have inhabited Algeria since at least ten thousand BC after thousand BC, the Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably Numidia. In two hundered BC, however, they were once again taken over, this time by the Roman Republic.
When the Western Roman Empire collapsed, Berbers became independent again in many areas, while the Vandals took control over other parts, where they remained until expelled by the generals of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I. The Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the Arabs in the eighth century.
It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area. It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, a few kilometers of the Western Sahara in the west, Morocco in the northwest, and Mediterranean Sea in the north. Its size is almost with an estimated population near. The capital of Algeria is Algiers.Algeria is a member of the Arab League, United Nations, African Union and OPEC. It also contributed towards the creation of the Arab Maghreb Union.
After the waves of Muslim Arab armies that conquered Algeria from its former Berber rulers and the rule of the Umayyid Arab Dynasty fell, numerous Dynasties emerged thereafter. Amongst those dynasties are the Fatimids of Egypt. Having converted the Kutama of Kabylie to its cause, the Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt, leaving Algeria and Tunisia to their Zirid vassals. When the latter rebelled, the Shia Fatimids sent in the Banu Hilal, a populous Arab tribe, to weaken them. This continued the influx of Arabs into the region since numerous other tribes then migrated with the Banu Hilal such as Banu Sulaym, Banu Muqal, Banu Jashm, Banu Khalt, and others.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
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