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Algerians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Algerian people)
This article is about citizens and nationals of Algeria. For other uses, see Algerian (disambiguation). For Algerians living outside of Algeria, see Algerian diaspora.
For information on the population of Algeria, see Demographics of Algeria.
Algerians
الجزائريون
Algerian diaspora in the world
Regions with significant populations
 Algeria
46,000,000[1]
 France1,637,000[2]
 Canada120,000[3]
 Belgium75,000[3]
 Spain70,511[4]
 Germany60,000[5]
 United States60,000[6]
 United Kingdom30,000[6]
 Italy19,142[7]
 Netherlands9,000[8]
 Mali1,000[9]
 Brazil836[10]
Languages
Algerian Arabic (majority), Berber (minority)
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Minority: Ibadi Islam, Christianity,[11][12][13] Judaism

Algerians (Arabic: الجزائريون, romanized: al-Jaza'iriyun) are the citizens and nationals of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. The majority of the country's population is composed of Arabs who make up 85% of the population, and there is a Berber minority of 15%.[14] The term also applies more broadly to any people who are of Algerian nationality, sharing a common culture and identity, as well as those who natively speak Algerian Arabic or other languages of Algeria.[14]

In addition to the approximately 46 million residents of Algeria, there is a large Algerian diaspora as part of the wider Arab diaspora. Considerable Algerian populations can be found in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom; with smaller notable concentrations in other Arab states as well as the United States, and Canada.

Ethnic groups

[edit]
Main articles: Ethnic groups in Algeria, Arabs, and Berbers
Ethnic groups in Algeria[15]
  1. Arabs (73.6%)
  2. Berbers (23.2%)
  3. Arabized Berbers (3%)
  4. Others (0.2%)

The majority of the population of Algeria is Arab, constituting between 75%[16][17][18][19] and 80%[20][21][22] to 85%[23][24] of the population. Berbers on the other hand make up between 15%[25] and 20%[21][20][26] to 24%[17][18][19] of the population. According to Britannica, the country's population is 73.6% Arab, 23.2% Berber, 3% Arabized Berber, and 0.2% other.[15] Centuries of Arab migrations to the Maghreb from the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant since the 7th century Muslim conquest have significantly altered Algeria's demographic landscape, culturally and linguistically.[27] Berbers, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines and Turks as well as other ethnic groups have contributed to the culture and languages of the Algerian population.[28]

Descendants of Andalusi refugees are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities.[29] Moreover, Spanish was spoken by these Aragonese and Castillian Morisco descendants deep into the 18th century, and even Catalan was spoken at the same time by Catalan Morisco descendants in the small town of Grish El-Oued.[30]

The Arab population of Algeria is a result of the inflow of sedentary and nomadic Arab tribes from Arabia since the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century with a major wave in the 11th century.[31] The Berbers are divided into many groups with varying languages. The largest of these are the Kabyles, who live in the Kabylia region east of Algiers, the Chaoui of North-East Algeria, the Tuaregs in the southern desert and the Shenwa people of North Algeria.[32][page needed]

During the colonial period, there was a large (15% in 1960)[33] European population who became known as Pied-Noirs. They were primarily of French, Spanish and Italian origin. Almost all of this population left during the war of independence or immediately after its end.[34]

Languages

[edit]
Algerian women in traditional clothes

Modern Standard Arabic and Berber are the official languages of Algeria.[35] The vast majority of Algerians speak Algerian Arabic as their native language, although other Arabic dialects are spoken such as Algerian Saharan Arabic, Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Egyptian Arabic and Iraqi Arabic.[36] Colloquial Algerian Arabic has some Berber loanwords which represent 8% to 9% of its vocabulary.[37]

A minority of Algerians speak one of the various Berber languages. The largest Berber language is Kabyle with 3 million speakers.[36] It has significant Arabic, French, Latin, Greek, Phoenician and Punic substratum, and Arabic loanwords represent 35%[38] to 46%[39] of the total Kabyle vocabulary.

Religion

[edit]
Djamaa el Kebir

Islam is the predominant religion in Algeria, with the vast majority of adherents being Sunni Muslims. The dominant madhhab is Maliki, there are a few followers of the Hanafi rite among people of Turkish descent.[40] According to the 2021 CIA World Factbook, Muslims make up approximately 99% of the population, while Pew Research estimated this figure at 97.9% in 2020.[41] Additionally, there are around 290,000 Ibadis, primarily residing in the M'zab Valley in the Ghardaia region. Islam was introduced to Algeria by the Umayyad dynasty during the Arab expansion, beginning with the invasion led by Uqba ibn Nafi.

Christianity was introduced to North Africa during the Roman era. Its influence waned during the Vandal invasions but was later reinforced under Byzantine rule.[42] However, indigenous Christianity in North Africa persisted beyond the Muslim conquest until the early 15th century.[43][44] Before Algeria’s independence, the country was home to more than 1.3 million Christians, most of whom were of European descent, along with a small number of Algerians who had converted to Christianity.[45][46] Following independence, the majority of these settlers emigrated to France. Since the 1960s, an increasing number of Algerians have converted to Christianity. The number of Algerian converts to Christianity, most of whom practice in secret, is estimated to range between 50,000 and 200,000.[47][48][49] Today, most Christian Algerian citizens belong to Protestant denominations, which have faced growing governmental pressure in recent years, including numerous forced church closures.[50]

Algeria’s Jewish community, with roots dating back to antiquity, was largely composed of descendants of Spanish refugees.[51] Before independence in 1962, about 140,000 Jews lived in Algeria, but most emigrated to France due to their French citizenship. By the 1990s, only around 1,000 remained, with the last synagogue in Algiers vandalized in 1977.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "World Population Prospects". Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  2. ^ https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/immigrant-and-emigrant-populations-country-origin-and-destination>
  3. ^ a b Statistics Canada. "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Población por comunidades y provincias, país de nacimiento, edad (grupos quinquenales) y sexo". Istituto Nacional de estadística. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Ausländische Bevölkerung und Schutzsuchende nach Regionen und Herkunftsländern". Statistics Germany. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Où vivent les Algériens de la diaspora?". thecasbahpost.com (in French). 10 September 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Algerini in Italia al 2022". Tuttitalia Cittadini stranieri al 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  8. ^ "CBS StatLine - Bevolking; generatie, geslacht, leeftijd en herkomstgroepering, 1 januari". statline.cbs.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". migrationpolicy.org. February 10, 2014. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  10. ^ Immigrants in Brazil (2024, in Portuguese)
  11. ^ Kabylia: Christian Churches Closed by Algerian Authorities, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, 28 May 2019, Since 2000, thousands of Algerian Muslims have put their faith in Christ. Algerian officials estimate the number of Christians at 50,000, but others say it could be twice that number.
  12. ^ "Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023. there is an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 evangelical Christians in Algeria, who practice their faith in mainly unregistered churches in the Kabyle region
  13. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 11: 8. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Algeria - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  15. ^ a b "Algeria | Flag, Capital, Population, Map, & Language | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  16. ^ "Algeria – Drainage". Britannica. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-25. More than three-fourths of the country is ethnically Arab
  17. ^ a b DK (2016-08-01). Reference World Atlas: Everything You Need to Know About Our Planet Today. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-241-28679-1. Ethnic groups: Arab 75%, Berber 24%, European and Jewish 1%
  18. ^ a b Seddon, David (2013-01-11). A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East. Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-135-35561-6. The population was estimated at 32,277,942 in July 2002, of which 75% were Arabs, 24% Berbers, and 1% others (mostly Europeans).
  19. ^ a b DK (2005-01-27). FT World Desk Reference 2005. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4053-6726-4. Arab 75%, Berber 24%, European and Jewish 1%. The population is predominantly Arab, under 30 years of age and urban; some 24% are Berber. More than 85% speak Arabic and 99% are Sunni Muslim.
  20. ^ a b "Algeria - History Background". education.stateuniversity.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18. The combined Arab-Berber people comprise more than 99 percent of the population (Arabs approximately 80 percent; Berbers 20 percent), with Europeans less than one percent.
  21. ^ a b Laaredj-Campbell, Anne (2015-12-10). Changing Female Literacy Practices in Algeria: Empirical Study on Cultural Construction of Gender and Empowerment. Springer. ISBN 978-3-658-11633-0. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023. Ethnically the population is made up of about 80% Arabic and 20% Berber.
  22. ^ Bouherar, Salim; Ghafsi, Abderrezzaq (2022-01-03). Algerian Languages in Education: Conflicts and Reconciliation. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-030-89324-8. In Algeria, on the other hand, Berberists supported by France ask to expand the use of Tamazight even on Arabs who represent 80% of Algerian population.
  23. ^ Naylor, Phillip C. (2015-05-07). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8108-7919-5. Most Algerians, approximately 85 percent of the population, today claim an Arab background.
  24. ^ "Algeria Ethnic Groups". study.com. Retrieved 2024-08-18. Partly due to the strong association between Islam and Arab identity, there is a fair amount of social pressure in Algeria to identify with Arab ancestry. In fact, roughly 85% of the nation identifies much more strongly with their Arab heritage than their Berber heritage.
  25. ^ "Algeria". The World Factbook (2025 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 24 December 2013. (Archived 2013 edition.)
  26. ^ Tschudin, Alain; Moffat, Craig; Buchanan-Clarke, Stephen; Russell, Susan; Coutts, Lloyd (2019-06-18). Extremisms in Africa Volume 2. Jonathan Ball Publishers. ISBN 978-0-6399928-3-9. The majority of Algerians are Arab, but around 20% are Berbers.
  27. ^ Arauna, Lara R.; Mendoza-Revilla, Javier; Mas-Sandoval, Alex; Izaabel, Hassan; Bekada, Asmahan; Benhamamouch, Soraya; Fadhlaoui-Zid, Karima; Zalloua, Pierre; Hellenthal, Garrett; Comas, David (February 2017). "Recent Historical Migrations Have Shaped the Gene Pool of Arabs and Berbers in North Africa". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34 (2): 318–329. doi:10.1093/molbev/msw218. ISSN 0737-4038. PMC 5644363. PMID 27744413.
  28. ^ UNESCO (2009). "Diversité et interculturalité en Algérie" (PDF). UNESCO. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2013.
  29. ^ Ruedy, John Douglas (2005). Modern Algeria – The Origins and Development of a Nation. Indiana University Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780253217820.
  30. ^ De Epalza, Mikel (2011). El español hablado en Túnez por los moriscos (siglos XVII-XVIII). Universitat de València. pp. 32–38–39–444. ISBN 9788437084152.
  31. ^ Stearns, Peter N.; Leonard Langer, William (2001). The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged (6 ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 129–131. ISBN 978-0-395-65237-4.
  32. ^ Marion Mill Preminger (1961). The sands of Tamanrasset: the story of Charles de Foucauld. Hawthorn Books.
  33. ^ Cook, Bernard A. (2001). Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-8153-4057-7.
  34. ^ De Azevedo, Raimond Cagiano (1994). Migration and Development Co-Operation. Council of Europe. p. 25. ISBN 9789287126115.
  35. ^ "Constitution of Algeria" – via Wikisource.
  36. ^ a b Leclerc, Jacques (5 April 2009). "Algérie: Situation géographique et démolinguistique". L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde (in French). Université Laval. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  37. ^ Wexler, Paul (2012-02-01). The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-2393-7.
  38. ^ Baldauf, Richard B.; Kaplan, Robert B. (2007-01-01). Language Planning and Policy in Africa. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 978-1-84769-011-1.
  39. ^ Kossmann, Maarten (2013-07-18). The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber. BRILL. p. 98. ISBN 978-90-04-25309-4.
  40. ^ Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb (1967). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. p. 371. Virtually the only rite practised in Algeria is the Malikite; there are a few followers of the HanafI rite among people of Turkish descent
  41. ^ "Religion in Algeria". Global Religious Futures. Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2010. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
  42. ^ Deeb, Mary Jane. "Religious minorities" Algeria (Country Study). Federal Research Division, Library of Congress; Helen Chapan Metz, ed. December 1993. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  43. ^ Ancient African Christianity: An Introduction to a Unique Context and Tradition By David E. Wilhite, page 322
  44. ^ "Office of the President – Bethel University". Archived from the original on 2007-02-02.
  45. ^ Naylor, Phillip C. (7 May 2015). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 441–442. ISBN 978-0-8108-7919-5. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  46. ^ Greenberg, Udi; A. Foster, Elizabeth (2023). Decolonization and the Remaking of Christianity. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 105. ISBN 9781512824971.
  47. ^ Kabylia: Christian Churches Closed by Algerian Authorities, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, 28 May 2019, Since 2000, thousands of Algerian Muslims have put their faith in Christ. Algerian officials estimate the number of Christians at 50,000, but others say it could be twice that number.
  48. ^ "Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023. there is an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 evangelical Christians in Algeria, who practice their faith in mainly unregistered churches in the Kabyle region
  49. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 11: 8. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  50. ^ "Algeria". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  51. ^ Ayoun, Richard (2003). La communauté juive d'Algérie et la période 1954-1962 (in French). Autrement. pp. 151–175. ISBN 9782746704213.
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