ast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau;
sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer
Terrain: 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, Hazardous Wastes, 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: 31,193,917 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 5,591,044; female 5,389,046)
15-64 years: 61% (male 9,582,864; female 9,381,088)
65 years and over: 4% (male 577,875; female 672,000) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.74% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 23.14 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 5.3 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 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: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 41.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.65 years
male: 68.34 years
female: 71.02 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Algerian(s)
adjective: Algerian
Ethnic groups: Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%
Religions: Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian a
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