Copy No. 4,4
GEOGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE REPORT
GEOGRAPHIC FEASIBILITY OF ALGERIAN PARTITION
CIA/RR-GR-96
JUNE 1956
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND REPORTS
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WARNING
This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Sees. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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G11XORAPR] INTELLIGENCE MMM
G1! OGRAPNIC FF.ASIBU. ET ' OF AIiGERWT PARTITION
CIA/ fft-OR-96
June 1956
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X., CCOcluatons . . . . . 1.
IL Possible Ways to Partition Alberta - An Evaluation 2
A. By Terrain and MIMte
Along Ethnic Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
. By Agricultural Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . 4
L. Population . . . . . . . ? . . ? . . . . ? ? ?
+3. Agriculture . . . ? ? ? e . ? ? ? f ? o ? e ?
C Forestry
~y.~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
D. ~Wai~4.Ja~ Resources o O o ? ? ? ? t ? e ? . . ? . ~99^
20 .Minerails . . . . ? . ? . O . ? . . . . ? V . O 10
rye rte bapact of Terrorism on the Human and Natural
aouree Pattern o r . ? e o . . e . ? . e
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:. Conclusions
There is no sound basis for the partition of Algeria between the
French and the native population. A=ardjngVj no recommendations for
partition lines are made. Partition between the Berber-speaking and
Arabic-speaking natives may be possible, but no economically viable
unit would result. Therefore, no recommendations for partition between
the natives are made.
Although several methods of partition were examined, the pattern
of human and natural resources is such that sound results could not be
expected. Algeria is an agricultural country in which the explosive
rate of population increase continues to outstrip all increases in
agricultural Income. If the French were restricted to the cities, their
land was expropriated and redistributed, and the natives were allowed to
control the agricultural system, there is strong evidence that two results
would f ollcstS.
(1) The gap between agricultural income and population would
become wider.
(2) The French, whose bold on the cities is already weak,
would lose control of the water supply and thereby of
the cities.
Although partition based an expropriation of French-owned land may have
merit as a political expedient, it has no logical economic or demographic
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basis. In any case, terrorism is now so effective that partition of
what is left may be an academic question.
IX. Fusible W Zs To Partition AIAMU -- An Rvaluation
A. M Terrain and Climate
The beat single economic area in Algeria today, the Tell, is
delimited naturally on the basis of terrain and climate. This area,
located between the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, contains 75
percent of the people of Algeria on one-sixteenth of the land. Although
the French rural population is greater here than in any other part of
Algeria, natives predominate in the Tell. There is no way to partition
the Tell, and any partition of Algeria that would be meaningful to the
revolting native element would involve the Tell..
Conversely, any partition of Algeria that would be meaningful to
the French would have to give them control of the great bidraulic projects
that supply the cities with power and water and the farms with irrigation
water. Because of their very nature, these projects had to be located
in the mountains -- mountains which are often under or potentially
subject to rebel control. To give the French the major cities and not
the mountains that control the paver and water supply would be short-
sighted. Rebel activity against these installations is evidence of the
indivisible relationship between city and mountains in Algeria.
Terrain and climate have contributed to the present administrative
pattern in Algeria, particularly in separating the present dePOrl
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of Bone, Constantine, Algiers, and Oran from the rest of Algeria; these
departments are a part of 1etropolitan France. From the standpoint of
ec 'ania geography and security, the southern limits of these departments
we sound. These limits serve to separate usable land in its widest
possible economic meaning from wasteland.
B. Alstbiti._. Lima
It is usually pointed out that the French are primarily city
dvellere, so.the`gt stun is. asked, why not partition Algeria in such
a manner that urban zones would be elloted to them and the rest of the
-and to the natives? The chief flaw in this reasoning is that such a
division would by no means guarantee to the French control over the
cities. The increase in native population to the present figure of 8
million has produced a large native urban population., partly as a result
of a high birthrate in the cities and partly from mig?ation to the cities.
Consequently, natives would still outnumber the French in the cities.
The only effective way to guarantee French control of the cities, in
terms of numbers of people, would be to remove many urban natives and
prevent others from entering the cities.. This would hardly eliminate
the natives' reasons for agitation against the French.
The major Berber areas are sufficiently large and ethnically
cohesive to form viable political entities. The Berber society, with
its core of tightly knit villages, seems to have survived better than
the comparatively loosely it Arab society with its tendencies towards
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monarchical forma that are fundamentally unsuited to modern conditions.
The Berber vi Ugps, an the other hand, farm a suitable foundation for
a society organised along modern political lines.
C. cultwural Patterns
Partition by agricultural patterns is not realistic. If partition
were to restrict the French to the cities and expropriate their
agricultural land, the present pattern of population distribution would
merely be accentuated and the income-producing ability of the agricultural
system would be ruined. The rural Arab is engaged principally in the
cultivation of meat and barley by primitive methods and in the raising
of sheep. The care and labor that enters into the cultivation of fruit
and. olive trees and into truck gardening is apparently still repugnant
to him; the prohibition of vine by Islam has tended to prevent him from
cultivating the grape.
The Berbera, in contrast, have a more diversified agriculture, are
more solidly sedentary, and form densely populated coman'nities. Berber
sedentary characteristics are evidenced by the fact that regions of
Berber speech and of arboriculture, particularly the cultivation of the
fig and olive, have coincided since the earliest times. Though some
wheat and barley is grown in these regions, the terrain is too rugged
to permit any great production of cereal crops. Moreover, most Berber
land is so densely populated that the basic problem, overpopulation,
would remain after partition. The Kabylie region (a Berber area)
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In one of the most densely populated areas in the world. It also is
the chief source of Algerian workers who emigrate to France, and entire
v lags exist on the small remittances these workers are able to send
back.
3x70. Patterns of Harman and Natural Resources
A. Emulation
Algeria has about 9.g million people, mostly Muslims. Europeans
number over 1 million and are mostly French, ms4gy with a heritage of
several generations in Algeria. Of the 9.5 million people, nearly 9
million are concentrated in approximately 9 percent of the area, the
four departments of northern Algeria -- Bone., Constantine,. Algiers,
and Oran. The annual rate of population increase for all of Algeria
is high (2.8 percent), but the Muslim birth rate is twice that of the
European element. Offer French control the population of Algeria has
increased from 1 million to B million natives during the last century.
The French in Algeria are primarily city dwellers. In the highly
rural departments of Bone and Constantine, of s total of 3,425,000 peoples
only 200,000 are Europeans.. One can drive for scores of miles without
seeing a European, and this was true in pre-terrorist days as well as
today. F r e n c h f a r m s in t h e s e d e p a r t m e n t s a n d nany otbbir ri ral areas
are tiny European islands in a sea of Niislims. The French agricultural
effort is therefore easily vulnerable to any hostile Muslim acts.
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The natives of Algeria aampariae two distinct 3inguictia grOXVS
Berber and Arab. In gensssl, the Bea` der population is confined to
the more rued mountain areas, is sedentary or sesainamedia within
abarply defined limits, and still observe a customary law which,
even in the most important Berber center, has never been supplanted by
Koranic ! v. In contrast, the nonuz'ban Arab population genre. y inhabits
the plsinEa and the high plateaus stag, at best, is loosely attached to
the soil; Lame gibers still live in tents.
The great majority of the Arab-speaking population is canposed of
Barbara who, over the centuries, have been Arab18ed. The reverse
pro?ess, the Barbarizing of Arabian people, is coaaperatively
rare and has taken place oa11y on a limited scale. Apparently the Berber
language is in slow regression, though its hold on the people who speak
it is still tenacious; even in bilingual areas the language used in
the family is Berber. Ries fact that Berber remains an unwritten language,
the Influence of Isla n, the spread of ca?erce, and increased Berber
migration to the cities have all eantributed toward reducing the proportion
of the Berber++speaking population in relation to the Arabic-speaking
population. At the same time, however, French state-sponsored schools
have been widely established in Berber areas, and French has become a
serious rival to Arabic as a second language.
The linguistic predominance of Arabic over Berber-speaking peoples
in the cities is likely to continue. Berber is not and has not been an
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urban language since remote antiquity; the only two urban centers
where Berber is the principal language are Tizi-*mu and Bougie.
All of remaining cities are Arabia-speaking, but the people
speak & di.s]sct distinct from that of most of the countryside. The
centers of Arab culture are so strong that the surrounding countryside
ban been Arabized.
Because nearly a third of the population of Algeria Is Berber-
speaking, any partition of Algeria would be wino to take the Berbers
into account. Even If Algeria fell completely into Arab hands, control
of the Berbers would still remain a problem. The Berber-speaking popu-
lation is concentrated in the eastern and central parts of the four
metropolitan departments and is On at lacking in the western parts of
the country. Observers have long noted the coincidence between the
areas of Berber population and those of the most difficult terrain,
many of thich today are rebel-infested. The areas occupied by large
Berber-speaking groups in the region south of Constantine correspond
fairly closely with the mountains of the Aures and the Ne meha. The
concentration of Berbers known as the Kabylie, between Algiers and
Djidjell., centering around Tizi-Ouzou and Bougie, corresponds with
the mountains of the Djurdjura, the Bibans, and the Behors. The Berbers
on the coast most of Algiers between Cherchel and Tense coincide with
the highest parts of the coastal range known as the mountains of Miliaria.
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Scattered Islands of Berber speech stretching from the area south
of Algiers to the Moroccan border correspond with the highest
nurtions of the Mitidja Atlas and the Ouarsenis Range, as well as
with pasts of the mountains of Tlemcen. Small groups of Berber-speaking
peoples are also found in some of the most inhospitable regions of the
Sahara Desert.
B. A&riculture
The agricultural wealth of Algeria is sharply limited to the north,
particularly to the fertile plains and valleys near the coast where,
myr of the cash crops are grown. Most of the good land is owned by
the French. They almost exclusively grow the most valuable crop, wine
gr+epes, as well as the best grain, fruits, and cattle -- thus producing
the bulk of the agricultural income of the country. Altogether, wine,
eerwa1s, fruit, and vegetable crops account for over three-fourths of
the total agricultural income. Animal production supplies only one-
fourth of the total agricultural income. There are over 9 million
sheep and goats in Algeria, or more then 1 per native.
Under French control the cultivable area of Algeria has been
greatly extended, but this has been accomplished principally by drain-
age and inprovement in the distribution of existing waters. Such
im ayements, however, have not been able to keep pace with the explosive
rate of population increase. For example, over a -year period (1950
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through 1953), agricultural Income increased 5 percent, but the
L,oyuiation increased. 7 percent. The gap is considered es.pecially
serious because of Algeria's dependence upon agriculture. Nearly one-
tAU.d of Algeria's gross national income comes from agricultural
production, and the most uunerous industries are those that process
agricultural produce. Approximately 78 percent of the to -1 population
dnds directly upon agriculture for a living.
orests occupy over 5 million acres. Most of this sand is state-
owned brusb.1 '1 located in the drier mountainous parts of Algeria.
French reforestation efforts are often resented by the nctdc3ic Arabs
because much land is taken out of grazing, use of it is controlled,
or it is leased. The major forest produat is cork.
11. Water Resources
Ro other resou,ce directly affects the economic well-being of
Algeria as much as water. fortunately the water supply is ]. .ted,,
The accompanying map illustrates some of the hard facts about the
relationship between water and people in Algeria. Of the 21 cities of
10,000 or more population, only 3 are south of the 8-inch rainfall line
and only 2 others are south of the 16-inch rainfall line, Of these
Vii, one is on the 16-inch line, and another is only a short distance from
it. With two exceptions, the existing dams are north of the 16-inch
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line. In general, eastern Algeria receives more raintaU than western
seria, and the latter includes more irrigated areas. Denis and water
spreading make possible the irrigation of nearly a quarter of a million
acres; it is estimated that the water supply is sufficient to irrigate
oxLy an additional 100,000 acres.
E. Minerals
Exploitable mineral deposits in Algeria are limited, and minerals
are not being found in quantity. ) ny sectors of the alining industry
axe operating at substantial losses. At bests marry years of exploration
and dgvelap~maat lie ahead before there can be even a modest realization
of Algeria's undeveloped resources. The most ia}pdartant mineral export
is iron ore, which is found in the department of Bone. Next in importance
are the two phosphate mines also in the department of B& eo Algerian
production of coal and petroleum has remained relatively unimportant,
and exploitation can be carried on only by virtue of heavy subsidies.
The chief coal deposit is at Columb-Bed, far to the south. The chief
oilfield at owed Gueterini lams sizable reserves.
Any minerals discovered in the Sahara would have to be extremely
valuable to overcame the excessive cost of transporting them to the
coast. The transferring of possible oil areas in te.Sahara Desert of
Algeria to French Wr ,'_? Africa would not change the pattern of accessi-
bility and .marketing.
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Ike ImWact of Terrorism on the Human and Natural Resource Pattern
Inasmuch as terrori?t conceutxatas on those features that are
of French presence, the patterns outlined above are being
changed.
In the economic sphere, terrorism is threatening to break down
the economy of Algeria. The sabotage of the transportation system is
spreading and damaging installations of a permanent nature. The mining
industry Is particularly hard hit. Iroax pyrites are no longer produced
in Algeria, and the industry at large has used development work, as
wall as the replacement and modernization of capital equipment.
Agriculture in much of the area east of Algiers is becoming
virtually impossible, with roughly one-third of the farms in the department
of Constantine already destroyed. Destruction figures are approaching
the fantastic. For example., 35,E grape vines were out in one night
at one place. The increased tempo of destruction is evidenced by
the cutting of 350 orange trees in August 1955; in September 1955 the
figure rose to 5,100; and in 1956, on one night alone, 6,000 orange
trees Were cut. Some time ago estimates of the number of fruit trees
destroyed stood at 40,000, and the umber of cattle killed or stolen
amounted two 10,000. At least 100 tractors have been destroyed, as well
as thousands of tons of forage and straw.
The x4ost important forest industry in Algeria is cork production,
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and this industry is in a state of liquidation. Stripping operations
are impas$ible, Forrest-cork depots have been burned down, and the
t rrorists have commenced to burn cork depots and menuYacturing plants
r,n the por-to of Bare, Bougie, and A7g ierss The largest cuapenies are
thinking of transferring all their processing to France. This would
have a disastrous effect on future a ap]Loyrrent, prices, and production
in the cork trades
AS carious as these depredations arm to the functioning of the
Algerian econcwW, they are merely a portent of more serious destruction.
Tossibly the most effective wsy for the rebels to drive the bench out
c.f Algeria is to damage the impressive hydraulic projects the French
k+; ? e built. Such a, =pdZa would interfere with irrigation and
electric power.
their very nature the hydraulic projects are located in the
untain$ -- the places most vulnerable to rebel attenk. Bougie,
rbillipville, and Calla are regularly deprived of water whenever the
terrorists out the aqueducts fran the mount.! in reservoirs. Recently
.Algeria's second city, Oran, was sbc rt of water for some days following
the dyna iting of a section of the 70-mile-1oamy aqueduct ffr a the
ni-Ravel Ism. About a month ago, French forces a1 &i m to have
E : -O;eu uu an args=zation that had pla vse 1 to blow up the Otied. Fo& a
irr.,gates one of the richest farthing areas in Algeria. Before
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y be month of 1956 bad ended.. the rebels severe4 damaged the dam
e: gbri,, as veil as the water ducts of its neighboring hydroelectric
?i?t.
The city of biers obtain an important part of its electric-power
up :y frcm hydroelectric plants in the Petite Kabylie Mo?+nntains, one
of the arc-as of greatest disturbance; high-tension knee also cross
the notorious Grande Kabylie B&antai ns. Work on the massive Oued
)jenjen D roelectric project in the Petite Kabylie, the greatest
,roiect of its type in Algeria, is reported to be greatly handicapped
cause ccntant protection is needed for all work parties.
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