Algeria ( Arabic: الجزائر, al-Jazā’ir; Berber: Dzayer), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria),is a country in North Africa. In terms of land area, it is the largest country on the Mediterranean Sea, the largest in the Arab world and African continent, and the eleventh-largest country in the world.
Algeria is bordered in the northeast by Tunisia, in the east by Libya, in the west by Morocco, in the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, in the southeast by Niger, and in the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Its size is almost 2,400,000 square kilometres (926,645 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 35.7 million (2010).The capital of Algeria is Algiers.
Etymology
The name of the country is derived from the city of Algiers. A possible etymology links the city name to الجزائر Al-jazā’ir, a truncated form of the city's older name of جزائر بني مازغان jazā’ir banī mazghanā, the Arabic for "the islands of Mazghanna", as used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi
In classical times northern Algeria was known as Numidia, which included parts of modern day western Tunisia and eastern Morocco.
History
In Antiquity Algeria was known as the Numidia kingdom and its people were called Numidians. The kingdom of Numidia had early relations with Carthaginians, Romans and Ancient Greeks, the region was considered a fertile area, and Numidians were known for their fine cavalry.
The indigenous peoples of northern Africa eventually coalesced into a distinct native population, the Berbers.
After 1000 BCE, the Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably Numidia.
In 200 BCE, they were once again taken over, this time by the Roman Republic. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD, Berbers became independent again in many regions, while the Vandals took control over other areas, where they remained until expelled by the Byzantine general Belisarius under the direction of Emperor Justinian I. The Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the Arabs in the 8th century.
Middle Ages
Berber people controlled much of the Maghreb region throughout the Middle Ages. The Berbers were made up of several tribes. The two main branches were Botr and Barnès, who were themselves divided into tribes, and again into sub-tribes. Each region of the Maghreb contained several tribes (for example, Sanhadja, Houaras, Zenata, Masmouda, Kutama, Awarba, and Berghwata). All these tribes had independence and made territorial decisions.
Several Berber dynasties emerged during the Middle Ages in the Maghreb, Sudan, Andalusia, Italy, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Egypt, and other nearby lands.Ibn Khaldun provides a table summarizing the Berber dynasties: Zirid, Banu Ifran, Maghrawa, Almoravid, Hammadid, Almohad, Merinid, Abdalwadid,Wattasid , Meknassa and Hafsid dynasties.
Arrival of Islam
When Muslim Arabs arrived in Algeria in the mid-7th century, a large number of locals converted to the new faith. After the fall of the Umayyad Arab Dynasty in 751, numerous local Berber dynasties emerged. Amongst those dynasties were the Aghlabids, Almohads, Abdalwadid, Zirids, Rustamids,Hammadids, Almoravids, and the Fatimids.
Having converted the Berber Kutama of Kabylie to its cause, the Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt, leaving Algeria and Tunisia to their Zirid vassals. When the latter rebelled, the Shia Fatimids sent in the Banu Hilal, a populous Arab tribe, to weaken them.
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