Compare Algeria (2004) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

Compare Algeria (2004) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

	Algeria (2004)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

Administrative divisions	48 provinces (wilayas, singular - wilaya); Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain Temouchent, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef, Constantine, Djelfa, El Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem, M'Sila, Naama, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanghasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 29.9% (male 4,893,971; female 4,705,933) 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 10,593,840; female 10,443,300) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 703,420; female 788,860) (2004 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle	-
Airports	137 (2003 est.)	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 52 over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 85 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 26 914 to 1,523 m: 38 under 914 m: 19 (2004 est.)	-
Area	total: 2,381,740 sq km land: 2,381,740 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands
Area - comparative	slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas	land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crack down on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-1998 and which resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces and conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide reelection victory. A number of longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA in his second term, including the ethnic minority Berbers' ongoing autonomy campaign, large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing - although significantly degraded - activities of extremist militants. Algeria must also diversify its petroleum-based economy, which has yielded a large cash reserve but which has not been used to redress Algeria's many social and infrastructure problems. Algeria assumed a two-year seat on the UN Security Council in January 2004.	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.
Birth rate	17.76 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $25.49 billion expenditures: $22.87 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.8 billion (2003 est.)	-
Capital	Algiers	-
Climate	arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	998 km	698 km
Constitution	19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988, 23 February 1989, and 28 November 1996	-
Country name	conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria conventional short form: Algeria local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah local short form: Al Jaza'ir	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Currency	Algerian dinar (DZD)	-
Death rate	4.61 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-
Debt - external	$22.71 billion (2003 est.)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Richard W. ERDMAN embassy: 4 Chemin Cheikh Bachir El-Ibrahimi, Algiers mailing address: B. P. 408, Alger-Gare, 16030 Algiers telephone: [213] (21) 691-425/255/186 FAX: [213] (21) 69-39-79	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant) chancery: 2137 Wyoming Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2800 FAX: [1] (202) 667-2174	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	Algeria supports the exiled Sahrawi Polisario Front and rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations; each nation has accused the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; in an attempt to improve relations afer unilaterally imposing a visa requirement on Algerians in the early 1990s, Morocco lifted the requirement in mid-2004 - a gesture not reciprocated by Algeria; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in the chain
Economic aid - recipient	$182 million (2001 est.)	-
Economy - overview	The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the seventh-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the second-largest gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves. Economic policy reforms supported by the IMF and debt rescheduling from the Paris Club in the past decade have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic indicators. Because of sustained high oil prices in the past three years, Algeria's finances have further benefited from substantial trade surpluses and record foreign exchange reserves. Real GDP has risen due to higher oil output and increased government spending. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards. Structural reform within the economy moves ahead slowly.	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.
Electricity - consumption	22.9 billion kWh (2001)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	340 million kWh (2001)	-
Electricity - imports	275 million kWh (2001)	-
Electricity - production	24.69 billion kWh (2001)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m highest point: Tahat 3,003 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
Environment - current issues	soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water	NA
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	-
Ethnic groups	Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1% note: almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab; the minority who identify themselves as Berber live mostly in the mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algeirs; the Berbers are also Muslim but identify with their Berber rather than Arab cultural heritage; Berbers have long agitated, sometimes violently, for autonomy; the government is unlikely to grant autonomy but has offered to begin sponsoring teaching Berber language in schools	-
Exchange rates	Algerian dinars per US dollar - 77.395 (2003), 79.6819 (2002), 77.215 (2001), 75.2598 (2000), 66.5739 (1999)	-
Executive branch	chief of state: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Ahmed OUYAHIA (since 9 May 2003) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 8 April 2004 (next to be held NA April 2009); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA reelected president for second term; percent of vote - Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA 85%, Ali BENFLIS 6.4%, Abdallah DJABALLAH 5%	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
Exports	NA (2001)	-
Exports - commodities	petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%	-
Exports - partners	Italy 19.5%, US 18.5%, France 13.6%, Spain 11.2%, Canada 6.2%, Belgium 5.1%, Brazil 4.9% (2003)	-
Fiscal year	calendar year	-
Flag description	two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white; a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two-color boundary; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag
GDP	purchasing power parity - $196 billion (2003 est.)	-
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 10.2% industry: 56.5% services: 33.4% (2003)	-
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $6,000 (2003 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	7.4% (2003 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	28 00 N, 3 00 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E
Geography - note	second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)	archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Heliports	1 (2003 est.)	-
Highways	total: 104,000 km paved: 71,656 km (including 640 km of expressways) unpaved: 32,344 km (1999)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)	-
Imports	NA (2001)	-
Imports - commodities	capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods	-
Imports - partners	France 30.9%, Italy 9.6%, Spain 6.1%, Germany 5.5%, China 4.6%, Turkey 4.1% (2003)	-
Independence	5 July 1962 (from France)	-
Industrial production growth rate	6% (2003 est.)	-
Industries	petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 32.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 36.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 28.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	3.5% (2003 est.)	-
International organization participation	ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BIS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OPEC, OSCE (partner), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)	-
Irrigated land	5,600 sq km (1998 est.)	0 sq km
Judicial branch	Supreme Court or Court Supreme	-
Labor force	9.6 million (2003)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 14%, industry 13.4%, construction and public works 10%, trade 14.6%, government 32%, other 16% (2003 est.)	-
Land boundaries	total: 6,343 km border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 3.22% permanent crops: 0.25% other: 96.53% (2001)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Languages	Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects	-
Legal system	socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
Legislative branch	bicameral Parliament consists of the National People's Assembly or Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani (389 seats - changed from 380 seats in the 2002 elections; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the Council of Nations (Senate) (144 seats; one-third of the members appointed by the president, two-thirds elected by indirect vote; members serve six-year terms; the constitution requires half the council to be renewed every three years) elections: National People's Assembly - last held 30 May 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); Council of Nations (Senate) - last held 30 December 2003 (next to be held NA 2009) election results: National People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FLN 199, RND 48, Islah 43, MSP 38, PT 21, FNA 8, EnNahda 1, PRA 1, MEN 1, independents 29; Council of Nations - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party NA	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 72.74 years male: 71.22 years female: 74.34 years (2004 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 70% male: 78.8% female: 61% (2003 est.)	-
Location	Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Africa	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 59 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 837,676 GRT/929,847 DWT by type: bulk 9, cargo 16, chemical tanker 6, liquefied gas 10, petroleum tanker 4, roll on/roll off 9, short-sea/passenger 4, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: United Kingdom 4 registered in other countries: 4 (2004 est.)	-
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	People's National Army (ANP; includes Ground Forces), Algerian National Navy (ANN), Air Force (QJA), Territorial Air Defense	-
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$2,196.6 million (2003)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	3.5% (2003)	-
Military manpower - availability	males age 15-49: 9,311,747 (2004 est.)	-
Military manpower - fit for military service	males age 15-49: 5,675,739 (2004 est.)	-
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	males: 373,235 (2004 est.)	-
National holiday	Revolution Day, 1 November (1954)	-
Nationality	noun: Algerian(s) adjective: Algerian	-
Natural hazards	mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season	NA
Natural resources	petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-
Pipelines	condensate 1,344 km; gas 85,946 km; liquid petroleum gas 2,213 km; oil 6,496 km (2004)	-
Political parties and leaders	Algerian National Front or FNA [Moussa TOUATI]; Democratic National Rally or RND [Ahmed OUYAHIA, chairman]; Islamic Salvation Front or FIS (outlawed April 1992) [Ali BELHADJ and Dr. Abassi MADANI, Rabeh KEBIR (self-exiled in Germany)]; National Entente Movement or MEN [Ali BOUKHAZNA]; National Liberation Front or FLN [Abdelaziz BELKHADEM, secretary general (also serves as Foreign Minister)]; National Reform Movement or Islah (formerly MRN) [Abdellah DJABALLAH]; National Renewal Party or PRA [Yacine TERKMANE]; Progressive Republican Party [Khadir DRISS]; Rally for Culture and Democracy or RCD [Said SAADI, secretary general]; Renaissance Movement or EnNahda Movement [Fatah RABEI]; Social Liberal Party or PSL [Ahmed KHELIL]; Socialist Forces Front or FFS [Hocine Ait AHMED, secretary general (self-exiled in Switzerland)]; Society of Peace Movement or MSP [Boujerra SOLTANI]; Workers Party or PT [Louisa HANOUN] note: a law banning political parties based on religion was enacted in March 1997	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	The Algerian Human Rights League or LADH or LADDH [Yahia Ali ABDENOUR]; SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR]; Somoud [Ali MERABET]	-
Population	32,129,324 (July 2004 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia
Population below poverty line	23% (1999 est.)	-
Population growth rate	1.28% (2004 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Beni Saf, Dellys, Djendjene, Ghazaouet, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda, Tenes	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 25, FM 1, shortwave 8 (1999)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Railways	total: 3,973 km standard gauge: 2,888 km 1.435-m gauge (283 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,085 km 1.055-m gauge (2003)	-
Religions	Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2004 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: telephone density in Algeria is very low, not exceeding five telephones per 100 persons; the number of fixed main lines increased in the last few years to a little more than 2,000,000, but only about two-thirds of these have subscribers; much of the infrastructure is outdated and inefficient domestic: good service in north but sparse in south; domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations (20 additional domestic earth stations are planned) international: country code - 213; 5 submarine cables; microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik, and 1 Arabsat (1998)	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	2,199,600 (2003)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	1,447,310 (2003)	-
Television broadcast stations	46 (plus 216 repeaters) (1995)	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	2.04 children born/woman (2004 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	26.2% (2003 est.)	-

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