Algeria

Discover Algeria

Fun Foods

Couscous, Chakhchoukha, Reshta

Algeria is 80% desert. That's not a typo. The Sahara covers four-fifths of Africa's largest country, creating a landscape of towering sand dunes, rugged mountains, and oases that appear like mirages in the heat.

This massive desert nation stretches 2.38 million square kilometers, making it the 10th largest country on Earth. The Hoggar Mountains rise from the southern Sahara, offering hiking and some of the clearest night skies you'll ever see for stargazing.

But before the desert, there were Romans. The ancient ruins at Timgad and Djemila showcase some of the best-preserved Roman architecture outside Italy, with grand amphitheaters, intricate mosaics, and stone archways that have survived centuries.

Even older are the Berbers, the indigenous Amazigh people who've lived in North Africa since before anyone kept records. Amazigh means "free people" in their Tamazight language, and they've fought hard to stay that way.

France invaded in 1830 and spent 132 years treating Algeria like French territory. They split the country into three French departments and made Algerians give up their Muslim identity to vote. Most couldn't vote at all.

In 1954, the National Liberation Front launched a war for independence that was so brutal it collapsed France's entire government. Charles de Gaulle, the French war hero, finally held a referendum in 1962. Both countries voted for Algerian independence through the Evian Agreements.

July 5, 1962, became Independence Day. Every year, Algerians celebrate freedom with parades, fireworks, and green and white flags filling the streets.

The Amazigh kept fighting for recognition too. In 1980, protests called the Berber Spring erupted when the government banned a lecture on ancient Berber poetry. In 2001, the Black Spring uprising forced Algeria to finally recognize Tamazight in the constitution.

Today's Algeria blends all these influences. Couscous, the flagship North African dish, has UNESCO recognition as cultural heritage. Eastern regions serve chakhchoukha, torn flatbread soaked in spicy sauce. Northern areas make reshta, thin pasta in white broth.

The Mediterranean coast offers beaches and port cities, while markets sell everything from spices to handwoven carpets. French colonial architecture stands alongside mosques and modern buildings in Algiers.