POPULATION & ETHNICITY
The population, according to a preliminary report from the
National Office of Statistics (ONS), based on the 4th general
census conducted in June 1998 is 29,276,767, including standard
and collective households and nomads, an increase of about half-a-million
since the last census in 1987. The annual rate of increase in
the population is 2.15 percent, down from 3.06 in 1987.
The average household consists of 6.5 people, while the
number of people of people in apartments for standard and collective
households is 7.15.
The population remains young, with about 59 percent of the
population aged 15-64, though the median age has risen to about
21.
The crude birth rate has decreased from 29.71 births per
1,000 population in 1990 to an average of 29.2 for the period
of 1995-2000. Total fertility rate is on a slight decrease with
3.8 per woman in the 1995-2000 period. Infant mortality rate is
approximately 44 deaths per 1,000 live births for the same period.
Male-female population shows an even distribution with 50.4 percent
males and 49.6 percent female.
Life expectancy in 1995 was approximately 68 years. This
information will be updated when the ONS issues a more complete
report.
Ethnicity
Algeria is composed of mainly Arab-speakers and Amazigh-speakers
(which means "free men," and is the more appropriate
term rather than the common "Berber," a Helleno-centric
and insulting description coined by the Greeks, who used the word
to differentiate between who was Greek, and thus "civilized,"
and who was not.). It should be noted that this is not a racial
division, but a linguistic and cultural one, as most Algerians
probably have some Amazigh ancestry. The Amazigh are the earliest
inhabitants known to this area, having lived in Algeria since
at least 8,000 B.C., according to historians. Their origins are
unknown, however, and archaelogical findings indicate that humans
have inhabited the area since the appearance of homo sapiens.
The Amazigh include the Kabyles, the Chaouia, the Mzab,
and the Tuareg, as well as smaller groups.
|
