Algeria

Algeria is the second largest country in Africa and is situated along the North African coast. It shares borders with Tunisia, Morocco, Mali, Niger and Mauritania. Almost 90% of the population (of over 30 million) live along the coastal strip in the north of the country, which includes the capital city, Algiers, which has been a Mediterranean port since Roman times. The Sahara desert covers nearly 85% of the country and is relatively uninhabited but for nomadic tribes with goat and camel herds. The two mountain ranges in the desert, the Hoggar and the Tassili N'Ajjer, attract increasing numbers of tourists and both have long been important centers of the Tuareg culture.