Algiers and Algeria

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers.

The North African country of Algeria is named for the city of Algiers which was the city chosen by the French as its capital when they colonized it in 1830. Adding "Algiers" to the Latinate "country" suffix -ia gave the modern city its name. The city name ii Arabic translates literally as "the islands" and is a reference to four islands formerly off the coast that have been joined to the mainland since 1525.

Al-Jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name, Jazā’ir Banī Mazghannā, meaning "The Islands of the Sons of Mazghanna." That name was used by early medieval geographers. The city was built in 960 on the ruins of the ancient Roman city Icosium.

A resident of Algiers was known as an "Algerine" in the mid-17th century and that name was synonymous with "pirate" in England and the United States in early 1800s.

Algiers is located on a bay of the Mediterranean Sea and is still an important port. Algiers today is a large city with a metropolitan population of over 3 million. While downtown Algiers looks modern, the capital is struggling to keep up with rapid growth and standards of living for most of its population is very poor.