Population<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Algeria has a population of about 42,000,000<\/b>, with a density of about 16 inhabitants per km\u00b2.<\/p>\r\n
The capital is Algiers and the most populous city (about 3,500,000 inhabitants).<\/p>\r\n
It is <\/span>a semi-presidential Arab Socialist Republic<\/b>, organised into 48 wilayas <\/i>(prefectures), of which only 12 cities exceed 100,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\r\n The population is divided into groups of different origins:<\/p>\r\n Berbers<\/b><\/p>\r\n The term Berbers refers to the original inhabitants of Algeria,<\/b> (the current territory) i.e. the populations, probably of Libyan origin, that existed before the conquests of the Romans and later the Arabs.<\/span> The term Berber is of Latin origin and indicated all those populations that lived outside the borders of the <\/span>Roman Empire (the barbarians). Depending on the different regions where they settled, their language underwent dialectal evolutions, which basically also identified different cultural evolutions, thus giving rise to subgroups of <\/b>peoples<\/strong>, whose common matrix is the autochthonous Berber descent.<\/p>\r\n Mozabites<\/b><\/p>\r\n The Mozabites are the inhabitants of what is <\/span>now the M’Zab Valley<\/b>. A nomadic people of Berber-Ibyte origin, they became settled in the Ghardaia <\/b>region from the 11th century, following the Arab incursions north of the <\/span>Atlas. Already Islamised at the time, they did not want to submit to Umayyad jurisdiction and culture, so they migrated to these valleys in order to preserve their Berber-speaking identity and culture. Even today, they still live according to social rules that are strongly attached to tradition and marked by the Islamic religion, to the point that their ancient cities are considered a sort of city-state within a state.<\/p>\r\n Kabyles<\/b><\/p>\r\n The inhabitants of Kabylia <\/b>are the Berber people par excellence. They were sedentary farmers and over the centuries resisted the great Roman, Arab and Ottoman conquests and French colonialism, clinging to the mountains and hills to the south-east of Algiers and refusing to abandon their lands during the conquests and incursions of foreign civilisations, as most nomadic or semi-nomadic Berber tribes did.<\/p>\r\n They still speak Berber <\/b>as their official language and maintain a very strong cultural identity.<\/p>\r\n Touaregs<\/b><\/p>\r\n To talk\u00a0of Algerian Touaregs is inappropriate. The Touareg people <\/b>have claimed their unity for centuries and have always refused the imposition of geopolitical borders resulting from European colonialism. Their societal and political subdivision is still based on the tribal division into clans or families<\/b>.<\/p>\r\n They identify themselves rather as ‘<\/span>desert dwellers’ or ‘<\/span>blue men<\/b>‘ (from their beautiful indigo fabrics and turbans) and are a descendant people of very ancient nomadic Berber peoples, probably arrived from Libya and the northern regions during the different Arab incursions or internal tribal struggles. They remained essentially nomadic warriors and herders <\/b>until the last century, moving throughout the <\/span>Sahel-Saharan area between Algeria, Niger, Libya, Mali and Burkina Faso and merging with sub-Saharan African populations<\/b>. Their language is Tamasheq<\/i><\/b>, a dialectal evolution of Old Berber, which has the distinction of being one of the only Berber languages to have adopted a written code, Typhinagh<\/i>, since the first millennium BC. In Algeria, most of the Touaregs have now become settled or semi-nomadic, spread throughout the Hoggar and Illizi regions.<\/p>\r\n Arabs<\/b><\/p>\r\n Most Algerians are of Arab culture and language<\/b>, descendants of the first populations from the Arabian Peninsula, <\/b>which in successive waves settled throughout the Maghreb from the 7th century onwards, converting the native Berber populations to Islam and imposing their language and culture on most of them. They were mainly sedentary peoples of <\/b>farmers<\/strong>, preferring fertile plains and cities (for this reason Kabylia, a mountainous region, was able to preserve its identity), but also grouped in nomadic clans <\/b>(the Bedouins<\/b>) who moved across the desert expanses.<\/p>\r\n Languages<\/b><\/p>\r\n The official language in Algeria is Arabic<\/b>.<\/p>\r\n The second language, administrative, is French<\/b>.<\/p>\r\n There are two main national languages: Arabic and Berber <\/b>(in its main dialectal form, Tamazight<\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Among the most widely spoken languages and dialects in the territories are: Arabic, Berber, Tamasheq, Mozabite, Chaouia<\/b>.<\/p>\r\n Religion<\/b><\/p>\r\n Islam<\/b>, in its Sunni form, is the official state religion according to the 1996 Constitution.<\/p>\r\n Practised by 99 % <\/b>of Algerians, it was introduced by the Arab conquests from the 7th century onwards.<\/p>\r\n The five pillars <\/b>on which the Muslim religion is based are:<\/p>\r\n -believing only in the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed<\/p>\r\n -doing charity<\/p>\r\n -follow the 5 daily prayers<\/p>\r\n -going on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once<\/p>\r\n -respecting the holy month of Ramadan<\/p>\r\n Among the cultural aspects linked to the Muslim religion is the practice of male circumcision <\/b>(female circumcision <\/b>is not followed). In the Sunni Muslim religion there is a strong veneration of saints and marabouts <\/b>(charismatic figures of Islamic scholars), with consequent seasonal pilgrimages to their mausoleums, with celebrations and religious festivals (the moussems<\/i><\/b>).<\/p>\r\n The remaining 1% <\/b>of the population are Christians and Jews<\/b>, but they are mainly foreigners who have taken Algerian citizenship and very rarely Algerian converts.<\/p>\r\n There was in fact a Christian past <\/b>in Algeria, in the Constantinian era, during which a large part of the Berber population converted to the new monotheistic creed, including the figure of Saint Augustine of Hippo<\/b>. During the first Arab incursions in the 7th century, the often forced imposition of Islam caused a reaction in the Berber populations who attempted resistance by embracing the Christian faith and siding with the Byzantines.<\/p>\r\n The Jewish past <\/b>on Algerian soil can be traced back to the Moorish period and links with Andalusia<\/b>. It was in fact mainly Jews fleeing persecution in Spain who settled in the Maghreb, integrating without problems for several centuries.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":14495,"menu_order":0,"template":"","da_non_perdere":[],"la_terra_e_gli_uomini":[389],"buono_a_sapersi":[],"prima_di_partire":[],"class_list":["post-15582","info_viaggi","type-info_viaggi","status-publish","hentry","la_terra_e_gli_uomini-algeria","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n