Country · Africa
Algeria
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Algeria is a country in Northern Africa. About 42.2 million people live there, in an area of 2 381 741 square kilometres. Its capital city is Algiers.
Picture credit: Sachoudz (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photographielover (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Gruban / Patrick Gruban (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Patrick Gruban (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Algeria?
Algeria lies in Northern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 3 117 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 998 km long.
It shares a border with 7 countries: Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia and Western Sahara.
How big is Algeria?
Algeria covers 2 381 741 square kilometres.
That is about 6.7 times the size of Germany.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 10th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 17.7 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Algeria?
About 42.2 million people live in Algeria.
That is the 34th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the Algerian dinar (د.ج).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 70 years.
The land of Algeria
The land of Algeria sits on average 800 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 998 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 50 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Algeria different?
A dish the country is known for: Couscous.
Websites from here often end in .dz.
Algeria and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 6 live in Algeria.
It takes up about 1.8 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa it is the largest of 54 countries, and 9th by population.
Algeria and its neighbours
Algeria is about 1.4 times the size of Libya, its largest neighbour.
More people live in Algeria than in Libya — 42.2 million against 6.7 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in Algeria: Fennec fox, Rock dove and Crested porcupine. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Tahat, at 2 908 metres. The longest river in the country is the Chelif. The largest lake in the country is Chott Melrhir.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Algeria compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 3.9 times as big as Algeria: 9 372 610 km² against 2 381 741 km². See both on one map
- Algeria is about 9.8 times as big as the United Kingdom: 2 381 741 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Algeria?
The capital of Algeria is Algiers. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Algeria?
About 42.2 million people live in Algeria, which makes it the 34th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Algeria?
Algeria borders Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia and Western Sahara — 7 neighbours in total.
How big is Algeria?
Algeria covers 2 381 741 square kilometres, making it the 10th largest country in the world. That is about 6.7 times the size of Germany.
What is the highest mountain in Algeria?
The highest mountain in Algeria is Mount Tahat, 2 908 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Algeria?
The longest river in Algeria is the Chelif, about 725 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Algeria?
The largest lake in Algeria is Chott Melrhir. It covers about 6 700 km².
Which continent is Algeria in?
Algeria is in Africa, in the part called Northern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made