Population and Demographics

The population of Algeria in July 2006 was 32,930,091. About 70% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the minority who inhabit the Sahara desert are mainly concentrated in oases, although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. Almost 30% of Algerians are under 15.

99% of the population is classified ethnically as Arab/Berber and religiously as Sunni Muslim, the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadis from the M'Zab valley. A mostly foreign Roman Catholic community of about 45,000 exists, as do very small Protestant and Jewish communities. The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.

Europeans account for less than 1% of the population. During the colonial period there was a large European (primarily French) population, known as pieds-noirs, concentrated on the coast and forming a majority in certain cities. Almost all of this population left during or immediately after the country's independence from France.

Housing and medicine continue to be pressing problems in Algeria. Failing infrastructure and the continued influx of people from rural to urban areas has overtaxed both systems. According to the UNDP, Algeria has one of the world's highest per housing unit occupancy rates for housing, and government officials have publicly stated that the country has an immediate shortfall of 1.5 million housing units.

Most Algerians are Arab or Berber, by language or identity, or of mixed Berber-Arab ancestry. The Berbers inhabited Algeria before the arrival of Arab tribes during the expansion of Islam, in the 7th century. The issue of ethnicity and language is sensitive after many years of government marginalization of Berber (or Imazighen, as some prefer) culture.

Today, the Arab-Berber issue is often a case of self-identification or identification through language and culture, rather than a racial or ethnic distinction. The 20% or so of the population who self-identify as Berbers, and primarily speak Berber languages (also termed Tamazight), are divided into several ethnic groups, notably Kabyle (the largest) in the mountainous north-central area, Chaoui in the eastern Atlas Mountains, Mozabites in the M'zab valley, and Tuareg in the far south.