After a century of rule by France, Algeria became independent in 1962. The surprising early success of the fundamentalist FIS (Islamic Salvation Front) party in the December 1991 elections caused the army to intervene, crack down on the FIS, and postpone the subsequent elections. The FIS response has resulted in a continuous low-grade civil conflict with the secular state government. As reports from Out There News and Salon attest, the civil war's carnage has been truly terrible. Will anyone be able to lead Algeria to peace?
Other national concerns include large-scale unemployment and the need to diversify the petroleum-based economy.
Algeria has a large and reasonably well-equipped military to counter foreign and domestic threats. The arms and equipment initially supplied by the Soviet Union were of good quality, but some of the material has been in inventory for up to two decades. In the early 1990's, Algeria postponed the acquisition of more modern equipment, assigning priority to training and maintenance of existing weapons instead. Except for brief clashes with Morocco in 1976, the armed forces have not been involved in hostilities against a foreign power. Their combat capabilities in defense of the country have thus remained untested.
In February 1989, Algeria joined Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia to form the Union of the Arab Maghrib (UMA). The primary goal of the UMA was improved economic cohesion, but the treaty also contained important security clauses. The signatories affirmed that any aggression against one member would be considered as aggression against the other member states. Member states also pledged not to permit any activity or organization on their territory that could endanger the security of another member state.
Demographic Data
Capital: Alger
Government type: Totalitarian Democracy
Government stability: 64.9%
Government efficiency: 76.2%
Population's support to government: 65.5%
Area: 2,381,740 square kilometers
Habitable land: 18.0%
Farmable land: 3.0%
Total population: 28,539 thousands
Population's growth: 2.2%
Country's development level: 7,460
Economic Data
GNP: 97,100,000,000
Industralisation: 55.8%
International funding: 145,000,000
Political Data
Secret services efficiency: 4,266
Military Data
Technological generation: 1
Number of rebels: 7,990
Rebels development: 6,714
Rebels technological access: 5,221