New Release : Algeria country page and land sector Snapshot

The Arab Land Initiative is happy to share our new Algeria country page, containing key information on the land sector in Algeria, links to a curated selection of other informative land-related publications and a new downloadable land sector Snapshot .

Algeria is the largest country in Africa, bordering Morocco, Mali, Libya, Tunisia, Niger, Mauritania and Western Sahara. The territory of Algeria is divided into 48 wilaya (provinces) that were created after independence, with boundaries redrawn in 1974. The wilaya are divided into anywhere between three and 21 daïra (districts), some of which serve as administrative, healthcare and service centers.  

Three key pieces of legislation related to urban and town planning were implemented between 1974 and 1976, on the creation of land reserves for municipalities, the establishment of the cadastre and the expropriation of land for public interest. The 1989 Constitution of Algeria (amended in 1996) lays out basic rights related to land and property. More recently, the Government began developing a new urban policy that focuses on the construction of housing to meet growing demand.

Between independence in 1962 and the early 1980s, Algeria undertook land reforms that were largely socialist in nature, but more recent reforms can be characterized as neoliberal. In 1963 Algeria nationalized lands that were left vacant by the exodus of French colonizers and then created state farms through the process of autogestion (self-management). Constitutional amendments in 1996 and subsequent legislation made private land ownership central to Algeria’s land tenure system.

Visit the Algeria country page here to learn more about the land sector in Algeria, including the land-related legal and institutional frameworks, land tenure reforms and more!