1. Introduction 1.1. Geographical Features and their Effects 1.2. Population 2. The Imprint of History: Antiquity to 1919 2.1. The Pre-Islamic Era: From Antiquity to the Seventh Century AD 2.2. The Arrival of Islam 2.3. Ottoman Rule and the Regency of Algiers, 1518-1830 2.4. French Conquest and Colonization, 1830-1919 3. The Imprint of History: 1919 to the Present 3.1. Nationalist Awakening, 1919-1954 3.2. The War of National Liberation and Political Independence, 1954-1962 3.3. The Post-Independence Period of Ben Bella, Boumediene, and Benjedid, 1962 to the Present 4. Culture and Society in Transition 4.1. Islam 4.2. State Secularization 4.3. Social Problems 5. The Political Economy of Development 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Theory 5.3. Hydrocarbon Policy 5.4. Development Planning in the 1980s 5.5. Agriculture: the Economy’s Achilles’ Heel 6. The Dynamics of Political Life 6.1. Political Culture 6.2. Political Structures 6.3. Political Processes 6.4. Political Power 7. Worldview 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Orientation 8. Conclusion