Algeria: Religions & Peoples

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Algeria: Religions & Peoples

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION
1. Political situation
2. Economy
3. Health & Education
4. Religions & Peoples
5. History

RELIGIONS
Islam		33,000,000	100%
	Sunnis	32,800,000	99%
	Ibadi	150,000	0.5%
Christianity		4,500	<0.1%
	Roman Catholic	2,500	<0.1%
	Protestant	2,000	<0.1%
Baha'i		2,000	<0.1%
ETHNIC GROUPS
Arabs		25,000,000	66%
Berbers		7,500,000	23%
Tuareg		200,000	0.6%
¹) Sahrawis		200,000	0.6%

¹) A large part are refugees from Western Sahara.

Islam is the totally dominant religion. Populationwise, Berbers and Arabs live in the north of the country, while Tuareg live in the south as a local minority of the Arabs and the Berbers.

With the foreign community so drastically reduced since independence, the official figures show that 100% of the population is Muslim. As of 1997 there were 2,700 Roman Catholics and 1,500 Protestant Christians in Algeria. As a country that has been dominated by Western culture and learning, however, research has proven that this has led to a certain percentage of Atheists. An estimated 2- 3% Atheists would probably be correct for Algeria.

In Algeria it is Sunni Islam that holds the ground. Islam is a political force in Algeria, where three views dominate. The Islamist view regards Islam as a holistic religion, embracing all aspects of life, public and private. The secular view, which seems to claim most followers, considers Islam a guideline, and allows more freedom to deviate than Islamism does. The third view is the traditional, the one most common among elderly and people in rural areas. This view is somewhere between Islamism and secularism, but unlike these two, involves scepticism towards modern society.

More than any other country the differences between Arabs and Berbers is clearer in Algeria. The Berbers today are the most educated group, and hold many leading positions in society. During the colonial period, the French tried to weaken the Arab parts of Algerian culture by preferring Berbers in education and administration. This pattern continues. Algeria has, therefore, the strongest Berber culture of all countries with a Berber population, and Berber language lives on, but only as an everyday language (French is the administrative and cultural language for them, and many Berbers don't know very much Arabic).

The dividing line between the two cultures has some influence on today's conflict between Islamists and the government, in which most Islamists consider themselves Arabs. But on the governmental side one finds both Arabs and Berbers. In between them, one finds a large group of people less politically active, which in many cases are Berbers.

The distribution of languages are as follows: Algerian Arabic is spoken by about 83% of the population (1996 figures).

Berber languages is the other large group, but consists of several variants: Kabyle spoken by 2,5 million (some sources say as many as 6 million) in the mountainous north of the country. Chaouia spoken by 1,4 million, mainly living in the south and southeast of the Grand Kabylie in the Aurès Mountains. Tumzabt is spoken by 70,000 living in the M'zab oasis (Ghardaïa is the main city). Chenoua spoken by about 50,000 in certain towns in the northwest of the country. Taznatit is spoken by about 40,000 living around the oasis of Timimoun. Tamahaq is spoken by about 25,000, mainly living around Tamanrasset in the south. Tidikelt is spoken by 10,000 living in the Tidikelt region west of In Salah. Temacine is spoken by 6,000 near the oasis of Temacine in the middle-eastern part of the country. Tagargrent is spoken by about 5,000 living in an oasis in the middle-eastern part of the country. Korandje spoken by a few thousand people living in the Tabelbala oasis in the country's western parts. Many of the inhabitants of Tabelbala speak another Berber dialect, Tachelhit.