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Algeria Country Quiz

Can you guess these facts about the country of Algeria?
Quiz by Denzal
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Last updated: May 17, 2020
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First submittedApril 20, 2017
Times taken25,377
Average score76.2%
Rating4.53
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Hint
Answer
Capital and largest city
Algiers
Second largest city (hint: 4 letters)
Oran
Countries that border
Algeria
Morocco
Libya
Tunisia
Niger
Mali
Mauritania
Two-letter country code
DZ
Most important export
Oil
Currency of Algeria
Dinar
Official languages
Berber
Arabic
Hint
Answer
To the nearest whole number, the
% of Algerians who are Islamic
99%
Mountain range spanning the
north of Algeria
Atlas Mountains
Desert that covers most of the country
Sahara Desert
Region of North Africa that Algeria
is part of (hint: starts with M)
Maghreb
European country from which Algeria
gained its independence in 1962
France
Series of wars that ended with the
destruction of Carthage and
the establishment of Roman rule
Punic Wars
Algeria is the largest country in Africa.
What is the second-largest?
D. R. Congo
What was the profession of the
Barbary Corsairs?
Pirate
50 Comments
+6
Level 86
May 17, 2020
Maybe accept "piracy" as the profession.
+3
Level ∞
May 17, 2020
That will work now
+6
Level 73
Dec 11, 2020
What was it before? Marine entrepreneur? ;) For the record, corsairs would technically be correct, but I get why it's not accepted.
+1
Level 62
Jul 28, 2022
Presumably "Pirate" with no type ins such as piracy
+18
Level 71
May 18, 2020
I really need an atlas for the mountain one.
+17
Level 85
May 19, 2020
Country code = DZ.

Quiz by Denzal.

Coincidence?

+1
Level 62
Oct 11, 2022
I think not.
+4
Level 76
May 21, 2020
Want to clarify in the clue what a "two letter country code" is? Is this to do with internet domain suffixes?
+7
Level 56
Jul 30, 2020
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) issues 2-letter, 3-letter and numeric codes. Uses include internet domains (though some exceptions e.g. United Kingdom is .UK and not .GB) and postal service.
+8
Level 44
Jul 4, 2020
Why on earth is it DZ, that was a really annoying one
+17
Level 69
Jul 5, 2020
from Dzayer, the local name for Algeria (Wikipedia)
+4
Level 60
Aug 3, 2020
Isn't the local name "Al-Jazair"? Even so, Dzayer does not sound like Jazair. Maybe some French or other Westerner got confused in the translation of phonetics?
+12
Level 73
Dec 11, 2020
Transliteration has a range of interpretations, depending on what language you speak (this goes both ways, so someone can be a native Arabic speaker transliterating into another language, or *not* a native speaker and transliterating from Arabic into their own language). It also depends on the extent to which transliteration has been standardised (e.g. romanji for Japanese).

The fun really begins when sounds do not exist in one of the languages in question. In the case of Algeria/Dzayer/Aljazair etc, the letter ج is near English d, z, j, or soft g (e.g. as in 'assuage'); it has regional differences. Dz is one transliteration, as is J or G. ('Al' just means "the" btw, so it's sensibly dropped for the country code; you wouldn't use TH for The United States).

One solution is to just use IPA (international phonetic alphabet) which in this case is d͡ʒ but IPA is not so user-friendly. And don't get me started on English speeling ;)

+1
Level 75
May 26, 2024
The IPA would struggle with the same thing though, right? If there are regional differences in pronunciation then people on one side of the country would use a different IPA character from those on the other side.
+2
Level 60
Aug 6, 2024
In standard Arabic it's "Al-Jazeera", but in the local dialects, the "J" sound is pronounced "Dj", like 'Jebel = Djebel" (Mount.), Jazair = Djazaier/Dzaier.
+3
Level 42
Sep 28, 2024
In standard Arabic, it's Al-Jazaaʾir /ʔæl.d͡ʒæzæːʔir/, but it underwent several changes in Algerian Arabic (not necessarily in that specific order):

1. Algerian Arabic generally drops glottal stops /?/ or replaces them with easier sounds → /æl.d͡ʒæzæjr/.

2. Algerian Arabic simplifies the definite article /æl/ into /l/.

3. Algerian Arabic generally drops the first short vowel → /l.d͡ʒzæjr/.

4. Given that "jz" /d͡ʒz/ is hard to pronounce, it is simplified to "dz" → /l.dzæjr/.

5. Now that it begins with "d," the article must be assimilated → /d.dzæjr/.

@redsplat In the Maghreb, transliteration is based on French phonetics; thus, /ʒ/ is rendered as "j" (e.g., Béjaïa, Oujda), and /d͡ʒ/ is rendered as "dj" (e.g., Djurdjura, Djerba). "Z" is only used for /z/, so you will never have "dz" for /d͡ʒ/ or "zh" for /ʒ/.

@Rivvr "Al-Jaziirah" (the island) is the singular form of "Al-Jazaaʾir"; nobody ever calls it that. Standard Arabic actually pronounces ج as /d͡ʒ/, not /ʒ/.

+3
Level 79
Jul 30, 2020
bigf420, maybe it annoy Dzayens (or whatever they are called) that you call their country Algeria.
+2
Level 91
Aug 3, 2020
Yeah I spent too much time trying to come up with as many letter combinations as I could before I gave up.
+1
Level 77
Aug 3, 2020
I assume it's because of the way French is written. So, for instance, the surname Jalloh in Sierra Leone would be Diallo in Guinea.
+7
Level 28
Sep 5, 2020
it "Al-jazair" in arabic , but "Dzayer" in the algerian dialect ( a mix between arabic,french and amazigh ). that why it's DZ.

PS: I am algerian.

+1
Level 81
Aug 3, 2020
Whenever I hear Oran I think of the Orat-on-a-stick from Space Quest III.
+1
Level 73
Aug 3, 2020
I think of Oran "Juice" Jones and his great 80's hit "The Rain".
+1
Level 81
Aug 4, 2020
Ironically it doesn't rain much in Algeria.
+1
Level 71
Aug 12, 2020
For me, it's Orin from Parks and Rec. Creepy dude.
+1
Level 32
Sep 30, 2022
i think of the berry from Pokemon
+7
Level 80
Aug 3, 2020
The question about 2nd largest country feels out of place, would be a better quiz if that wasn't there or could be swapped for a different question that is actually about Algeria. Suggest something asking about where Algerians predominantly emigrate to when they leave their country might be a good choice.
+3
Level 73
Aug 3, 2020
Wouldn't that be the same as the "European country from which Algeria gained its independence in 1962"?
+1
Level 73
Aug 3, 2020
I agree, you could ask a question about the Algerian War (Charles de Gaulle, FLN, Évian Accords) or maybe Camus or The Stranger. Also, I was doing research for a quiz just yesterday and learned that Algiers is home to the world's third-largest mosque and the tallest minaret, which could easily be made into a question.
+1
Level 68
Jun 9, 2023
yes agreed - questions on other countries is a real cop out. Not sure the punic one makes much sense either given that territory in Algeria was fairly tangential to the conflict.

More Algeria-specific questions might include rai music, St Augustine and the 250,000-1,500,000 Algerians killed in the war of independence.

+6
Level 69
Aug 3, 2020
What do the punic wars have to do with Algeria? Carthage used to be in Tunisia, right?
+4
Level 75
Aug 3, 2020
Agreed. I was scratching my head on the relevance of that question also.
+6
Level 81
Aug 24, 2020
Carthiginian territory consisted of all of the northern coasts of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco as well as southern Spain, Corsica, Sardinia, and part of Sicily. Though..... I don't think there were any battles that took place on the Algerian coast so the question's inclusion is still a bit odd.
+1
Level 15
Oct 15, 2024
Make some researches about the begining of the 3rd punic war... (spoilers : Numidia did it)
+1
Level 58
Aug 3, 2020
I can't wait for these daily country quizzes to get round to Cyprus. Now which continent is it in again...?
+2
Level 75
Dec 5, 2020
You won't be disappointed - they really trolled that point in the Cyprus quiz!
+2
Level 71
Aug 12, 2020
Just wondering: is there any logic to the order in which you list the bordering countries? It's not alphabetical and doesn't seem to follow a clockwise progression either...
+4
Level 68
Nov 14, 2020
Muslim, rather than Islamic?
+5
Level 75
Dec 5, 2020
Yes, I was just seeing if anyone had brought this up yet. You don't describe people as Islamic, you describe them as Muslim.
+1
Level 73
Dec 11, 2020
Agreed, people aren't calendars ;) Please change this to Muslim Quizmaster.
+1
Level 73
Dec 11, 2020
I could feel my brain muscles squeezing out the name of the series of wars. I only need that brain cell every ten years or so...I always remember them as 'punishing' which helps get me rolling on the name.
+2
Level 77
Aug 6, 2021
i would suggest instead of asking for the percentage you ask ‘what religion do ~99% of the population belong to’ - it actually shows knowledge about algeria rather than just ability to guess a number
+2
Level 49
Dec 23, 2021
Wouldn't "% of Algerians who are Muslims" make more sense than Islamic
+1
Level 57
Apr 5, 2022
Really? DZ? Algeria doesn't have D or Z in their name, who came up with that‽
+4
Level 59
Jul 21, 2022
In arabic, algeria is "Djazair"
+1
Level 71
Nov 22, 2022
in fact the word "Algeria" comes from "al-djazair"
+1
Level 27
Jan 4, 2023
It is very funny how I do not think of tunisia. the only miss i got.
+1
Level 62
Feb 18, 2023
20/21 I've heard of Punic Wars, but didn't know it as answer
+1
Level 48
May 9, 2024
(hint: starts with M)
+1
Level 44
Jun 28, 2024
Can you nominate my quizzes
+1
Level 60
Aug 6, 2024
Punic Wars are irrelevant to Algeria as they happened elsewhere.