Official name: Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
Independent since: 1962
Former colonial ruler: France
Location: northwestern Africa
Area: 919,590 square miles
Capital: Algiers
Population: 32.3 million (2002 est.)
Official language: Arabic
Major religion: Sunni Islam
Gross domestic product: US$177 billion (2001 est.)
Major exports: petroleum; natural gas Military expenditures: US$1.87 billion (1999)
Lished trading posts that grew into cities in many parts of North Africa. One of these was the famous city of Carthage, which often hired Berber mercenaries for its army. Although Berber social organization was primarily based on fiercely independent family groups, the Berbers recognized the limited authority of some kings.
One of these Berber kings, Masinissa, was an ally of Carthage. During the long war between Carthage and Rome, however, Masinissa went over to the Roman side. Thus, after Carthage surrendered to Rome in 202 b. c.e., North Africa became a Roman protectorate under the rule of Masinissa. After the Romans destroyed Carthage in 146 b. c.e., the Romans established direct rule over part of North Africa and finally took all of it in 24 c. e. The Berbers continued to inhabit the area's countryside.
Before his death in 632 c. e., the Prophet Muhammad united the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula under Islam. The Muslim religion taught that believers should submit to the will of God (Allah), and that governments and societies should also submit to the will of God. Arab armies invaded and spread the Muslim faith throughout the Middle East and North Africa during the following century.
The Arabs tended to settle in the towns of the Maghrib, or west, as the areas now known as Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco were called. The Berber tribes gradually converted to Islam. In the tenth century, the dynasty known as the Fatimids, who claimed to be descendants of Muhammad's daughter Fatima, rose to power in the Muslim world. The Islamic faith split into two sects, known as Shia Islam and Sunni Islam. The Fatimids followed the Shia sect. In the Maghrib, a dynasty known as the Zirids ruled and the Zirids at first owed allegiance to the Fatimids. However, the Zirids rebelled, turned against the Shia branch of the religion, and began to lead their Berber subjects back to Sunni Islam.
To punish the Zirids in the middle of the eleventh century, the Fatimids urged warlike Arab Bedouin tribes, known as Hilalians, to move into northwest Africa. The Hilalians took over many Berber lands and spread the Arabic language throughout the countryside. The large Arab population of present-day Algeria and its
Neighboring countries is largely a product of that eleventh century Hilalian invasion.
Religion gave rise to Berber dynasties in the Maghrib in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Almoravid Dynasty of the eleventh century and the Almohad Dynasty, which lasted through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, were founded by leaders who promised to strengthen and purify the Sunni Muslim faith. After the fall of the Almohads, three new dynasties took power in three areas of northwestern Africa. These three areas—Morocco, Tlemcen, and Tunis—corresponded, more or less, to the three modern nations of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
A state of war raged between northwestern Africa's Muslims and the Christians of Europe through much of the Middle Ages. From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, piracy was a major occupation of the coastal cities of northwestern Africa, including Algiers (the future capital of Algeria). The Middle Ages ended with the Spanish Christians driving out the Muslims who had long lived in Spain and ruled that country. Afterward, Muslims saw piracy as a form of holy war (jihad) against Christians, as well as a profitable business.
World History
