algeria

algeria — noun

1. a large country on the northern coast of Africa whose capital is Algiers and who

1.nounA2
Definition

a large country on the northern coast of Africa whose capital is Algiers and whose main official language is Arabic, with most of its land lying inside the Sahara Desert.

Example

Algeria became independent from France in 1962 after a long war.

Algeria + verb in past tense (historical fact)

Layla flew to Algiers, the capital of Algeria, to visit her grandmother.

the capital of Algeria (apposition pattern)

Common collocations
  • northern Algeria
  • southern Algeria
  • born in Algeria
  • travel to Algeria
  • the people of Algeria

Grammar Patterns

Algeria + verb

in Algeria

from Algeria

Usage Note

Always written with a capital A, because Algeria is a country name. Used without 'the' (say 'in Algeria', not 'in the Algeria'). The people and the language adjective are 'Algerian'; the capital city is 'Algiers'.

Common Mistakes

My cousin lives in algeria.
My cousin lives in Algeria.
country names are always capitalized.
She moved to the Algeria last year.
She moved to Algeria last year.
do not use 'the' before Algeria.
He is Algeria.
He is Algerian.' / 'He is from Algeria.
for the nationality, use the adjective 'Algerian'.

Word family

Etymology

ArabicFrenchEnglish

The name comes from the country's capital, Algiers, which in turn comes from the Arabic 'al-Jazā'ir' meaning 'the islands' — a reference to four small islands that once sat just off the city's harbour before they were joined to the mainland in the 16th century. European languages borrowed the name through French ('Algérie'), and English settled on 'Algeria' for the country and 'Algerian' for the people.