Algeria Culture & Language

Algeria is both Arab and Amazigh — Berber — and Tamazight became an official language alongside Arabic in 2016 after long campaigning, particularly from Kabylie. Amazigh identity, language and the Yennayer new year are publicly celebrated in a way they were not a generation ago.

Raï music emerged from Oran in the twentieth century and became Algeria’s best-known cultural export, while Andalusian classical music preserves traditions carried from Spain after 1492.

Couscous is inscribed by UNESCO as shared heritage with neighbouring countries, and the ceremony around preparing and sharing it is the listed element rather than the dish alone.

French remains widely spoken and used in business and higher education despite having no official status, an inheritance of the colonial period that Algerians discuss with considerable ambivalence.

Arabic and Tamazight are both official. Algerian colloquial Arabic (darija) differs substantially from Modern Standard Arabic and borrows heavily from French and Amazigh.

French is widely spoken and is often the easiest common language for European visitors; English is much less common, though growing among the young.

Salam alaykum as a greeting, shukran for thank you, and azul in Amazigh areas, which is received with real pleasure.