Nothern Africa
Algeria
| AAQS region: | Northern | |
| Area in km2: | 2,381,741 | |
| Capital: | Algiers | |
| Approximate population: | 30,000,000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic, French, Berber | |
| Currency: | Dinar (DA) | |
| Brief history: | Most Algerians live in the nothern coastal plain. South of the Atlas Mountains is the Sahara Desert. In 1830 France took control of Algeria and encouraged French immigration. Following protracted fighting, there was a French withdrawal in 1962 when about one million settlers left Algeria. It has huge oil and gas reserves which account for 96% of Algeria’s exports. By the late 1990s, the economy was severely affected by the collapse in oil prices which resulted in unemployment and civil war |
Libya
| AAQS region: | Northern | |
| Area in km2: | 1,775,500 | |
| Capital: | Tripoli | |
| Approximate population: | 6,000,000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic, English, Italian | |
| Currency: | Dinar (LD) | |
| Brief history: | It is primarily a desert country. At its independence in 1951, it was a poor country but its economy has been transformed by oil reserves. In the north of the country, winter rains allow grain and Mediterranean crops to grow |
Morocco
| AAQS region: | Northern | |
| Area in km2: | 710,850 | |
| Capital: | Rabat | |
| Approximate population: | 30,000,000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic,Berber, Spanish, | |
| Currency: | Dirham | |
| Brief history: | It has both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines and with mountains rising to over 4000m. Its fertile land : a wide range of vegetables, fruits and other crops provide major agricultural exports. The economy is also assisted by huge phosphate resources and substantial manufacturing growth including fruit canning, textiles and car assembly plants |
Tunisia
| AAQS region: | Northern | |
| Area in km2: | 163 610 | |
| Capital: | Tunis | |
| Approximate population: | 9 000 000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic, Berber& French | |
| Currency: | Dinar (TD) | |
| Brief history: | Atlas mountains in eastern part gives adequate rain for flourishing agriculture eg olive and citrus groves. Oil, phosphates and other minerals are also important resources. There are large salt accumulations in the desert. A growing tourist industry is based on the Roman remains and the beaches |
Mauritania
| AAQS region: | Northern | |
| Area in km2: | 1 030 700 | |
| Capital: | Nouakchott | |
| Approximate population: | 2 500 000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic, French & ,many local | |
| Currency: | Ouguiya | |
| Brief history: | Part of the country is desert but it has major mineral resources and the south has enough rain for agriculture |
Egypt
| AAQS region: | Eastern | |
| Area in km2: | 997,738.5 | |
| Capital: | Cairo | |
| Approximate population: | 65,00,000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic,English, French | |
| Currency: | Egyptian Pound | |
| Brief history: | Egypt gained its independence from Britain in 1936. Most of the country is desert, traversed by a thin ribbon of settlement and cultivation along the Nile |
Sudan
| AAQS region: | Eastern | |
| Area in km2: | 2 505 813 | |
| Capital: | Khartoum | |
| Approximate population: | 34 000 000 | |
| Languages: | Arabic, English & Local languages | |
| Currency: | Dinar | |
| Brief history: | About 1.3 million people have died in conflict and more than 3 million have been displaced. The north is desert but much of the rest of the country is savannah and grows tropical grains, groundnuts and livestock. The Blue Nile and White Nile offer enough irrigation to grow cotton, sugarcane and other tropical crops for export. Oil is a new export |
Sao Tome & Principe
| AAQS region: | Central | |
| Area in km2: | 1001 | |
| Capital: | Sao Tome | |
| Approximate population: | 160 000 | |
| Languages: | Portuguese, many local dialects | |
| Currency: | Dobra (Db) | |
| Brief history: | The two islands of Sao Tome and Principle were ruled from 1740 by the Portuguese, who established cocoa plantations. After independence, production declined due to mismanagement, but it has now been revived |