first round held on 26 December 1991 (second round canceled
by the military after President BENDJEDID resigned 11 January 1992,
effectively suspending the Assembly); results - percent of vote by
party NA; seats - (281 total); the fundamentalist FIS won 188 of the
231 seats contested in the first round; note - elections (municipal
and wilaya) were held in June 1990, the first in Algerian history;
results - FIS 55%, FLN 27.5%, other 17.5%, with 65% of the voters
participating
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Political parties and leaders:
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS, outlawed April 1992), Ali BELHADJ, Dr.
Abassi MADANI, Abdelkader HACHANI (all under arrest), Rabeh KEBIR
(self-exile in Germany); National Liberation Front (FLN), Abdelhamid
MEHRI, Secretary General; Socialist Forces Front (FFS), Hocine Ait
AHMED, Secretary General
note:
the government established a multiparty system in September 1989 and,
as of 31 December 1990, over 50 legal parties existed
Member of:
ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24,
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer),
OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNTAC,
UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Nourredine Yazid ZERHOUNI
chancery:
2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 265-2800
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Mary Ann CASEY
embassy:
4 Chemin Cheikh Bachir El-Ibrahimi, Algiers
mailing address:
B. P. Box 549, Alger-Gare, 16000 Algiers
telephone:
[213] (2) 601-425, 255, 186
FAX:
[213] (2) 603979
consulate(s):
Oran
Flag:
two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white with a red
five-pointed star within a red crescent; the crescent, star, and color
green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)

@Algeria, Economy

Overview:
The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for
roughly 57% of government revenues, 25% of GDP, and almost all export
earnings; Algeria has the fifth largest reserves of natural gas in the
world and ranks fourteenth for oil. Algiers' efforts to reform one of
the most centrally planned economies in the Arab world began after the
1986 collapse of world oil prices plunged the c