n 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: 3.17%
permanent crops: 0.28%
other: 96.55% (2005)

Irrigated land:
5,690 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards:
mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and
floods in rainy season

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 agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)

People Algeria

Population:
32,930,091 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.1% (male 4,722,076/female 4,539,713)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 11,133,802/female 10,964,502)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 735,444/female 834,554) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 24.9 years
male: 24.7 years
female: 25.1 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.22% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
17.14 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
4.61 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 29.87 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 33.62 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 25.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.26 years
male: 71.68 years
female: 74.92 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.89 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% ; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS