Algeria trivia: 47 questions and answers

Algiers. Algiers is the capital and largest city, on a wide bay of the Mediterranean. Oran is the second city, and Constantine and Annaba are in the east.

True. True. Algeria has been the largest country in Africa since 2011, when South Sudan became independent and Sudan grew smaller.

Arabic and Tamazight (Berber). Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) are the official languages. French is widely used, but it has no official status.

Algerian dinar. Algeria pays in the Algerian dinar (DZD).

5 July. 5 July 1962 was proclaimed Independence Day, a few days after Algerians voted for independence on 1 July. 1 November marks the start of the war in 1954.

1 November 1954. The FLN launched its first attacks on 1 November 1954; the war ended with independence in 1962.

Hippo Regius. Augustine was bishop of Hippo Regius, whose ruins lie beside Annaba. Carthage is in Tunisia.

Trajan. Trajan founded Timgad around AD 100 and named it partly after his mother and sister.

Constantine. Cirta was renamed Constantine in honour of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.

False. False. Abdelkader was chosen as leader in 1832, led the resistance in the west for fifteen years and surrendered only in 1847. He is remembered as a national hero.

True. True. Tamazight became a national language in 2002 and an official language, alongside Arabic, in 2016.

True. True. The four countries nominated couscous together, and UNESCO added it to its intangible heritage list in December 2020.

Chickpea flour. Karantika is a baked custard of chickpea flour with an egg-glazed top, served with cumin and harissa.

Thin hand-cut noodles. Rechta is made with thin hand-cut noodles, served with chicken, chickpeas and turnips in a white sauce.

Garlic. Mtewem means 'with garlic', and there is a lot of it in the sauce.

Diamond. Makroud are cut into diamond shapes, fried or baked and dipped in honey or syrup. The crescent is the shape of tcharek.

True. True. The bread is torn into small pieces and soaked in marqa, a tomato stew with lamb and chickpeas.

False. False. Bourek is savoury: thin pastry rolled around minced meat, potato, cheese, egg or tuna and fried. Makroud is the date pastry.

Lamb cooked with prunes and dried fruit. Lham lahlou is lamb cooked with prunes and dried fruit, such as apricots and raisins, with almonds in a syrup of cinnamon and orange blossom water.

Constantine. Constantine stands on a rock plateau cut by the gorge of the Rhumel river, crossed by several bridges.

True. True. Béjaïa, called Bougie by Europeans, exported beeswax for candles in the Middle Ages.

Oran. Raï grew up in Oran, and many of its best-known singers come from there.

The old town of Algiers. The Casbah is the old town of Algiers, a steep maze of lanes, mosques and Ottoman houses, and a World Heritage Site since 1992.

True. True. The minaret is 265 m tall; the mosque opened in 2019.

The M'zab Valley. The M'zab Valley around Ghardaïa has five ksour, each built around its mosque. Timgad, Tipasa and Djémila are Roman towns.

Prehistoric rock art. Tassili n'Ajjer holds one of the world's great collections of prehistoric rock art, from a time when the Sahara was green.

False. False. Djémila, the Roman Cuicul, stands inland on a mountain ridge about 900 m above sea level. Tipasa is the Roman town by the sea.

69. Algeria has 69 provinces as of 2026. There were 58 until November 2025, when 11 new ones were approved; a law confirmed them in April 2026.

Albert Camus. Albert Camus was born in French Algeria and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

Fennec fox. The fennec fox is the national animal, and the national football team is nicknamed the Fennecs.

True. True. Algeria won at home in 1990 and in Egypt in 2019.

True. True. Hanging about 175 m above the gorge, it held the record until 1929.

7. Algeria has 7: the Qal'a of Beni Hammad, Tassili n'Ajjer, the M'zab Valley, Djémila, Tipasa, Timgad and the Casbah of Algiers.

True. True. Living in exile in Damascus, he sheltered Christians during the massacre of 1860 and was honoured by several countries for it.

A lot. 'Bezzaf' means a lot or very; 'shwiya' means a little.

Bread. 'Khobz' is bread; water is 'ma' and coffee is 'qahwa'.

azul. 'Azul' means hello in Tamazight; 'tanemmirt' is thank you in Kabyle. 'Bslama' and 'shwiya' are Algerian Arabic.

False. False. 'Oued' is a river or river valley, often dry for much of the year. A mountain is 'djebel'.

Wesh rak?. 'Wesh rak?' means how are you (to a woman, 'wesh raki?'). 'Bshhal?' asks the price, 'smahli' means excuse me and 'bslama' is goodbye.

How much?. 'Bshhal?' asks how much something costs, useful at any market.

True. True. 'Rabbi yhafdek' means 'may God protect you', a warm way to thank someone for a favour.

False. False. 'Makach mushkil' means 'no problem'.

True. True. Most visitors need a visa from an Algerian consulate before the trip; a visa on arrival is possible only in some cases, such as desert trips booked through an approved agency.

Closed since 1994. The land border has been closed since 1994, so travel between the two countries is by air.

False. False. Bringing drones, binoculars and some camera equipment into Algeria without authorisation is illegal.

Eating, drinking and smoking. Most Algerians fast from dawn to sunset during Ramadan, so eating, drinking and smoking in public in the daytime can cause offence.

True. True. Only residents may bring dinar banknotes in and out, up to a set limit, so visitors bring euros and change them in Algeria.