Algeria -  Algérie -  الجزایر

· A country of contradictions.

· Raided by all sorts, from Romans to Arabs to Ottomans, Spaniards and the French, the latest to try invasion were the Isalmist fundamentalists, aka terrorists.

· Algeria was revolted by the French colonisation, so its people revolted. Yet, it was then hijacked by the results of another revolution, turning strict Socialist in the shadow of the USSR.

· It was once the vineyard of the Roman empire, the vines were further cultivated in French times, yet uprooted to grow wheat for self-sufficiency in Socialist times. What remains of the vines is turned into wine, drank with care and caution while the latest aggressors watch over whom they can bully.

· It’s full of gas and oil, much more than it can use.

· Though Arab speaking, one rarely sees a camel in Algeria.

· Though Arab speaking, barely a non-Algerian Arab understands the Algerian dialect.

· Though Arab speaking, every shop has French signs.

· Its coast on the Mediterranean is long, but underused. The locals and family do go every year, plus the odd ‘barbu’ in a corner. Western money is yet to find its tourist money going there.

· Its middle and south contain nothing but Saharan sand.

· It benefited from culture even 7000 years ago, ladies with handbags and skirts were etched on stones to prove this.