Getting to Know Algeria and the Differences Between Hazards, Disasters and Catastrophes

Getting to Know Algeria and Differences Between Hazards, Disasters, & Catastrophes

by Laurel Bowen - Week 1 Blog Post for Geology 9 with Ana Garcia Garcia 

Algeria's location on the map found from 
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 

One of the most famous stock images of
Algeria by Leonid Andronov found
on Getty Images

Algeria is known for its hospitality and booming handicraft industry, consisting of carpets, ceramics, pottery, clothing, leather work, glass art and more, as stated in the Algerian Embassy's official website. Located on the continent of Africa, Algeria is one of the largest countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria has 58 provinces, consisting of a population around the size of 44.18 million people. With this size of a population, Algeria has a vast culture, heavily influenced by Arab and Berber culture, and Islamic heritage. Algeria's most common hazards that the country experiences is flooding, fires, and earthquakes. This can quickly turn into disasters, which Algeria has experienced quite a bit of with it's severe and dangerous flooding. These floods have turned into catastrophic events before, killing thousands. Hazards can easily turn into disasters, leading to catastrophes, but there are a few key differences between the three. According to the textbook Natural Disaster and Human Impacts, hazards are "any natural process or even that poses a direct threat to the human environment," a disaster is "the effect of a hazard on society," and a catastrophe is said to be a "a massive disaster that greatly impacted the human environment and requiring significant expenditure of time, money, and resources for response and recovery." The hazards and disasters that commonly happen in Algeria has been found to be have significant economic losses, which is mainly caused by the placement of Algeria on its tectonic plate. In the next blog post we will discuss Algeria's plate boundaries in regard to tectonic plates and how the effects the country.

Works Cited

“Algeria.” Culture of Algeria - History, People, Clothing, Traditions, Women, Beliefs, Food, Customs, Family, www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Algeria.html#:~:text=The%20national%20identity%20of%20Algeria,to%20include%20other%20Arab%20nations. Accessed 4 Feb. 2024.

“Algeria.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 26 Jan. 2024, www.britannica.com/place/Algeria#/media/1/15001/208371.

Culture:Language,Literature & Art, www.algerianembassy.co.in/news/culturelanguageliteratureart/#:~:text=Algeria%20has%20a%20thriving%20handicrafts,Zab%20carpets%20and%20Kabyle%20jewelry. Accessed 4 Feb. 2024.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. “Algeria Travel Advice.” GOV.UK, GOV.UK, 25 July 2023, www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/algeria.

Natural Disasters | OER Commons, oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/26151/overview. Accessed 5 Feb. 2024.