4.5% (2008)

Exports - commodities:

petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%

Imports: $39.16 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 54 $26.4 billion (2007 est.) Imports - commodities: capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods Imports - partners: France 19.8%, Italy 10.9%, China 9%, Spain 7.6%, Germany 5.4% (2008) country comparison to the world: 54 $26.4 billion (2007 est.) Imports - commodities: capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods Imports - partners: France 19.8%, Italy 10.9%, China 9%, Spain 7.6%, Germany 5.4% (2008)

Exchange rates:

Algerian dinars (DZD) per US dollar - 63.25 (2008 est.), 69.9 (2007), 72.647 (2006), 73.276

GDP :
$159.7 billion (2008 est.)