Algeria’s story stretches back over 1.5 million years, with the earliest human tools at Ain Hanech.

Ancient Kingdoms: Berber dynasties (Massylii, Masaesyli, Mauretania), King Syphax, Queen Tin Hinan (matriarch of the Tuareg, 4th century AD).

Classical Era: Phoenician trading posts (e.g., Tipaza), Numidia (King Juba II), Roman Empire—Timgad, Djemila, and Hippo Regius were major cities.

Medieval: Arab-Islamic conquest in the 7th century, arrival of Islam, Berber dynasties (Fatimids, Almohads, Zirids).

Ottoman Period: Algiers became a center of Mediterranean piracy and commerce.

Colonial: French invasion 1830; fierce resistance by Emir Abd al-Qadir. Harsh colonization, land expropriation, and cultural suppression lasted until 1962’s independence after the bloody Algerian War.

Modern: Post-independence socialism, then civil war in the 1990s (“Black Decade”), and a modern state blending Berber, Arab, African, and Mediterranean heritage.