Algeria's culture is strongly influenced by the country's recent history, as well as other aspects such as their literature, music, arts and crafts and religion.
Algeria is mainly made up of Arab-Berber, who are Sunni Muslims and constitute 99% of the population. The Europeans, who before independence accounted for 10% of the total, now are only 1% of the population. Arabic and Tamazight, a Berber language, are official languages, while French is also widely spoken. About a quarter of Algeria's workforce are farmers, producing cereals, wine, citrus fruits, and cork. Mining and manufacturing, developed since the 1960s, contribute the bulk of the national income.
Arabic is Algeria's primary language of around 82% of the populace. The French colonialism left French as the second language of many educated Algerians, and English is very rarely spoken. Many people of Algeria also speak different dialects of Berber.
All media activities such as, newspapers, book publishing and radio and television broadcasting are in either Arabic or French and they are under control of the government. The daily Arabic newspaper is called El Massaa and the daily French newspaper is called El Moudjahid. There are no English newspapers published in Algeria, although the French newspaper prints one page in English.
French tradition formerly dominated the cultural life of Algeria. Although the French suppressed much Algerian writing during the 1950s, the war for independence stimulated a considerable resurgence of interest in the Arabic-language national literature. Even before independence, however, there was a growing movement among Algerian artists and intellectuals to revive national interest in Arab-Berber origins, a movement that, since 1962, has gained official support. Noted 20th-century Algerian writers (who wrote in French) are Kateb Yacine, Mohammad Dib, and Malek Haddad. The French novelist Albert Camus was born and educated in Algeria.
Islam is the official religion of Algeria and the majority of Algerians are Muslims. Since the departure of the French, Christianity is a secondary religion. 1% of Algeria's population are Jewish.
Algeria's economy is controlled by its export trade in oil and natural gas. Until 1962 the economy was largely rural-based and complementary to that of France. Since freedom, production of oil and particularly natural gas has come into its own, and industrialization has proceeded rapidly.
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
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