[alˈdʒɪərɪə]a republic on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa; pop. 25,800,000 (est. 1991); official language, Arabic; capital, Algiers
阿尔及利亚（北非地中海海岸共和国，1991年估计人口25,800,000；官方语言阿拉伯语，首都阿尔及尔）
Algeria was colonized by France in the mid 19th century and was for a time closely integrated with metropolitan France, but following civil war in the 1950s the country achieved independence in 1962. A brief period of multiparty democracy was ended by a military takeover in 1992 after the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front had won the first round of the national elections; violent civil strife ensued