WikiWomenCamp/FAQ/Perspectives/Algeria

Algeria

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The official language of Algeria is Modern Standard Arabic and Berber has been recognized as a "national language" the two languages are the native languages of over 99 percent of Algerians. French, has no official status but still widely used in government, culture, media (newspapers) and education (taught from primary school), due to Algeria's colonial history and can be regarded as being the de facto co-official language of Algeria.

Algerian has 12.50% internet penetration or 4,323,273 people having internet access in 2010.[1][2][3]

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites in the country, ranking 11th in December 2011.[4] People's interest in the site can also be seen on Facebook where 2,400 Algerians. Women made up 35.8% of all Algerians liking Wikipedia.[5] This interest is higher than the 9% female contributor population. The country currently does not have a Wikimedia chapter, and efforts to create one is unknown.

Algerians represent sizable parts of the viewing community on several different language Wikipedia, including 8.7% of all Arabic readers, 1.6% French Wikipedia readers, 11.4% Kabyle Wikipedia readers, and 4.9% of all Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia readers.[6]

On English Wikipedia, there are 2 articles about female footballers, 12 articles about female singers and 4 articles about female Algerian writers. [7] Coverage and participation of Algerian women is limited.

Algerian women do not appear to be engaged with Wikinews in English or Portuguese. There are no female administrators on English wikinews from this country, nor are there any women from this country who are English wikinews accredited reporters. A search for الجزائر, Arabic for Algeria, had between 40 and 50 results.[8] There appears to be coverage of Algeria on Arabic wikinews, but not of women in the country.

Volunteer projects, popularity, readership, and contribution

Wikibooks ranked 2,134th in the country in December 2011.[9] | Wikiversity was ranked the 5,480th most popular site in the country.[10] .

Algerian women perspective to free knowledge
  • Unknown
Women in Algeria
  • Historically during the 1962 Algerian War of Independence, women fought as equals alongside men. They thus achieved a new sense of their own identity and a measure of acceptance from men. In the aftermath of the war, women maintained their new-found emancipation and became more actively involved in the development of the new state. Algeria is regarded as a relatively liberal nation and the status of women reflects this. Unlike other countries in the region, equality for women is enshrined in Algerian laws and the constitution. They can vote and run for political positions. North African and Algerian enjoy many more privileges than their counterparts in neighboring and African countries. This is due to historic European influences and Berber customs that do not regard women as inferior to men. Algerian women can inherit property, obtain a divorce, retain custody of their children, gain an education and work in many sectors of society. Women make up 70 percent of Algeria’s lawyers and 60 percent of its judges. They also dominate the fields of medicine, healthcare and science. Increasingly, women contribute more to household income than men. As of 2007, sixty-five percent of university students are women, with more than 80% joinng the workforce after graduation. They are encouraged by family members to become educated and contribute to Algerian society. Algerian women are among the first in North Africa to become taxi and bus drivers. Their numbers are also increasing in the police force and security positions. Algerians have been exposed to many outsiders and so can speak a combination of languages. Predominantly, French, a Berber dialect and Arabic are spoken. A tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films has increased the number of English and Spanish speakers in recent years.
The Foundation

During the December 2011 fundraising appeal, no Algerians, men or women, were featured as part of the appeal. During the 2011 Summer of Research, the WMF hired eight research fellows, none of whom were from Algeria. The country was not visited as part of the WMF educational tour of the middle east.