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Algeria Index

Unchecked population growth and a steady flow of urban migration have combined to produce a severe housing shortage. The Algerian housing problem has been less pressing than in many other developing countries, however, owing to the postindependence departure of most Europeans. Nearly all of the Europeans had been city dwellers, living in the new towns surrounding the medinas (traditional cities) housing the Algerian population. In 1961 and 1962, many Europeans simply abandoned their properties to squatters from the countryside who promptly occupied them; sometimes as many as six Algerian families lived in a residence that had formerly housed a single European family. Property abandonment was so common that biens vacants (empty properties) became a term in common use.

Several years were required for the government to inventory the vacant properties. In 1965, however, a government financial reform endeavored to regularize ownership and collection of rents from about 500,000 nationalized or sequestered apartments and houses in the major cities.

Rural migrants settled into bidonvilles, named after the flattened bidons (tin cans) used extensively in their ramshackle construction. After independence the bidonville population of Algiers alone soon exceeded 100,000. Bidonvilles appeared in other cities, and during the early 1970s they emerged on the fringes of the oil camps in the Algerian Sahara.

The proliferation of urban shantytowns has been a worldwide phenomenon in developing countries. Proportionately fewer have sprung up in Algeria than in neighboring Morocco, in part because of government projects to limit urban sprawl by creating industrial villages near new factories. In the early 1970s, industrial villages were started near Algiers and in the vicinity of Annaba and Oran.

During the first twenty years after independence, public investment was concentrated in the industrial sector, and little attention was paid to the housing sector. Private construction was minimal because of tight government regulation and difficult access to landownership. In Algiers in particular, the government sought to discourage the flood of migration by almost freezing the housing sector and confining itself to improving sanitation and public utility service.

The consequence of those policies was a severe housing shortage starting at the end of the 1970s. By the early 1980s, the occupancy rate per three-room housing unit stood at seven persons, and the shortfall in public housing was placed at 1 million units. In 1992 the shortage had become critical and had risen to 2 million housing units. The shortage had resulted in an average occupancy rate of 8.8 persons per unit, comparatively one of the highest in the world.

Between 1990 and August 1993, as part of a series of reforms, the government has sought to eliminate the housing backlog and has built about 360,000 public housing units and launched new housing programs for low-income groups. Earlier plans to produce 100,000 public housing units between 1980 and 1984 achieved only a 57 percent rate of success. In the Second Five-Year Plan (1985- 89), the success rate for completed housing was even lower, convincing the government that major reforms were necessary.

Largely as a result of import restrictions that included building materials, the public housing sector in 1992 could produce only 35,000 units per year, up from 24,000 units in 1991, but down from the 1986 peak year of 88,000 units. At this rate, public housing shortages will not only continue but become worse.

In November 1990, new land legislation (Loi d'orientation foncière) was enacted to abolish the local government monopoly over land transactions, thus freeing urban landowners to buy and sell their land as they wished. The law was also intended to encourage private-sector investment in housing and construction. Furthermore, new standards were introduced in 1991 to simplify urban development procedures by the private sector.

To encourage the private sector to invest in housing, the government is proposing legislation that will permit private contractors to compete with public enterprises and have access to building materials that are exclusively for public housing. The private sector is also encouraged to produce locally some of the building materials needed, in order to compensate for market shortages and for the cost of importing those materials. By the early 1990s, some Algerians in the private sector had begun producing bricks, ceramic tiles, and steel rods.

Registered private construction companies remain very small and work primarily to build private family homes. Individuals also hire workers and architects to build their own houses. In 1991 alone, 85,000 building permits were issued to private households wishing to build dwellings. Between 1989 and 1992, an estimated 300,000 such housing units were built by private individuals.

The most conspicuous development in rural housing during the postindependence years has been the One Thousand Socialist Villages program undertaken in 1972 in conjunction with the agrarian revolution program. Socialist villages represented a pilot plan for improving rural housing. According to the plan, each village would have a population of as many as 1,500 people housed in 200 individual units, together with schools and clinics. Each unit was to have three rooms and would be provided with electricity, heat, and running water. By mid-1979 about 120 such villages had been completed. Although the villages had much to commend them, the program has done little to slow migration to urban areas.

In the mid-1980s, urban housing varied from the most modern apartment buildings and private dwellings of concrete and glass to crowded shantytowns. The cities had grown so rapidly that the small-windowed walls and courtyards of the medinas occupied only a small fraction of the urban area. The most common rural dwellings are called gourbi, some of which are mere huts constructed of mud and branches. Others are more solidly built, having walls of stone or clay and containing several rooms. Tiled or tin roofs are usually flat; but in parts of eastern Algeria subject to heavy rainfall or winter snows, the roofs are steeply slanted.

As a consequence of the heavy urban migration of early postindependence years, entire gourbi settlements appeared in Annaba and other coastal cities. During this period, the Kabylie region was the only part of Algeria to enjoy a housing boom. A large majority of the emigrant laborers in France were Berbers from the Kabylie, and the funds remitted by them to their families at home made the surge of building possible in this generally impoverished region.

Significant changes have occurred in Algeria in the last decade in the sectors of health, education, and welfare. The increase in health care facilities and the general upgrading of health services have met the needs of the very young Algerian population. The education system also has undergone major reforms and has become more responsive to the economic and social needs of Algerian society. However, the housing shortage, which worsened in the 1980s, has become critical in the 1990s. Private sector involvement may alleviate this shortage as it plays a larger role in the economy. Another major problem confronting the nation is that of unemployment, particularly among younger workers. Thus, despite Algeria's achievements in some areas, the country in 1993 was facing a number of difficult societal pressures that, combined with militant religious forces and economic difficulties, posed ongoing challenges to the government.

* * *

One of the best and most comprehensive recent studies on Algerian history and society is John Ruedy's Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation. Of particular importance are Ruedy's descriptions of the structure of the society and how it changed as a result of the political and economic upheavals that shook the country, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Two older studies, John P. Entelis's Algeria: The Revolution Institutionalized and the study edited by I. William Zartman, Man, State, and Society in the Contemporary Maghrib, remain of critical importance to an understanding of present-day Algerian society. A number of French writers such as Jean-Claude Vatin, Rémy Leveau, and Jean Leca have written extensively on Algerian society and are essential reading.

World Bank reports contain have the latest information and statistics on major development indicators in Algeria; they have contributed greatly to this chapter. Some excellent articles on Algeria also have appeared in publications such as the Middle East Journal, Third World Quarterly, Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and Annuaire de l'Afrique du Nord. (For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

Data as of December 1993

Background		After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but this did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 resulting in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA, with the backing of the military, won the presidency in 1999 in an election widely viewed as fraudulent and was reelected in a landslide victory in 2004. BOUTEFLIKA was overwhelmingly reelected to a third term in 2009 after the government amended the constitution in 2008 to remove presidential term limits. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA, including large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2006 merged with al-Qaida to form al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which has launched an ongoing series of kidnappings and bombings - including high-profile, mass-casualty suicide attacks targeting the Algerian Government and Western interests.
Location		Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
Area(sq km)		total: 2,381,741 sq km land: 2,381,741 sq km water: 0 sq km
Geographic coordinates		28 00 N, 3 00 E
Land boundaries(km)		total: 6,343 km border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km
Coastline(km)		998 km
Climate		arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer
Elevation extremes(m)		lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m highest point: Tahat 3,003 m
Natural resources		petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc
Land use(%)		arable land: 3.17% permanent crops: 0.28% other: 96.55% (2005)
Irrigated land(sq km)		5,690 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources(cu km)		14.3 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)		total: 6.07 cu km/yr (22%/13%/65%) per capita: 185 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards		mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season
Environment - current issues		soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment - international agreements		party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note		second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)
Population		34,178,188 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure(%)		0-14 years: 25.4% (male 4,436,591/female 4,259,729) 15-64 years: 69.5% (male 11,976,965/female 11,777,618) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 798,576/female 928,709) (2009 est.)
Median age(years)		total: 26.6 years male: 26.3 years female: 26.8 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate(%)		1.196% (2009 est.)
Birth rate(births/1,000 population)		16.9 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population)		4.64 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population)		-0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization(%)		urban population: 65% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio(male(s)/female)		at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births)		total: 27.73 deaths/1,000 live births male: 30.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 24.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth(years)		total population: 74.02 years male: 72.35 years female: 75.77 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate(children born/woman)		1.79 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Nationality		noun: Algerian(s) adjective: Algerian
Ethnic groups(%)		Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1% note: almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab; the minority who identify themselves as Berber live mostly in the mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algiers; the Berbers are also Muslim but identify with their Berber rather than Arab cultural heritage; Berbers have long agitated, sometimes violently, for autonomy; the government is unlikely to grant autonomy but has offered to begin sponsoring teaching Berber language in schools
Religions(%)		Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Languages(%)		Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
Country name		conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria conventional short form: Algeria local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah local short form: Al Jaza'ir
Government type		republic
Capital		name: Algiers geographic coordinates: 36 45 N, 3 03 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions		48 provinces (wilayat, singular - wilaya); Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain Temouchent, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef, Constantine, Djelfa, El Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem, M'Sila, Naama, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanghasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen
Constitution		8 September 1963; revised 19 November 1976; effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988, 23 February 1989, 28 November 1996, 10 April 2002, and 12 November 2008
Legal system		socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage		18 years of age; universal
Executive branch		chief of state: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; a November 2008 constitutional amendment separated the position of head of government from that of the prime minister head of government: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; note - a November 2008 constitutional amendment abolished presidential term limits; election last held 9 April 2009 (next to be held in April 2014) election results: Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA reelected president for third term; percent of vote - Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA 90.2%, Louisa HANOUNE 4.2%, Moussa TOUATI 2.3%, Djahid YOUNSI 1.4%, Ali Fawzi REBIANE less than 1%, Mohamed SAID less than 1%
Legislative branch		bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (upper house; 144 seats; one-third of the members appointed by the president, two-thirds elected by indirect vote to serve six-year terms; the constitution requires half the Council to be renewed every three years) and the National People's Assembly (lower house; 389 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: National Council - last held 28 December 2006 (next to be held 29 December 2009); National People's Assembly - last held 17 May 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: National Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; National People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FLN 136, RND 61, MSP 52, PT 26, RCD 19, FNA 13, other 49, independents 33;
Judicial branch		Supreme Court
Political pressure groups and leaders		The Algerian Human Rights League or LADDH [Hocine ZEHOUANE]; SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR]
International organization participation		ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BIS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OPEC, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Flag description		two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white; a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two-color boundary; the colors represent Islam (green), purity and peace (white), and liberty (red); the crescent and star are also Islamic symbols, but the crescent is more closed than those of other Muslim countries because the Algerians believe the long crescent horns bring happiness
Economy - overview		The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the fourth-largest gas exporter; it ranks 15th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent years have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic indicators. Algeria is running substantial trade surpluses and building up record foreign exchange reserves. Algeria has decreased its external debt to less than 5% of GDP after repaying its Paris Club and London Club debt in 2006. Real GDP has risen due to higher oil output and increased government spending. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards. Structural reform within the economy, such as development of the banking sector and the construction of infrastructure, moves ahead slowly hampered by corruption and bureaucratic resistance.
GDP (purchasing power parity)		$233.5 billion (2008 est.) $225.6 billion (2007 est.) $218.8 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)		$159.7 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate(%)		3.5% (2008 est.) 3.1% (2007 est.) 2.1% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)		$6,900 (2008 est.) $6,800 (2007 est.) $6,600 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector(%)		agriculture: 8.3% industry: 62.3% services: 29.4% (2008 est.)
Labor force		9.464 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation(%)		agriculture 14%, industry 13.4%, construction and public works 10%, trade 14.6%, government 32%, other 16% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate(%)		12.8% (2008 est.) 11.8% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line(%)		23% (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%)		lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index		35.3 (1995)
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP)		26.1% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget		revenues: $70.06 billion expenditures: $56.04 billion (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%)		4.4% (2008 est.) 3.5% (2007 est.)
Stock of money		$60.91 billion (31 December 2008) $55.43 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money		$30.36 billion (31 December 2008) $28.59 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit		$NA (31 December 2008) $NA (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares		$NA
Economic aid - recipient		$370.6 million (2005 est.)
Public debt(% of GDP)		8.4% of GDP (2008 est.) 37.4% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products		wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle
Industries		petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing
Industrial production growth rate(%)		3.2% (2008 est.)
Current account balance		$35.27 billion (2008 est.) $30.6 billion (2007 est.)
Exports		$78.23 billion (2008 est.) $60.6 billion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities(%)		petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%
Exports - partners(%)		US 23.9%, Italy 15.5%, Spain 11.4%, France 8%, Netherlands 7.8%, Canada 6.8% (2008)
Imports		$39.16 billion (2008 est.) $26.4 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities(%)		capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Imports - partners(%)		France 16.5%, Italy 11%, China 10.3%, Spain 7.4%, Germany 6.1%, US 5.5% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		$143.5 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $110.6 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external		$3.753 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $3.957 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home		$13.76 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $11.91 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad		$1.162 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $962 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Exchange rates		Algerian dinars (DZD) per US dollar - 63.25 (2008 est.), 69.9 (2007), 72.647 (2006), 73.276 (2005), 72.061 (2004)
Currency (code)		Algerian dinar (DZD)
Telephones - main lines in use		3.314 million (2008)
Telephones - mobile cellular		31.871 million (2008)
Telephone system		general assessment: a weak network of fixed-main lines, which remains at roughly 10 telephones per 100 persons, is offset by the rapid increase in mobile cellular subscribership; in 2008, combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density surpassed 100 telephones per 100 persons domestic: privatization of Algeria's telecommunications sector began in 2000; three mobile cellular licenses have been issued and, in 2005, a consortium led by Egypt's Orascom Telecom won a 15-year license to build and operate a fixed-line network in Algeria; the license will allow Orascom to develop high-speed data and other specialized services and contribute to meeting the large unfulfilled demand for basic residential telephony; Internet broadband services began in 2003 international: country code - 213; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat, Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2008)
Internet country code		.dz
Internet users		4.1 million (2008)
Airports		143 (2009)
Pipelines(km)		condensate 1,937 km; gas 14,648 km; liquid petroleum gas 2,933 km; oil 7,579 km (2008)
Roadways(km)		total: 108,302 km paved: 76,028 km (includes 645 km of expressways) unpaved: 32,274 km (2004)
Ports and terminals		Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Djendjene, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda
Military branches		People's National Army (Armee Nationale Populaire, ANP), Land Forces (Forces Terrestres, FT), Navy of the Republic of Algeria (Marine de la Republique Algerienne, MRA), Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Jaza'eriya, QJJ), Territorial Air Defense Force (2009)
Military service age and obligation(years of age)		19-30 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (6 months basic training, 12 months civil projects) (2006)
Manpower available for military service		males age 16-49: 9,736,757 females age 16-49: 9,590,978 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service		males age 16-49: 8,317,473 females age 16-49: 8,367,005 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually		male: 375,852 female: 362,158 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures(% of GDP)		3.3% of GDP (2006)
Disputes - international		Algeria, and many other states, rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; the Polisario Front, exiled in Algeria, represents the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco
Refugees and internally displaced persons		refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf) IDPs: undetermined (civil war during 1990s) (2007)
Trafficking in persons		current situation: Algeria is a transit country for men and women trafficked from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude; Algerian children are trafficked internally for the purpose of domestic servitude or street vending tier rating: Tier 3 - Algeria did not report any serious law enforcement actions to punish traffickers who force women into commercial sexual exploitation or men into involuntary servitude in 2007; the government again reported no investigations of trafficking of children for domestic servitude or improvements in protection services available to victims of trafficking; Algeria still lacks victim protection services, and its failure to distinguish between trafficking and illegal migration may result in the punishment of victims of trafficking (2008)
Electricity - production(kWh)		34.98 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source(%)		fossil fuel: 99.7% hydro: 0.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption(kWh)		28.34 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports(kWh)		273 million kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports(kWh)		279 million kWh (2007 est.)
Oil - production(bbl/day)		2.18 million bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption(bbl/day)		299,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports(bbl/day)		1.891 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports(bbl/day)		14,320 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves(bbl)		12.2 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production(cu m)		86.5 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption(cu m)		26.83 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports(cu m)		59.67 billion cu m (2008)
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m)		4.502 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%)		0.1%; note - no country specific models provided (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS		21,000 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths		fewer than 1,000 (2007 est.)
Literacy(%)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.9% male: 79.6% female: 60.1% (2002 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years)		total: 13 years male: 13 years female: 13 years (2005)
Education expenditures(% of GDP)		5.1% of GDP (1999)