Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Population
584,578
37,367,226
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
74.730 years
Capital City
Algiers
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Algiers (population: 1,977,660)
Human Development Index
0.591
0.748
GDP per capita
$7,400 US
Literacy Rate
%
69.9%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
3.2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
6.5%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
10.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
parliamentary democracy
republic
Independence date
5 July 1962 (from France)
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
Exports
petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%
External Debt
$4,699,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Algerian dinars (DZD) per US dollar - 63.25 (2008 est.), 69.9 (2007), 72.647 (2006), 73.276 (2005), 72.061 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.300%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
2
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
Area
28,896 km sq
2,381,741 km sq
Coastline
5,313 km
998 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
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
