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Algeria officially the People's
Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a nation in North Africa. It is
the second largest country on the African continent and the 11th largest
country in the world in terms of total area. It is bordered by Tunisia
in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and
Mauritania in the southwest, a few kilometers of the Western Sahara in
the west, Morocco in the northwest, and the Mediterranean Sea in the
north. Algeria is a member of the
United Nations, African Union, Arab League, and OPEC. It also
contributed towards the creation of the Arab Maghreb Union.
Constitutionally, Algeria is defined as an Islamic, Arab, and Amazigh
(Berber) country.
Tensions between Algeria and Morocco in
relation to the Western Sahara have put great obstacles in the way of
tightening the Maghreb Arab Union, which was nominally established in
1989 but carried little practical weight with its coastal neighbors. |