Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Wheeler M. Thackston, trans., Tales of 

the Prophets (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1978); Albert 

Mugrdich Wolohojian, trans., The Romance of Alexander 

the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes (New York: Columbia 

University Press, 1969); Z. David Zuwiyya, Islamic Leg-

ends of Alexander the Great (Binghamton, N.Y.: Global 

Publications, 2001).

Algeria

 

(Official name: People’s 

Democratic Republic of Algeria)

One of the largest countries in Africa and the Arab 

world, Algeria (Arabic: al-Jazair) is located on the 

Mediterranean coast bordered by t

Unisia

 and l

ibya

to the east, by m

orocco

 to the west, and to the 

south across the Sahara desert by Western Sahara, 

Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. It is approximately 

2.4 million square kilometers, or the equivalent 

of the continental United States west of the Rocky 

Mountains. Its population of approximately 33 

million (2008) is of mixed b

erber

 and a

rab

 eth-

nicity (except a 1 percent European minority) 

and largely Sunni Muslim. Religious minorities 

include Christians and Jews (1 percent). Although 

the official language of Algeria is Arabic, French 

and various Berber (Amazigh) languages are also 

widely spoken. Asserting a distinct Berber lan-

guage and ethnicity is an important issue for 

many communities centered in the Kabyle region. 

Geographically, while the northern regions are 

mountainous and provide fertile agricultural land, 

more than 80 percent of the country lies in the 

Sahara, where rich hydrocarbon and mineral 

resources are found. The major cities are the capi-

tal, Algiers, Constantine, Tlemcen, and Oran.

As early as the fifth century 

b

.

c

.

e

., Algeria’s 

indigenous people, Berbers, had established com-