Here are some additional facts about
Algeria
:
Economy:
Algeria is an upper middle income country according to the World Bank. Its currency is the
dinar
. Algeria supplies a lot of
natural gas
to Europe. Energy exports make up the backbone of its economy.
Sonatrach
, the national oil company, is the largest company in the continent of Africa. Algeria is considered an ally of Russia. It has the largest defense budget and one of the largest militaries in Africa.
Language:
The official languages of Algeria are
Berber
and
Modern Standard Arabic
. Although it has no official status,
French
is still the language most often used in government, media, and all levels of education. This is probably due to its French colonial history.
Cuisine:
The food of Algeria is
rich and diverse
and varies from region to region and season. At one time,
Algeria was known as the “granary of Rome”
and today its cuisine still has cereals as main products. Some food you might encounter are
couscous
,
chorba
(a soup or stew),
rechta
(a flat noodle with chicken dish),
chakhchoukha
(small pieces of flatbread mixed with stew), and many, many kinds of cakes.
Hope that you have enjoyed learning about
Algeria
! Next week we continue our travels to the much smaller country of
Tunisia
.
.
