Algeria

Algeria is a nation which is 99 percent Sunni Muslim. Islamic traditions really drive the nation in a large way. It dictates a lot of humanitarian issues, especially in regard to women, and it also dictates a lot of the judicial decisions. There is a great mixture of French and Arabic culture, and there is also a population of indigenous people, the Berber, who have influenced the culture as well. Learn about the Barbary Pirates, who lived in Algeria preying on merchant ships of many nations, and how they even halted further growth in settling of the coastal Mediterranean for a time, due to their relentless attacks.