As-salamu alaykum! We are visiting Algeria, a giant and beautiful country in North Africa. About 47 million people live here, and the capital is a bright, white city by the sea called Algiers.

Algeria is huge—it is the biggest country in all of Africa! It covers about 2.4 million square kilometers, or 919,000 square miles. To imagine that, it is almost four times the size of the state of Texas, or about ten times the size of the United Kingdom! Almost the whole country is covered by the Sahara Desert, which is the biggest hot desert in the world.

Because it is so sandy and hot, Algeria has some very cool animals. Their national animal is the Fennec Fox. It’s the smallest fox in the world, and it has giant ears that help it stay cool in the desert heat. They are so famous that the national football team is nicknamed “The Fennecs!”

The flag of Algeria is very bold. It has two stripes: Green and White.

Green stands for nature and white stands for peace.

In the middle, there is a Red Star and Crescent, which are symbols that represent the country’s culture and faith.

The food here is full of spices! You have to try Couscous, which is the national dish made of tiny grains of wheat served with veggies and meat. They also have the most delicious Dates—sweet fruits that grow on palm trees in the middle of the desert.

Now, for something a bit strange! Deep in the desert, people sometimes eat Dhubs, which are large, spiny-tailed lizards. They are sometimes called “fish of the desert” because people say they taste like a mix of fish and chicken. Also, the Sahara can be a very mysterious place. Sometimes, the wind blows the sand so hard that it creates “Singing Sands.” It sounds like a low humming or a loud roar coming from the ground. It’s not ghosts—it’s just the sand grains rubbing together, but it sounds very spooky if you are out there alone!

From the giant sand dunes to the ancient ruins, Algeria is a land of desert magic and tiny foxes. Saha! That means “Thank you!”