of its borders but has
downplayed them to further its primary foreign policy goal of regional
cooperation; Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from
Serbian Republic; Albanians in The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia claim discrimination in education, access to public-sector
jobs and representation in government

Illicit drugs: increasingly active transshipment point for Southwest
Asian opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and
cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe; limited opium
and cannabis production; ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking
organizations active in Central and Eastern Europe

______________________________________________________________________

ALGERIA

@Algeria:Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Morocco and Tunisia

Geographic coordinates: 28 00 N, 3 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 2,381,740 sq km
land: 2,381,740 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area-comparative: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:
total: 6,343 km
border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km,
Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km

Coastline: 998 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers
along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau;
sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

Terrain: mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow,
discontinuous coastal plain

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point: Tahat 3,003 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
uranium, lead, zinc

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 2%
other: 82% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 5,550 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mud
slides

Environment-current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing and other
poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage,
petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading
to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in
particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and
fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment-international