ALGE'RIA (in French, ALorttE), a country on the n. coast of Africa, which was a sub ordinate part of the Turkish empire till 1830, and is now a French colony. It lies between 2° 8' w. long. and 8° 32' e. long. It is bounded on the n. by the Mediterranean, on the e. by Tunis, on the s. by Sahara, and on the w. by Morocco. The French have extended their dominions more than 200 m. into the interior, but those of the deys—the former rulers of A.—comprehended territories lying nearly twice as far s. The area of A. is now calculated to be about 150,000 sq.m. ; and the pop. (1877) 2,867,626, including about 300,000 Europeans. The chief towns are Algiers, Bona, Constantine, and Tlemzen. Upwards of 5,000,000 acres are under cultivation. Physically, A. forms a part of the northern border of the great plateau of north Africa, which here rises from the sea in three terraces. The Atlas mountains run parallel to the coast-line. Behind these, a vast tract of healthy plains, called the sebkhas, interspersed with salt lakes, stretches south wards, until bounded by a second chain of mountains of various heights ; beyond which, again, lies the great desert of Sahara, extending to the banks of the Niger. The plains and valleys which open out towards the sea in the n. of A., such as these round Bona, Algiers, Oran, etc., are extremely fertile, abound in wood and water, consist mostly of a calcareous soil, and are well adapted for agriculture. They form the Tell, which was once one of the granaries of Italy. In strong contrast to these are the sebkhas, or lesser deserts, covered with herbs and bnishwood, but almost destitute of fresh water, except where here and there they are interrupted by an oasis. The most southern part of the country beyond the Atlas partakes of the nature of the Sahara, but contains oases covered with palm trees, and well peopled. This is a part of the "date country," or " Blad-el Djerid." There are no rivers of any importance in the entire colony, nothing beyond mere coast-streams, which rise in the neighboring Atlas. The largest is the Shelif, about 230 m. in length. With respect to the climate, the heat in the Tell is sometimes very great. On the coast it is mitigated by the sea-breeze, and among the high mountains of the interior the winters are even cold. The average temperature of Algiers is about 63° F. A. is not unfrequently visited by the simoom, or hot wind, called by the Italians sirocco, and by the Spaniards solano. Its mineral wealth is considerable ; iron, lead, copper, and manounese are found. The marble of Nuniidia was in requisition in ancient times. Extensive forests of oaks, cedars, pines, and pistachio-nut trees Cover large portions of the country, and furnish an abundant supply of timber and resin. The cereals and the olive are cultivated in the Tell, and the oases of Sahara are famed for their dates. The domestic animals of A. are the ox, the sheep, the goat, and the camel ; but the once noble race of Numidian horses is degenerated. The population is composed of various elements. Besides Europeans, there are Kabyles and Arabs, who compose the bulk of the people ; also Moors, Negroes, and Jews Language.—Four languages are spoken in A —the Berber, the Arabic, the Turkish, and the Negro dialects. The Berber, which is the most ancient of all, has a variety of
dialects, and is spoken by all the Kabyle tribes. It possesses no literature written in its own alphabet Arabic characters alone being used. The Arabic is of course an importation from the cast, and has borrowed expressions and idioms from the various native lan guages with which it came into contact ; but its differences are comparatively slight. The Koran is the great bond of union. The Turkish, since the French conquest, has become almost extinct. The Negro dialects are of little consequence.
rEstory.—In the most ancient times we find the Numidians settled in the eastern part of the regency, and the Moors (or Mauri) in the west. Under the Romans, the former was included in the province of Africa, while the latter was called Mauritania Cmsar iensis. Like the rest of north Africa, it had then reached its highest prosperity. It had numerous cities, which were principally Roman colonies. But its conquest by the Van dals, under the famous Genseric, about 440, threw it back into a state of barbarism, from which it only partially recovered after the Mohammedan immigrants had established their dominion. About the year 935, the city, Al-Jezira, the island, and later Al-Gazie, i.e., the warlike, now called Algiers, was built by an Arabian prince, Zeiri, whose successors ruled the land till 1148, after which it was governed by the Almohades (q.v.) till 1269. It was then split up into many small territories. In 1492, the Moors and Jews who had been driven out of Spain settled at A., and began to revenge themselves on their perse cutors by piracy. Ferdinand, the Spanish monarch, attacked them on this account, took the city of Algiers in 1509, and erected fortifications on the island which forms its harbor. One of the Algerine princes, the emir of Metidja, whose territories were threatened by the Spaniards, now invited to his assistance the Greek renegade, Horuk or Harude Bar barossa, who had made himself famous as a Turkish pirate chief. This laid the founda tion of the Turkish dominion ; for when Barbarossa arrived in 1516, he treacherously turned his corsair bands against the emir, whom he murdered, and then made himself sultan of Algiers. His subsequent successes alarmed the Spaniards, who marched an army against him from Oran. Barbarossa was defeated in many encounters, and at last, being taken prisoner, was beheaded in 1518. His brother was then chosen sultan. He put himself under the protection of the Ottoman court, by the help of a Turkish army drove the Spaniards out of the country, and established that system of military despotism and piracy which lasted till 1830, and which sunk A. into a state of ruinous degradation. In 1541, the emperor Charles V. made a bold attempt to crush this nation of corsairs. He landed in A. with a fleet of 370 ships and 30.000 men ; but a fearful storm, accom panied by earthquakes and water-spouts, destroyed the greater portion of the former, and rendered the latter destitute of victuals, etc. ; so that the expedition proved a failure, and Charles was glad to re-embark, which he managed to do with extreme difficulty.