Day Three: "B.C.-Algeria and Modern Language"

A brief history...

• Around 2,000 B.C., Algeria was inhabited by "cattleherds and hunters living in the Al-Hajjar region between 8,000 and 2,000 BC" (Source: "Algeria". Bekkouche Hocine Online. )
• During this period, it was still located in the Upper Egyptian territory.

Above is a map of ancient Africa and the region known today as Algeria.

(Source: "Ancient Algeria Map". User: Atlantic 38. Photobucket. October 2007. ttp://media.photobucket.com/image/ ancient%20algeria%20map/atlantic38/Oct%2007/afriqa.jpg>)

According to Algeria.com, Algeria is home to many different nationalities, speaking many different languages, Arabic being the most widely used, being the official language of Algeria (81% of citizens speak Arabic).

Berber is the second most abundantly-spoken language, and while the country was formed under French influence, there is no official record of French-speaking-natives (yet it is known that many can read and write the language).

While these are the core languages, Phoenician and Turkish vernacular have been present, as well as other less-used languages.

Some of the earliest forms of architecture were not recorded, but evidence has shown them to include mosques, cathedrals, and other buildings in the city of Algiers upon it's foundation as a center of Algeria. The Great Mosque is the oldest mosque to date, built by Yusuf ibn Tashfin.

Above is a painting of the Great Mosque.

(Source: Alexis Tocqueville. <http://www.tocqueville.culture.fr/en/voyages/popup/html/v_algerie.html>)