Algeria became independent in 1962 from the French colonization following almost a decade of warfare and resulting in the return of most of the French (pieds-noirs) and some pro-French Algerians to France. The country had been established as an Arab-Islamic socialist state with a single party political system, the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) being the only legal party. Ahmed Ben Bella, the National Liberation Army chief of staff, was elected the first president of Algeria in 1962.

In 1965 Defence Minister Houari Boumedienne removed Ben Bella from power in a bloodless coup. He formed a 26-member Council of Revolution which became the country's highest government body, with the army displacing the FLN as the overriding political influence. The Boumedienne government developed a socialist political system which was codified in a constitution in 1976.

After a slow process of political opening, the Islamic Salvation Front won the first round of the country's first multiparty elections in December 1991. The military then canceled the second round, forced president Bendjedid to resign, and banned the Islamic Salvation Front. The ensuing conflict engulfed Algeria in the violent Algerian Civil War that only became less intense in 2002.

Elections resumed in 1995, and on 27 April 1999, after a series of short-term leaders representing the military, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the current president, was elected.



To read more about Algeria’s history:

Historical Overview on the website of Arabic German Consulting:
http://www.arab.de/arabinfo/algehis.htm

Events after independence (1962-1999) on the website of ArabNet:
http://www.arab.net/algeria/aa_independence.htm