The head of state is the president of Algeria, who is elected for a five-year term. The president was formerly limited to two five-year terms but a constitutional amendment passed by the Parliament on November 11, 2008 removed this limitation.
Northern Algeria is in the temperate zone and enjoys a mild, Mediterranean climate. It lies within approximately the same latitudes as southern California and has somewhat similar climatic conditions. Its broken topography, however, provides sharp local contrasts in both prevailing temperatures and incidence of rainfall. Year-to-year variations in climatic conditions are also common.
Downtown Algiers, Algeria
Known as Alger in French and Al Djazair in Arabic, Algiers is the capital city of Algeria on the Mediterranean Coast. The skyline is dominated by two shapes: the Martyrs Monument (Makam ech-Chahid) in the south and in the city center, the box-like shape of the Hotel Aurassi.