The majority of Algerians are Arabic-speakers of Arab or mixed Arab/Berber origin. Ethnic Berbers (who were the earliest known inhabitants of North Africa) form a minority of around 17 per cent. In parts of Algeria, Berbers maintain a strongly separate identity, speaking their own languages rather than Arabic. The Berber language of northern Algeria is called Tamazight or Amazigh. Many Saharan Berbers speak a related language called Zenete.

There are two main Berber groups: the Kabylie Berbers from the Kabylie Mountains, and the Chaouia Berbers from the Aures Mountains – both in northern Algeria. Berbers refer to themselves as Amazigh (meaning the people and culture as a whole) and Imazighen (the plural name). This translates roughly as ‘free’ or ‘pure’.

Many rural Berbers live by cultivating crops and raising livestock, while others have a nomadic or semi-nomadic life as travelling herders and traders.

Tuaregs, another Berber sub-group, are traditionally more nomadic. They mainly come from the Ahaggar (or Hoggar) highlands in south-eastern Algeria. Tuaregs are also known as ‘blue men’, after the deep-indigo coloured tagelmoust (a face-covering head-dress) which is often worn by the men. Tuareg women have a great deal of influence over matters of marriage, finance, and social affairs and it is women rather than men who inherit from parents and families. Tuareg women are also famous for their poetry. The Tuaregs speak a Berber language called Tamachaq.

Desert Berbers and Arabs usually have a rigid caste, or class, system, with social ranks ranging from nobles down to an underclass of menial workers (mostly ethnic Africans).

Recurrent drought and the erosion of traditions have led large numbers of nomads to abandon their traditional lifestyle and head for the cities, where many of them live in run-down settlements called bidonvilles. But thousands still live in the Sahara, navigating its wastes from oasis to oasis and town to town using ancient knowledge passed down through the generations. Smuggling imported cigarettes and trading in all-terrain vehicles are two ways in which some desert nomads supplement their income.

Traditional Berber jewellery and swords are made from silver, copper, glass, agate, and reclaimed metals. Among the Tuaregs there is a special caste of blacksmiths and craftsmen called belas who work in all these materials – but never gold, as the Tuaregs consider it unlucky.

A smaller Berber minority, the Mozabites, live mainly in five towns centred on Ghardaia in the northern Sahara. Mozabites, who number about 100,000, follow their own strict Islamic code called Ibadi. Women wear a head-to-foot robe which leaves only one eye exposed, and inhabitants of the Mozabite town of Beni Isguen may only marry fellow townspeople.

Read a Kabylie Berber folktale

The Saharawi people

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Photo by Guiseppe Bizarri/Panos