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ALGERIA. est area is estimated at about 3,300,000 hectares, of which over 50 per cent. belongs to the state. The exploitation of the forests is considerably hindered by their inaccessibility, a large part of them being situated in uninhabitable regions. Considerable attention is given to mining, which is carried on chiefly by English firms. Among other industries may be mentioned pottery, leather dressing, weaving, and the production of esparto goods.

The commerce of Algeria is constantly on the increase, the total value having amounted to nearly 650,000,000 francs for 1899, against 540,000,000 francs for 1895, an increase of over 20 per cent. within five years. By far the most important article of export is wine, of which France alone imported from Algeria in 1899 to the value of over 140,000,000 francs. Next to wine the most important exports are cereals, live animals, alfa, cork, and mineral ores. Imports consist chiefly of textiles, clothing, furniture, machinery, coffee, tobacco, timber, and coal. Out of a total commerce of about 650,000,000 francs in 1899, over 540,000,000 was with France, not including the French colonies. Outside of France the commercial relations of Algeria are chiefly with Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and Brazil. The total length of the railway lines of Algeria is over 1800 miles. Algeria has, besides, a good system of national roads, and about 100 miles of tram-way lines. The annual entries at the Algerian ports amount to about 1,200,000 tons, mostly in French bottoms.

The administration of Algeria is vested in a Governor-General, who is assisted by a council. All the laws for Algeria are framed by the French National Assembly. A part of the territory is still under military rule, supervised by the Governor. The three departments of Algiers, Oran, and Constantine, into which Algeria is divided, have their own councils, who send delegates to the Superior Council, meeting once a year for the purpose of discussing the budget. Each department sends one senator and two deputies to the National Assembly. Justice is administered by courts of first instance, of which there are sixteen. Justices of the peace, commercial courts, and a Court of Appeal, situated at Algiers. Criminal justice is organized on the same basis as in France. For the transaction of affairs between the natives and the Europeans or the government there are organized so-called Bureaux Arabes, which also supervise the religious affairs of the natives. The military forces of Algeria number about 57,000 men, and consist of the Nineteenth Army Corps and the Territorial Army. The financial system of Algeria closely resembles that of France. The revenue is obtained from customs, monopolies, and direct taxes, the latter being the only tax paid by the natives. The budget; for 1901, excluding the departments of marine, war, and public debt, balanced at a little over 55,000.000 francs. The military forces have been maintained hitherto by the French Government, and the cost is included in the French budget. By the law promulgated December 19, 1900, Algeria has been granted financial independence, its budget being excluded from that of France, and it has been endowed with the power of granting railway franchises, awarding public contracts, etc. Education and religion are supported by the State. The elementary schools, of which there were 1160 in 1897, are either French or Arabic, and are attended chiefly by foreigners and Jews, the Mussulman children forming only about 19 per cent. of the total attendance. The latter have their own schools for secondary education. Lycées are found in the larger cities, and there are nine commercial schools in the city of Algiers, as well as an institution for higher instruction with several faculties. No particular religion is recognized by the State, but all religions represented are subsidized, the total amount of grants for religious purposes in the budget for 1900 amounting to 1,263,700 francs. The population of Algeria, according to the census of 1901, was 4,774,042, against 3,817.000 in 1886 (not including the military). The native population, numbering 3,664,941, consists chiefly of Berbers, or Kabyles, and Arabs. The former number about 2,000,000, and are the original inhabitants of the land. In their complexion they do not differ much from white men, and have a higher standard of morality than the Arabs. They are Mussulmans, but do not practice polygamy. At the invasion of the Arabs they were driven into the mountains and the oases, where they established well-populated settlements. The Arabs number over 1,000,000, and are to a considerable extent intermixed with the Berbers. They inhabit chiefly the Tell region and the towns. Part of them are organized in tribes, under chiefs who are not reeognized, however, by the French Government. In religion they are Mohammedan, and practice polygamy. The nomadic part of the Arab population, among whom the tribal system is chiefly developed, hold their land in common, each tribe being entitled to a certain territory by virtue of tradition. The foreign population in 1896 numbered 764,480, of whom about 42 per cent. were French, as compared with 422,000, of whom 51 per cent. were French, in 1886. The foreign population increased from 3,228 in 1831 to 131,283 in 1851, 245,117 in 1872, and 374,000 in 1881. The number of Jews was 47,564 in 1891. Negroes and Turks are found only in very small numbers. The capital, Algiers, had a population of 96,784 in 1899.

. In ancient times the Numidians occupied Eastern and the Moors (or Mauri) Western Algeria. Under the Romans the former possessed the province of Numidia, the latter that of Mauretania Cæsariensis. Like all of northern Africa, these provinces enjoyed a high degree of prosperity and civilization under Roman sway, which was checked by the Vandal conquest about 440 A.D. The settlement of Arabic immigrants in the country after the Mohammedan conquest in the seventh and eighth centuries reared an Oriental civilization in place of that of Rome, and Arab princes ruled the land until the rise of the Almohades (q.v.), who governed until 1269, after which the country was split up into small states. After the expulsion of the Moors from Spain in 1492. they settled in Algeria, and began that career of piracy against the Christian nations which gave the country its evil reputation through many centuries. Hard pressed by Spain, one of the Algerine chiefs, the Emir of Metidja, called in the Turkish corsair Horuk, known as Barbarossa (q.v.), a renegade Greek, who turned against the Emir, and made himself Sultan of Algiers. He was overthrown by the Spaniards, and beheaded in 1518; but his brother, Khair-ed-Din, also known to the Christians as Barbarossa, succeeded him, repulsed the Span-