Official name: Al Jumhuriya al Jazairiya ad Dimucratiya ash Shabiya (Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria)

Head of State: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (since 1999; re-elected Apr 2004)

Head of government: Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem (since 24 May 2006)

Ruling party: Coalition: Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) (National Liberation Front), Rassemblement National pour la Démocratie (RND) (National Rally for Democracy) and Mouvement de la Société pour la Paix (MSP) (Movement of the Society for Peace) (since 2002; re-elected 17 May 2007)

Area: 2,381,741 square km

Population: 32.88 million (2005)

Capital: Algiers

Official language: Arabic

Currency: Algerian dinar (AD) = 100 centimes

Exchange rate: AD71.71 per US$ (Jan 2007)

GDP per capita: US$3,086 (2005)

GDP real growth: 5.30% (2005)

Labour force: 12.19 million (2004)

Unemployment: 17.10% (2005)

Inflation: 1.60% (2005)

Oil production: 2.00 million bpd (2006)

Balance of trade: US$24.35 billion (2005)

Foreign debt: US$21.90 billion (2004)