Demographics of Algeria
Encyclopedia
This article is about the demographic
features of the population
of Algeria
, including population density
, ethnicity
, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Ninety-one percent of the Algeria
n population lives along the Mediterranean
coast on 12% of the country's total land mass. Forty-five percent of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities. Currently, 24,182,736 Algerians live in urban area
, about 1.5 million nomads live in the Sahara
n area.
99% of the population is classified ethnically as Arab-Berber
and religiously as Sunni Muslim 96%, the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadi
s 1.3% from the M'Zab
valley (See Islam in Algeria
). A mostly foreign Roman Catholic community also about Christians especially Protestant evangelic and almost 500 Jewish, most of them live in Bejaia
. The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.
Algeria's educational system has grown rapidly since 1962; in the last 12 years, attendance has doubled to more than 5 million students. Education is free and compulsory to age 16. Despite government allocation of substantial educational resources, population pressures and a serious shortage of teachers have severely strained the system, as have terrorist
attacks against the educational infrastructure during the 1990s. Modest numbers of Algerian students study abroad, primarily in Europe
and Canada
. In 2000, the government launched a major review of the country's educational system.
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.
In a very recent study (2008) done in northwestern Algeria (Oran area), the most common haplogroups observed in the Algerian population (n=102) were :
In a recent genetic study by Semino et al. (2004), Algerian Arabs and Berbers were found to have more genetic similarities than was once believed. This led scientists to conclude that the North African population was mainly Berber in origin and that the population had been 'Arabised', by the migration of Near-Eastener people.
The Haplogroup J1, marker of the Semitic
population is found at 35% in Algeria
, which is one of the most common haplogroup of the country along with E1b1b (Berber
marker).
Recent studies on the common J1 Y chromosome suggest it arrived over ten thousand years ago in North Africa, and M81/E3b2 is a Y chromosome specific to North African ancestry, dating to the Neolithic. A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E3b2 and J haplogroups is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East. This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005) which suggest that "contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East",
and the U.S. Department of State website.
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
features of the population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, including population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
, ethnicity
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n population lives along the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
coast on 12% of the country's total land mass. Forty-five percent of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities. Currently, 24,182,736 Algerians live in urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
, about 1.5 million nomads live in the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
n area.
99% of the population is classified ethnically as Arab-Berber
Arab-Berber
Arab-Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb who is of mixed Arab and Berber origin and whose native language is a dialect of Arabic and who also has an Arab ethnic identity...
and religiously as Sunni Muslim 96%, the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadi
Ibadi
The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shia denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman and Zanzibar...
s 1.3% from the M'Zab
M'zab
The M'zab or Mzab, , is a region of the northern Sahara, in the Ghardaïa wilaya, an administrative division similar to a province, of Algeria...
valley (See Islam in Algeria
Islam in Algeria
Islam, the religion of almost all of the Algerian people, pervades most aspects of life. The vast majority of citizens are Sunni Muslims. Islam provides the society with its central social and cultural identity and gives most individuals their basic ethical and attitudinal orientation. Orthodox...
). A mostly foreign Roman Catholic community also about Christians especially Protestant evangelic and almost 500 Jewish, most of them live in Bejaia
Béjaïa
Béjaïa, Vgaiet or Bejaya is a Mediterranean port city on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Under French rule, it was formerly known under various European names, such as Budschaja in German, Bugia in Italian, and Bougie...
. The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.
Algeria's educational system has grown rapidly since 1962; in the last 12 years, attendance has doubled to more than 5 million students. Education is free and compulsory to age 16. Despite government allocation of substantial educational resources, population pressures and a serious shortage of teachers have severely strained the system, as have terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
attacks against the educational infrastructure during the 1990s. Modest numbers of Algerian students study abroad, primarily in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 2000, the government launched a major review of the country's educational system.
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.
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.Age structure
- 0–14 years: 25.4% (male 4,436,591/female 4,259,728)
- 15–64 years: 69.5% (male 11,976,965/female 11,777,618)
- 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 798,576/female 928,709) (2010 est.)
Urbanization
- Urban population: 65% of total population (2008)
- Rate of urbanization: 2.5 annual rate of change (2005-2010 est/)
Sex ratio
- At birth: 1.05 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: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate
- Total: 27.73 deaths/1,000 live births
- country comparison to the world: 80
- Male: 30.86 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 24.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- Total population: 74.26 years
- Male: 72.57 years
- Female: 76.04 years (2010 est.)
HIV/AIDS
- Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% ; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
- People living with HIV/AIDS: 21,000 (2007 est.)
- Deaths: less than 1000 (2007 est.)
Major infectious diseases
- Degree of risk: intermediate
- Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
- Vectorborne disease: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a high risk in some locations (2005)
Ethnic groups
- Arab-BerberArab-BerberArab-Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb who is of mixed Arab and Berber origin and whose native language is a dialect of Arabic and who also has an Arab ethnic identity...
s 99%, European less than 1%
In a very recent study (2008) done in northwestern Algeria (Oran area), the most common haplogroups observed in the Algerian population (n=102) were :
- E1b1b (50.9 %)
- E1b1b1b (M81)Haplogroup E3b (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Y Haplogroup E1b1b previously known as E3b is one of the major paternal lines of humanity, linking from father-to-son back to a common male ancestor. In other words it is a major Y-chromosome haplogroup, a sub-group of the macro haplogroup E, which is defined by the single...
(45.1%) very common in northwest Africa and also found, with much lower frequencies compared to those observed in northwest Africa, in Turkey, the near East, the Balkans, southern Europe and in Iberia. - E1b1b1a (M78)Haplogroup E3b (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Y Haplogroup E1b1b previously known as E3b is one of the major paternal lines of humanity, linking from father-to-son back to a common male ancestor. In other words it is a major Y-chromosome haplogroup, a sub-group of the macro haplogroup E, which is defined by the single...
(5.8%) widely distributed in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia up to Southern Asia, and all of Europe (with distribution peak centered in parts of the Balkans and Italy and declining frequencies in western, central, and northeastern Europe).
- E1b1b1b (M81)
- JHaplogroup J (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Haplogroup J is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is one of the major male lines of all living men...
(35.0 %)- J1 (M267)Haplogroup J1 (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Y DNA haplogroup J1, also known as J-M267, is a sub-haplogroup of Y DNA haplogroup J, along with its sibling clade Y DNA haplogroup J2. Men with this type of Y DNA share a common paternal ancestry, which is demonstrated and defined by the presence of the SNP mutation referred to...
(27.4%) frequent in Egypt and the Middle East. - J2 (M67)Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Haplogroup J2 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup which is a subdivision of haplogroup J. It is further divided into two complementary clades, J2a-M410 and J2b-M12.-Origins:...
(7.6%) frequent in the Northern Middle East, Balkans and Southernmost Italy and also common in Iberia and Westernmost and Easternmost North Africa
- J1 (M267)
- R1Haplogroup R1 (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Haplogroup R1 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup R, associated with the M173 mutation. It is dominated in practice by two very common Eurasian clades, R1a and R1b, which together are found all over Eurasia except in Southeast Asia and East Asia...
(12.8 %)- R1b (M269)Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)The point of origin of R1b is thought to lie in Eurasia, most likely in Western Asia. T. Karafet et al. estimated the age of R1, the parent of R1b, as 18,500 years before present....
(10.8%) typically found in Eurasia. - R1a (M17)Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA)Haplogroup R1a is the phylogenetic name of a major clade of Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups. In other words, it is a way of grouping a significant part of all modern men according to a shared male-line ancestor. It is common in many parts of Eurasia and is frequently discussed in human...
(1%) typically associated with the area from Central and Eastern Europe to South Asia - R1 (M173)Haplogroup R1 (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Haplogroup R1 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup R, associated with the M173 mutation. It is dominated in practice by two very common Eurasian clades, R1a and R1b, which together are found all over Eurasia except in Southeast Asia and East Asia...
(1%) typically found in Central and South Asia
- R1b (M269)
- E1b1a (M2)Haplogroup E3a (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Haplogroup E1b1a is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is the phylogenetic term for the series of unique sequence variants on the human Y-chromosome. It is often found in African males and their descendants and is heritably passed in lineage from father to son...
(7.8%) typically Associated with West Africa
- Others
- Q (M242)Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)In human genetics, Haplogroup Q is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup Q is one of the two branches of haplogroup P . Haplogroup Q is believed to have arisen in Central Asia approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has had multiple origins proposed...
(1%) typically associated with East, South, North and part of West Asia, and the Native American populations.
- Q (M242)
Y-Dna Haplogroup frequencies in coastal Algeria
| Population | Nb | E1a | E1b1a | E1b1b1a | E1b1b1b | E1b1b1c | F | K | J1 | J2 | R1a | R1b | Q | Study |
| 1 Oran Oran Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest... |
102 | 0 | 7.85% | 5.90% | 45.10% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.50% | 4.90% | 1% | 11.80% | 1% | Robino et al. (2008) |
| 2 Algiers Algiers ' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000... |
35 | 2.85% | 0 | 11.40% | 42.85% | 0 | 11.80% | 2.85% | 22.85% | 5.70% | 0 | 0 | 0 | Arredi et al. (2004) |
| 3 Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou is a city in Kabylia, Algeria, where it ranks second in population after Béjaïa. It is the capital and largest city of Tizi Ouzou Province and of Great Kabylia .-Etymology:The name comes from the Kabylian Berber Tizi n Uzezzu and is pronounced Tizuzzu, commonly... |
19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47.35% | 10.50% | 10.50% | 0 | 15.80% | 0 | 0 | 15.80% | 0 | Arredi et al. (2004) |
| Total | 156 | 0.65% | 5.10% | 6.40% | 44.90% | 1.30% | 9.58% | 0.65% | 21.80% | 4.50% | 0.65% | 9.60% | 0.65% | |
In a recent genetic study by Semino et al. (2004), Algerian Arabs and Berbers were found to have more genetic similarities than was once believed. This led scientists to conclude that the North African population was mainly Berber in origin and that the population had been 'Arabised', by the migration of Near-Eastener people.
The Haplogroup J1, marker of the Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
population is found at 35% in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, which is one of the most common haplogroup of the country along with E1b1b (Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
marker).
Recent studies on the common J1 Y chromosome suggest it arrived over ten thousand years ago in North Africa, and M81/E3b2 is a Y chromosome specific to North African ancestry, dating to the Neolithic. A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E3b2 and J haplogroups is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East. This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005) which suggest that "contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East",
Languages
- ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
(official 68%), FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, BerberBerberBerber may refer to:*a member of the Berber people**the Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages**Berberism, a political-cultural term supporting a distinct Berber identity**Berber calendar**Berber cuisine...
dialects (Chaouia, KabyleKabyleKabyle may refer to:* Kabyle people, an ethnic group in Algeria* Kabyle language* Kabyle alphabet, also known as Berber Latin alphabet* the Kabyle ethnic homeland, a region called Kabylie in French...
, Tamahaq, ChenouaChenouaJebel Chenoua is a mountain group between Cherchell and Tipasa on the coast of Algeria, just west of Algiers, and a village on that mountain. A majority of its inhabitants speak a Berber language, the Chenoua language....
, Tumzabt..37%).
Literacy
Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write- Total population: 69.9%
- Male: 79.6%
- Female: 60.1% (2002 est.)
External links
and the U.S. Department of State website.