Total population | |
---|---|
c. 700 (by birth) c. 2,000 (by ancestry) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Algeri, Constantine, Annaba and Oran | |
Languages | |
Algerian Arabic · Italian and Italian dialects | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholic | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Italians, Italian Angolans, Italian Egyptians, Italian Eritreans, Italian Ethiopians, Italian Libyans, Italian Moroccans, Italian Mozambicans, Italian Somalis, Italian South Africans, Italian Tunisians, Italian Zimbabweans |
Italian Algerians (Italian : italo-algerini) are Algerian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Algeria during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Algeria.
The first Italian presence in Algeria dates back to the times of the Italian maritime republics, when some merchants of the Republic of Venice settled on the central Maghreb coast. The first Italians took root in Algiers and in eastern Algeria, especially in Annaba and Constantine. A small minority went to Oran, where the Spanish community had been substantial for many centuries. These first Italians (estimated at 1,000) were traders and artisans, with a small presence of peasants.
When France occupied Algeria in 1830, it counted over 1,100 Italians in its first census (done in 1833), [1] concentrated in Algiers and in Annaba. With the arrival of the French, the migratory flow from Italy grew considerably: in 1836 the Italians had grown to 1,800, to 8,100 in 1846, to 9,000 in 1855, to 12,000 in 1864 and to 16,500 in 1866. [1] Italians were an important community among foreigners in Algeria. [1] Annaba was one of the major settlement centers of Italians in Algeria. Between 1850 and 1880, an Italian community of coral fishermen settled there from Liguria, Tuscany and Campania. [2] [3] [4] Other jobs that the Italians carried out in Algeria were fishermen, laborers, bricklayers, miners, marble workers, tailors, stonemasons, carpenters and shoemakers. [5]
In 1889, French citizenship was granted to foreign residents, mostly settlers from Spain or Italy, so as to unify all European settlers ( pieds-noirs ) in the political consensus for an "Algérie française". The French wanted to increase the European numerical presence in the recently conquered Algeria, [6] and at the same time limit and prevent the aspirations of Italian colonialism in neighboring Tunisia and possibly also in Algeria. [7] As a consequence, the Italian community in Algeria began to decline, going from 44,000 in 1886, to 39,000 in 1891 and to 35,000 in 1896. [1]
In the 1906 census, 12,000 Italians in Algeria were registered as naturalized Frenchmen, [8] demonstrating a very different attitude from that of the Italian Tunisians, much more sensitive to the irredentist bond with the motherland. [7] After World War I, Italian Algerians stabilized at around 30–35,000 people. [1] Fascism also made very few converts in Algeria. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Algeria experienced a building boom, and the masons were almost all Italian. [5] Many of them later became entrepreneurs in the construction field. [5] The Italians were also the majority among the miners and among the workers who worked on the construction of roads and railways. [5]
Also noteworthy were the Italian peasants who made the land left uncultivated by the French colonists productive again, who decided to devote themselves to other productive activities. [5] At the beginning of the 20th century there was the opening of Italian-speaking scholastic, health and cultural institutions, In particular, in 1927, there were three private elementary schools, eight mutual aid institutes, two centers for the diffusion of culture Italian and an economic association. [5] Italian language courses were also common. [5] There were also three offices of the Dante Alighieri Society. [5]
After World War II, Italian Algerians followed the fate of the French pieds-noirs, especially in the years of the Algerian War, repatriating massively to Italy. [1] Still in the 1960s, immediately after Algeria's independence from France, the Italian community had a consistency of about 18,000 people, almost all residing in the capital, a number that dropped to 500-600 people in a short time. [1]
In 2012, there were 2,000 Algerians of Italian descent, of which only a few hundred are descendants of the old settlers, while there were around 699 Italian citizens in Algeria. [9] The few members of the Italian community remaining in Algiers have a school (entitled "Roma") and a club at their disposal.
The Algerian War was a major armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and war crimes. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities and within the communities. The war took place mainly on the territory of Algeria, with repercussions in metropolitan France.
French Algeria, also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until the end of the Algerian War which resulted in Algeria gaining independence on 5 July 1962.
The pieds-noirs are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the war by which Algeria gained its independence in 1962.
Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj was an Algerian nationalist politician dedicated to the independence of his homeland from French colonial rule. He is often called the "father" of Algerian nationalism.
Annaba, formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River and is in the Annaba Province. With a population of about 464,740 (2019) and 1,000,000 for the metropolitan area, Annaba is the third-largest city and the leading industrial center in Algeria.
The Sétif and Guelma massacre was a series of attacks by French colonial authorities and pied-noir European settler militias on Algerian civilians in 1945 around the market town of Sétif, west of Constantine, in French Algeria. In response to French police firing on demonstrators at a protest on 8 May 1945, native Algerians rioted in the town. Others attacked French settlers (colons) in the surrounding countryside, resulting in 102 deaths. The French colonial authorities and European settlers retaliated by killing an estimated 6,000 to 45,000 Muslims in the region.
The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy, and ended in the 1920s to the early 1940s with the rise of Fascist Italy. Poverty was the main reason for emigration, specifically the lack of land as mezzadria sharecropping flourished in Italy, especially in the South, and property became subdivided over generations. Especially in Southern Italy, conditions were harsh. From the 1860s to the 1950s, Italy was still a largely rural society with many small towns and cities having almost no modern industry and in which land management practices, especially in the South and the Northeast, did not easily convince farmers to stay on the land and to work the soil.
The National Rail Transportation Company is Algeria's national railway operator. The SNTF, a state-owned company, currently has a monopoly over Algeria's rail network of 3,973 km (2,469 mi), although it is currently utilising only 3,572 km (2,220 mi). Out of the total railway network, 2,888 km (1,795 mi) are 1,435 mmstandard gauge and 1,085 km (674 mi) are 1,055 mm narrow gauge.
Relations between France and Algeria span more than five centuries. Through this period, there have been many changes within each of the nations, with consequent effects on their relations. Algeria was once part of the Ottoman Empire, and in the 19th century was conquered and colonized by France. It played an important role in both world wars.
Rugby union in Algeria is a moderately popular sport. After many years of work, in 2015, Algeria finally created a federation enabling them to apply for member status of Rugby Africa. Algeria has experienced success at the international level causing an increase in overall popularity.
Algérie Ferries or Entreprise Nationale de Transport Maritime de Voyageurs (ENTMV) is a state-owned Algerian shipping company. The company operates passenger and freight services between Algeria, France and Spain.
The Turks in Algeria, also commonly referred to as Algerian Turks, Algerian-TurkishAlgero-Turkish and Turkish-Algerians were the ethnic Turkish and renegades who emigrated to Algeria during the Ottoman period. A significant number of Turks intermarried with the native population, and the male offspring of these marriages were referred to as Kouloughlis due to their mixed Turkish and central Maghrebi heritage. However, in general, intermarriage was discouraged, in order to preserve the "Turkishness" of the community. Consequently, the terms "Turks" and "Kouloughlis" have traditionally been used to distinguish between those of full and partial Turkish ancestry.
Air Algérie Flight 2208 was a cargo flight between Algiers-Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria, and Frankfurt Airport, Germany. On 13 August 2006, the Lockheed L-100 operating the flight crashed in Northern Italy as a result of an autopilot malfunction. The aircraft struck the ground in a sparsely populated area after a very steep and rapid descent, narrowly avoiding crashing into a highly populated area. The crew of three on board were killed in the accident; there were no passengers, nor were there injuries or property damage on the ground.
Drinking water supply and sanitation in Algeria is characterized by achievements and challenges. Among the achievements is a substantial increase in the amount of drinking water supplied from reservoirs, long-distance water transfers and desalination at a low price to consumers, thanks to the country's substantial oil and gas revenues. These measures increased per capita water supply despite a rapidly increasing population. Another achievement is the transition from intermittent to continuous water supply in the capital Algiers in 2011, along with considerable improvements in wastewater treatment resulting in better water quality at beaches. These achievements were made possible through a public-private partnership with a private French water company. The number of wastewater treatment plants throughout the country increased rapidly from only 18 in 2000 to 113 in 2011, with 96 more under construction. However, there are also many challenges. One of them is poor service quality in many cities outside Algiers with 78% of urban residents suffering from intermittent water supply. Another challenge is the pollution of water resources. There has also been insufficient progress concerning reuse of treated water, a government priority in this dry country.
Colette Anna Grégoire was an Algerian poet of French origin. She married an Algerian, considered herself Algerian, and was involved in the struggle for Algeria's independence from France. Her work shows her love of the Aurès Mountains where she grew up, and her strong political beliefs.
Kadour Naimi is a film producer, playwright, filmmaker, and writer.
The 2022 African Nations Championship, known as the 2022 CHAN for short and the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 7th edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), featuring national teams consisting of players currently playing in their respective local leagues. It was held in Algeria from 13 January to 4 February 2023.
The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak, began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. These protests, without precedent since the Algerian Civil War, were peaceful and led the military to insist on Bouteflika's immediate resignation, which took place on 2 April 2019. By early May, a significant number of power-brokers close to the deposed administration, including the former president's younger brother Saïd, had been arrested.
Italian Moroccans are Moroccan-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Morocco during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Morocco.
The history of rail transport in Algeria began in 1857 during the French colonization with the implementation of an initial plan for the creation of a 1,357 kilometres (843 mi) railway network. This plan, formalized by a decree from Emperor Napoleon III, defined the initial framework of the Algerian railway network, which continued to evolve throughout the second half of the 19th century, both in terms of its scale and structure.