Ninety-one percent of the Algerian population lives along the Mediterranean coast on 12% of the country's total land mass.

[5] While significantly greater during the French colonial years, a mostly foreign Roman Catholic community still exists, as do some Protestants.

The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population,[citation needed] has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.

Modest numbers of Algerian students study abroad, primarily in France and French-speaking Canada.

[15] The majority of Algerians identify with an Arab-based identity due to the 20th century Arab nationalism.

A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E3b2 and J haplogroups is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East.

This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005) which suggest that "contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East", although later papers have suggested that this date could have been as longas ten thousand years ago, with the transition from the Oranian to the Capsian culture in North Africa.

Although French has no official status, Algeria is the second-largest Francophone country in the world in terms of speakers,[28] and French is widely used in government, media (newspapers, radio, local television), and both the education system (from primary school onwards) and academia due to Algeria's colonial history.

[29] An Abassa Institute study in April 2000 found that 60% of households could speak and understand French.