Andalusian

Andalusians or Moors were the Muslim inhabitants of Al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula) which what is now Spain and Portugal, and part of southern France. The religious difference of the Andalusian Muslims led to a centuries-long conflict with the Christian kingdoms of Europe like Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon called the Reconquista on the Andalusians. The Fall of Granada in 1492 saw the end of the Muslim rule in Iberia which lasted for 770 years.

Above Image: an Andalusian soldier

In the years of 1543-1569 Hayreddin Barbarossa and some numbers of Janissaries helped transporting 7,700 Andalusians from the beaches of Almeria and Alicante to Algerian coasts most of these Andalusians were from poor and middle classes from their financial status they were also peasants, material workers and merchants. The Andalusian refuges settled in cities which are located in Algerian coastlines like Oran, Tlemcen, Algiers, Bejaia, and Jijel.

Above Image: Expulsion of Andalusians

Descendants of Andalusian refugees in Algeria are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities. The French called them ‘Moors’ and whose culture and dialect clearly distinguished them from the populations of the countryside, constituted a large majority of the population of Algiers and other cities. Proud, urbane, and reputedly relaxed in moral sensibility, Moors dominated the commercial and culture of Algiers, Tlemcen, and some other towns. Continuing inputs of Christian converts or ‘renegades’ from around southern Europe adapted over time to Moorish culture, but in so doing they enriched Moorish culture, contributing to its widespread reputation for cosmopolitanism. The number of Algerians who has Andalusian ancestries is estimated to be 1, 3 million of the Algerian Population.

Statistics

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including the population density, ethnicity, and education level, health of the populace, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population in Algeria.

Population of Algeria

There are 37.8 million residents in Algeria with annual growth rate of 1.89%, demographic predictions indicate that there will be about 50 million residents in Algeria by 2050.

Approximately 90% of the Algerians live in over 10% of the territory of the country, concentrated along the Mediterranean coast.

Age Structure of Algeria

0-14     Years: 23.8% (4,297,588 male/4,123,103 female)

15-64   Years: 70.9% (12,652,479 male/ 12,436,658 female)

65-       Years and over: 5.4% (874,908 male/1,021,567 female)

Median age of Algeria

Male:      27.4 years

Female:  27.8 years

Total:     27.6 years

Infant mortality rate of Algeria

Male:      27.82 deaths/1,000 live births

Female:  21.83 deaths/1,000 live births

Total:      24.9 deaths/1,000 live births

Life Expectancy at birth

Male: 72.99 years

Female: 76.57 years

Total: 74.73 years

HIV/AIDS

People living with HIV/AIDS are about 21,000

Major infectious diseases in Algeria

Degree of risk: intermediate

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Vectorborne disease: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a high risk in some locations

Languages of Algeria:

Arabic

Tamazight dialects (Tachawit, Taqbaylit, Tamahaq, and Tumzabt)

French

Religions in Algeria

Islam is the predominant religion with 99% of the population in Algeria but almost all Algerian Muslims follow the Sunni Islam, with the exception of some 200,000 Ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia in northern Sahara.

There are 10,000 Christians in Algeria most of them are Roman Catholic with a very small number of Protestants.

Nearly all of Algeria's Jewish community had emigrated following the country's independence in 1962, although a very small number of Algerian Jews continue to live in Algiers and Béjaïa are estimated to be from 500 to 1,000 Jews still living in those cities.

Literacy rate in Algeria

Male:  84.1%

Female: 70.6%

Total: 77.4%

Ethnic Groups in Algeria

Amazigh (Berbers), Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabians, Turks and some other ethnic groups like Andalusians have contributed to the ethnic make-up of the population of Algeria. Amazigh (Berbers) and Berber-Arabs make up the majority (over 90%) of Algeria's populations and the Europeans are less than 1%.

Genetics

The Y chromosome is passed from father to son. Tests in this part of the Y chromosome provide information about the direct male ancestors, or the father, the paternal grandfather and so on.

Most Algerians (Amazigh and Arabians) are part of the haplogroups of the Y-chromosome:

E1b1b (50.9%)

E1b1b1b (M81) (45.1%) very common in northwest Africa and also found, with much lower frequencies compared to those observed in northwest Africa, in Turkey, the near East, the Balkans, southern Europe and in Iberia.

E1b1b1a (M78) (5.8%) widely distributed in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia up to Southern Asia, and all of Europe (with distribution peak cantered in parts of the Balkans and Italy and declining frequencies in western, central, and north-eastern Europe).

J (35.0%)

J1 (M267) (27.4%) frequent in Egypt and the Middle East.

J2 (M67) (7.6%) frequent in the Northern Middle East, Balkans and Southernmost Italy and also common in Iberia and Westernmost and Easternmost North Africa

R1 (12.8%)

R1b (M269) (10.8%) typically found in Eurasia.

R1a (M17) (1%) typically associated with the area from Central and Eastern Europe to South Asia

R1 (M173) (1%) typically found in Central and South Asia

E1b1a (M2) (7.8%) typically Associated with West Africa