n: mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow,
discontinuous coastal plain

Elevation extremes:
lowest point : Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point: Tahat 3,003 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
uranium, lead, zinc

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 2%
other : 82% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 5,550 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mud
slides

Environment - current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing and other
poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage,
petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading
to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in
particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and
fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment - international agreements:
party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

Geography - note: second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)

@Algeria:People

Population: 29,830,370 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years : 39% (male 5,923,391; female 5,712,088)
15-64 years: 57% (male 8,619,009; female 8,450,774)
65 years and over: 4% (male 525,556; female 599,552) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.18% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 28.01 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 5.76 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 47.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.62 years
male : 67.5 years
female: 69.79 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.48 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun : Algerian(s)
adjective: Algerian

Ethnic groups: Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%

Religions: Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%

Languages: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total populati