Cave painting of a hunter

Cave paintings in eastern Algeria, showing hunters and herds of animals, give us an idea of the Algerian Sahara as it was some 6,000 years ago – not a arid desert, but a grassy savanna. The artists may have been distant ancestors of today’s Berbers, a people who have lived in the region for thousands of years.

About 2,500 years ago the Phoenicians, a Middle-eastern seafaring people, established outposts in present-day Algeria. 2000 years ago, Algeria was part of the Roman Empire. In the 5^th century AD, the original Vandals – a fearsome Germanic group – swept through Southern Europe and into North Africa. European Christians drove the Vandals out about 100 years later, only to be driven out themselves in the 7^th century, by an Arab invasion. Berber resistance to this invasion was led by a legendary woman warrior called Kahina. Arab conquest led to the establishment of Islam as Algeria’s predominant religion.

In the 16^th century northern Algeria was invaded by Spain. Algerian Muslims asked for help from the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. As a result, most of Algeria came under Ottoman rule, which lasted over 300 years. Strands of Turkish culture – including food and music – became interwoven into Algerian life. During this time, the Barbarossa (Redbeard) brothers and other pirates based in the Algerian coastal cities defended (and enriched) Algeria’s ports. Piracy continued along the "Barbary Coast", as it was known, until the early 19^th century, when the menace was finally subdued by the firepower of US and European navies.

France launched an invasion of Algeria with an attack on the capital Algiers in 1830. The invasion met with brave and stubborn resistance, led by the great general Abdelkadar, but by 1847 the French were in control of the whole country. Under French rule, non-French language and culture were suppressed. Land was claimed by French and other European settlers, and Algerian Muslims were denied many basic rights.

In 1947, France granted Algerian Muslims citizenship of Algeria and France. It was too little, too late. A war of independence broke out in 1954, led by the FLN (National Liberation Front). The war claimed at least one million Algerian lives. Finally, in 1962, the French government offered Algerians a referendum. Six million voted for independence from France, and fewer than 20,000 against.

Algeria today, and conflict