FACT SHEET Location: North Africa with the Mediterranean Sea to the north (1200 km of coastline), Morocco to the west, Tunisia to the east, Libya to the south-east, Mauritania and Western Sahara to the south-west, Mali and Niger to the south. Area: At 2 381 741 km the second largest country in Africa. The Sahara covers 84 per cent of the total surface area, the steppes 8.5 per cent and the coastal area (mountains and plains) 7.5 per cent. Population: 33.8 million inhabitants as at 1 January 2007 2 Life expectancy at birth: Men 74 years; women 76 years; average 75 years Major cities: Algiers (capital), Sétif, Oran, Constantine, Annaba, Batna, Tlemcen, Tizi-Ouzou, Ghardhaïa, Adrar, Tamanrasset Land use: Algeria is a mountainous country with an average altitude of 800 m. 2 The Sahara covers over 2 million km (84 per cent of the total surface area of the country); forests and scrub cover 4.1 million hectares (the percentage forestation is 16.4 for the north of Algeria and only 1.7 for the remainder of the country). In 2002, only 8.27 million hectares of the 40 million hectares of arable land were under cultivation, largely concentrated in the northern region. Almost 0.5 million hectares of steppes are in the process of total desertification and more than 7 million hectares are at risk. Independence: 5 July 1962: Proclamation of the independence of Algeria 25 September 1962: Proclamation of Democratic People‘s Republic of Algeria; 1 November 1954: National Day–Revolution Day Constitution: Constitutions of 1963, 1976 and 1989 Revised, adapted by referendum on 28 November 1996 Administrative structure: 1541 communes within 48 wilayas (provinces), 535 daïras and Political governance: A multiparty democracy with a Presidential system and a bicameral parliament: 13 administrative divisions headed by a deputy Wali in the wilayas of Algiers Popular National Assembly (APN);and National Council (the Senate). Major political parties: Front de Libération National (National Liberation Front) (FLN) Rassemblement National Démocratique (National Democratic Union) (RND) Mouvement de la Société de Paix (Movement of Social Peace) (MSP); Front des Forces Socialistes (Socialist Forces Front) ix