The New Student's Reference Work/Algeria

Alge'ria, a colony in northern, fronting on the , and comprising besides Northern Algeria, with 17 arrondisements and 350 communes, South Algeria, which extends far to the south and west, and embraces the vast   organized into four territories in 1905. The area of the Algerian Sahara effectively occupied is estimated at about 193,000 square miles, including the zones, in the southwest, with a population numbering about 62,000. The two regions (North Algeria has an area of 184,474 square miles), have a total area of about 343,500 square miles, with an aggregate population in 1911 of 5,563,828, all but 795,522 Europeans being natives—Arabs,, , and Musulmans. The extent of French possessions in Africa is very large, its area extending from the Mediterranean, and including the region of Tunis, in the north, to the in the south, together with the  district, to the southeastward, and covering also all of  and the Sahara to the, including , the , , Upper  and the  region, besides  on the Gulf of Aden, at the foot of the.

Government.
The government and administration of Algeria are centralized at under a governor-general, who represents the authority of the French Republic throughout Algerian territory. He is assisted in his duties by a council; while each department sends one senator and two deputies to the French National Assembly. The revenue, estimated for 1911, of the Algerian colony was 144,549,940 francs, with an expenditure of 140,546,551; that of the southern territory, for the same year, was 5,615,244 francs, with an expenditure of 6,891 francs below the total revenue. The military force of France in the colony was, in 1911, about 56,000 of all ranks, of whom two-thirds were Europeans. The debt of Algeria (December, 1909), amounted to close upon 57¼ million francs in capital and 114 million francs in annuities, interest, etc.

Commerce and Resources.
Its annual commerce aggregates 1,078 million francs, 565 million representing imports and 513 representing exports. The chief items of the latter are living animals,, hides, cereals, , , , fruits, , and some  and  ore, besides  and various shell-fish. The chief cereals raised are, , , and beans. In Algeria the animal stock is considerable, embracing in 1909, 233,243, 187,339 mules, 278,250 , 205,106 , 4,006,913 , 9,066,916 , besides 110,700 and over 1,100,000.

Transportation.
The of the colony, which receive state aid, were in 1910, 2,035 English miles in extent, besides 200 miles of tramway. In addition there are a considerable system of and a fair postal service and a sound system of. Algiers, the capital, and chief seaport, has a population of about 110,000.

History.
Algeria is an old country. Its prince was an ally of, and it became a province under the Cæsars. It was successfully conquered by the, by , by the , the Morabites (an Arabian religious sect), the and the , who taught Algerines to be the dreaded  they were. Many thousand Europeans were captured and enslaved by them. This piracy grew so unbearable that the, and French sent fleets at different times to suppress it. The French, at last, in 1830, conquered Algiers, but there were numerous revolts, especially that of, before France became fully master of the country and the life of a Frenchman was safe outside the walls of the capital.