1981 Edition

Area

2,460,500 km2; 3% cultivated, 16% pasture and meadows, 1% forested, 80% desert, waste, or urban

466 km8

266,770 km2, nearly all desert

Branches

executive dominant; unicameral legislature; judiciary

Capital

Algiers

Coastline

1,183 km

1,110km

Communists

400 (est); Communist Party illegal (banned 1962)

Elections (latest)

presidential 7 February 1979; departmental assemblies 2 June 1974; local assemblies 30 March 1975; legislative elections held 25 February 1977 Political parties and leaders: National Liberation Front (FLN), Secretary General Chadli Bendjedid

Government leader

President, Col. Chadli BENDJEDID, elected 7 February 1979 as successor to deceased President Boumediene

Land boundaries

6,260 km

105 km

2,086 km

Legal system

based on French and Islamic law, with socialist principles; new constitution adopted by referendum November 1976; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; Supreme Court divided into four chambers; legal education at Universities of Algiers, Oran, and Constantine; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm

6 nm (fishing 12 nm)

Member of

AFDB, AIOEC, Arab League, ASSIMER, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, IOOC, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

1 November

Political subdivisions

31 Wilayas (departments or provinces)

Suffrage

universal over age 19

Type

republic

Ethnic divisions

99% ArabBerbers, less than 1% Europeans

Ethnic divisions

Catalan stock; 61% Spanish, 30% Andorrans, 6% French, 3% other

Arab, Berber, and Negro nomads

Labor force

4.0 million; 19% agriculture, 17% industry, 64% other (military, police, civil service, transportation workers, teachers, merchants, construction workers); at least 19% of urban labor unemployed

unorganized; largely shepherds and farmers

12,000; 50% animal husbandry and subsistence farming, 50% other

Language

Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Catalan; many also speak some French and Castilian

Languages

Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic

Literacy

25% (5% Arabic, 9% French, 11% both)

among Moroccans, probably nearly 20%; among Saharans, perhaps 5%

Nationality

noun — Algerian(s); adjective — Algerian

noun — Andorran(s); adjective — Andorran

noun — Saharan(s), Moroccan(s); adjective — Saharan, Moroccan

Organized labor

25% of labor force claimed; General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) is the only labor organization and is subordinate to the National Liberation Front

none

Population

20,030,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.1%

36,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 4.1%

86,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.8%

Religion

99% Muslim; 1% Christian and Hebrew

virtually all Roman Catholic

Muslim

Branches

legislature (General Council) consisting of 28 members with one-half elected every two years for four-year term; executive — syndic (manager) and a deputy subsyndic chosen by General Council for three-year terms; judiciary chosen by coprinces who appoint two civil judges, a judge of appeals, and two Batles (court prosecutors); final appeal to the Supreme Court of Andorra at Perpignan, France, or to the Ecclesiastical Court of the Bishop of Seo de Urgel, Spain

Capital

Andorra

Legal system

based on French and Spanish civil codes; Plan of Reform adopted 1866 serves as constitution; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Official name

Democratic and Popular Republic of

Principality of Andorra

Western Sahara

Political subdivisions

7 districts

Suffrage

males of 21 or over who are third generation Andorrans vote for General Council members; same right granted to women in April 1970 ANGOLA

Type

unique coprincipality under formal sovereignty of President of France and Spanish Bishop of Seo de Urgel, who are represented locally by officials called verguers

legal status of territory and question of sovereignty unresolved — territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring the northern two-thirds including the rich phosphate reserves at Bu Craa. Mauritania, under pressure from the Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control there; OAUsponsored referendum proposed to resolve situation while guerrilla activities continue into 1982

Agriculture

main crops — wheat, barley, grapes, citrus fruits

Electric power

1,780,000 kW capacity (1980); 6,400 million kWh produced (1980), 336 kWh per capita

Exports

$14.0 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); major items — petroleum and gas 98.0%; US 52.0%, France 23.0%

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$41.0 billion (1981 est.), $1,720 per capita; 6.2% real growth in 1981

Imports

$11.0 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); major items — capital goods 32.0%, semifinished goods 25.0%, foodstuffs 19.0%; France 23.0%, US 7.4%

Major industries

petroleum, light industries, natural gas, mining, petrochemical, electrical, and automotive plants under construction

Major trade partners

US, West Germany, France, Italy

Monetary conversion rate

1 Algerian dinar (DA)= US$0.23

Airfields

185 total, 172 usable; 52 with permanentsurface runways; 27 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 85 with runways 1,220-2,439 m DEFENSE FORCES

Civil air

35 major transport aircraft, including 4 leased in

Highways

78,410 km total; 45,070 km concrete or bituminous, 33,340 km gravel, crushed stone, unimproved earth

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1981, $1,779 million; 11% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 4,159,000; 2,568,000 fit for military service; 218,000 reach military age (19) annually

Pipelines

crude oil, 6,612 km; refined products, 298 km; natural gas, 2,398 km

Ports

9 major, 8 minor

Railroads

3,950 km total; 2,690 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 1,140 km 1.055-meter gauge, 120 km meter gauge (1.000 m); 302 km electrified; 193 km double track