Algeria
Overview
 
Algeria officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (Al Jumhuriyah al Jazairiyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Shabiyah), also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

 region of Northwest Africa with Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...

 as its capital.

In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and the Arab World
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...

 (now that Sudan has been split up), and also of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

; it is also the tenth-largest country in the world.
Timeline

1631    The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.

1830    French invasion of Algeria

1830    France invades Algeria.

1867    Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Karam leaves Lebanon on board a French ship for Algeria

1945    Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.

1955    In Morocco, a force of Berbers from the Atlas Mountains region of Algeria raid two rural settlements and kill 77 French nationals.

1961    In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.

1961    Scores of Algerian protesters (some claim up to 400) are massacred by the Paris police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Prefecture of Police.

1962    French President Charles De Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.

1962    Algeria becomes independent from France.

 
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