General Knowledge of Algerian Institutions, History and Current Affairs
This domain tests dated landmarks, the constitutional architecture and a working knowledge of current public life. Questions are factual and unforgiving: a wrong date or a confused institution loses the mark immediately.
Institutions
- The President of the Republic is elected for five years and appoints the Premier ministre, who conducts government policy.
- Parliament is bicameral: the Assemblée populaire nationale (407 seats, direct suffrage) and the Conseil de la nation, two-thirds elected indirectly by wilaya and communal assemblies and one-third appointed by the President.
- The Cour constitutionnelle (2020) rules on the constitutionality of laws, treaties and regulations; it replaced the Conseil constitutionnel.
- Judicial order: Cour suprême; administrative order: Conseil d'État; financial order: Cour des comptes.
- Territorial organisation: 58 wilayas since the 2019 reform, daïras and communes, each headed by an appointed wali or an elected assembly.
Historical landmarks
- 1830: start of French colonisation. 1 November 1954: outbreak of the national liberation war. 19 March 1962: ceasefire under the Évian agreements. 5 July 1962: independence.
- 1963 first constitution; October 1988 social upheaval; 1992 state of emergency; 2005 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation; February 2019 popular movement; November 2020 constitutional revision; 2021 legislative elections; September 2024 presidential election.
Society, economy, current affairs
- Hydrocarbons dominate exports; Sonatrach is the national oil company; the dinar is issued by the Banque d'Algérie; Algeria is an OPEC member and belongs to the African Union, the Arab League, the OIC and the UN.
- Public holidays include 1 May (Labour), 5 July (Independence), 1 November (Revolution) and Yennayer, the Amazigh new year, on 12 January.
Worked example
A question asks which body reviews the constitutionality of a statute and which audits the regularity of public spending. Reasoning: since 2020 the first is the Cour constitutionnelle (not the former Conseil constitutionnel), the second is the Cour des comptes, which belongs to the financial order and not to the administrative one.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing 19 March (ceasefire) with 5 July (independence); giving the old figure of 48 wilayas; attributing social funds to the wrong ministry; mixing the Conseil constitutionnel and the Cour constitutionnelle.
Key points
- Bicameral Parliament: APN elected directly, Conseil de la nation two-thirds indirectly elected, one-third appointed.
- Cour constitutionnelle since 2020; Conseil d'État (administrative), Cour suprême (judicial), Cour des comptes (financial).
- 58 wilayas since the 2019 territorial reform.
- 1 November 1954, 19 March 1962, 5 July 1962 are the three pivotal dates.
- Yennayer, 12 January, is a national public holiday.
- Algeria is an OPEC member and belongs to the AU, Arab League, OIC and UN.