Algeria, a gateway between Africa and Europe, has been battered by violence over the past half-century.
More than a million Algerians were killed in the fight for independence from France in 1962, and the country has recently emerged from a brutal internal conflict that followed scrapped elections in 1992.
The Sahara desert covers more than four-fifths of the land. Oil and gas reserves were discovered here in the 1950s, but most Algerians live along the northern coast. The country supplies large amounts of natural gas to Europe and energy exports are the backbone of the economy.
Algeria was originally inhabited by Berbers until the Arabs conquered North Africa in the 7th century. Staying mainly in the mountainous regions, the Berbers resisted the spreading Arab influence, managing to preserve much of their language and culture. They make up some 30% of the population.
Part of the Turkish Ottoman empire from the 16th century, Algeria was conquered by the French in 1830 and was given the status of a "departement". The struggle for independence began in 1954 headed by the National Liberation Front, which came to power on independence in 1962.
In the 1990s Algerian politics was dominated by the struggle involving the military and Islamist militants. In 1992 a general election won by an Islamist party was annulled, heralding a bloody civil war in which more than 150,000 people were slaughtered.
An amnesty in 1999 led many rebels to lay down their arms.
Although political violence in Algeria has declined since the 1990s, the country has been shaken by by a campaign of bombings carried out by a group calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Land of Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM).
The group was formerly known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, and has its roots in an Islamist militia involved in the civil war in the 1990s.
Although experts doubt whether AQLIM has direct operational links with Osama Bin-Laden, its methods - which include suicide bombings - and its choice of targets, such as foreign workers and the UN headquarters in Algiers, are thought to be inspired by Al-Qaeda. North African governments fear that local Islamist groups in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia may be linking up under the umbrella of the new movement.
After years of political upheaval and violence, Algeria's economy has been given a lift by frequent oil and gas finds. It has estimated oil reserves of nearly 12 billion barrels, attracting strong interest from foreign oil firms.
However, poverty remains widespread and unemployment high, particularly among Algeria's youth. Endemic government corruption and poor standards in public services are also chronic sources of popular dissatisfaction.
Major protests broke out in January 2011 over food prices and unemployment, with two people being killed in clashes with security forces. The government responded by ordering cuts to the price of basic foodstuffs, and repealed the 1992 state of emergency law.
In 2001 the government agreed to a series of demands by the minority Berbers, including official recognition of their language, after months of unrest involving Berber youths demanding greater cultural and political recognition.
Full name: The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria Population: 35.4 million (UN, 2010) Capital: Algiers Area: 2.4 million sq km (919,595 sq miles) Major languages: Arabic, French, Berber Major religion: Islam Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 75 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 dinar = 100 centimes Main exports: Oil, gas GNI per capita: US $4,420 (World Bank, 2009) Internet domain: .dz International dialling code: +213President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika won the presidency in 1999 polls, promising to end the violence that exploded after the cancellation of the 1992 parliamentary election which an Islamic party was set to win.
President Bouteflika was elected to a third term of office in 2009Since then he secured landslide election victories in 2004 and again 2009.
After having amended the constitution to remove the two-term limit on the presidency in November 2008, Bouteflika has effectively allowed himself to remain head of state for life - changes criticised as a setback for democratic reform.
On first taking office in 1999 he promised to restore national harmony and to end years of bloodshed.
He released thousands of Muslim militants and won backing for a civil concord in 1999 which offered an amnesty to armed militants.
Many of the rebels accepted and the violence declined. Voters backed a second amnesty for the remaining militants, laid out in the president's "charter for peace and reconciliation", in a 2005 referendum.
Algeria under President Bouteflika has won praise from the West for backing the US-led "war on terror". At home, many credit him with the return of security, though attacks by Islamist militants have increased again since 2006.
Mr Bouteflika has overcome years of isolation for Algeria, welcoming a succession of foreign heads of state and government to Algiers, but his socialist-orientated economic policies have failed to wean the economy off reliance on oil and gas.
A veteran of the war for independence from France, Mr Bouteflika was Algeria's foreign minister for 16 years until 1979. He went into self-imposed exile for several years in the 1980s to escape corruption charges that were later dropped.
Power is concentrated in the presidency, with parliament considered a rubber-stamp body. Mr Bouteflika is widely credited with normalising the presidency's ties with the military, which played a key role under the state of emergency that prevailed from 1992 until February 2011.
Algeria's TV and radio stations are state-controlled, but there is a lively private press which often criticises the authorities.
There is no direct censorship, but laws set out prison terms and fines for insulting or defaming the president, MPs, judges and the army.
Algeria's private press can be lively"Although journalists no longer fear for their lives, their room for manoeuvre in terms of freedom of expression is limited," Reporters Without Borders said in 2010.
Satellite TV is popular; stations based in France target viewers in Algeria. European channels are widely-watched.
There were 4.1 million internet users by September 2009 (InternetWorldStats). Most surfers rely on dial-up connections and cybercafes.
No widespread filtering is reported, but the blocking of a political website in January 2010 was said to be the first known instance of online censorship.
Writing in Arabic, English and French, Algerian bloggers cover social, cultural and political topics. There are more than 5,000 Algerian blogs, a newspaper suggested in late 2008.
The press:
El Khabar - private, Arabic daily; website has pages in Arabic, French and English Ech Chourouk - private, Arabic daily; website has English-language pages Le Quotidien d'Oran - private, French-language daily El Moudjahid - state-run, French-language daily; website has English-language pages Ech Chaab - state-run, Arabic daily El Watan - private, French language daily Le Soir d'Algeria - private, French-language daily Liberte - private, French-language La Tribune - private, French-language Algerian Press Portal - press directoryTelevision:
Radio:
Algerian Radio - operated by state-run Radio-Television Algerienne, runs national Arabic, Berber and French networks and several local stationsNews agencies:
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