NATIONAL ANTHEM

Qassaman: the Pledge; came into being during the Algerian war for independence.

The lyrics were written by Moufdi Zakaria (1908-1977)in 1956 in Serkaji-Barberousse Prison in Algiers, where he was incarcerated by the colonial forces. The poem was put into music, first by Mohamed Triki in 1956, then by the Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi.

It became the National Anthem after the independence of Algeria on July 5th 1962.

Lyrics in Arabic	Music notes
Transliteration / Translation	Instrumental Full version

FACTS AND FIGURES

Capital (and largest city) Algiers (3 million inhabitants). Official language Arabic National languages Arabic and Amazigh Demonym Algerian Government (Presidential Republic) President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika Prime Minister: Ahmed Ouyahia The Council of Ministers is chaired by the President of the Republic. The Council of Government is chaired by the Prime Minister. The Parliament: bicameral The Council of the Nation / Speaker : Mr. Abdelkader BENSALAH The National People's Assembly / Speaker : Mr.Abdelaziz ZIARI Constitution Revised in 1996 and a further amendment adopted in 2002 and 2008. Economic system Market economy

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Public holidays

• New year's day: January 1st.
• Labor Day: May 1st.
• Independence Day: July 5th.
• Anniversary of the Revolution: November 1st.

Religious holidays

• Eid-al-Fitr, Eid-al'-Adha, Awal Mouharem, Achoura, Mawlid En Nabaoui Echarif.

Religious holidays are based on the lunar calendar and so the date is varying every year.

PROVINCES AND DISTRICTS

Algeria is currently divided into 48 provinces (wilayas), 553 districts (dairas) and 1,541 municipalities (communes, baladiyahs). Each province, district, and municipality is named after its seat, which is mostly also the largest city.

According to the Algerian constitution, a province is a territorial collectivity enjoying some economic freedom. The People's Provincial Assembly is the political entity governing a province, which has a president, who is elected by the members of the assembly. They are in turn elected on universal suffrage every five years. The Wali (Prefect or governor) directs each province. This person is chosen by the Algerian President to handle the PPA's decisions.

The administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. When introducing new provinces, the numbers of old provinces are kept, hence the non-alphabetical order. With their official numbers, currently (since 1983) are shown in the table below.