Living in Algeria

Algeria's economy leans heavily on energy, which gives the place a particular weather, steady in some ways and narrow in others. Pay is middling and costs stay low, so a salary covers a typical life with a solid margin to spare. For an outsider, though, the way in is steep. English barely registers in working life, French and Arabic carry the day, and a job market that runs on local ties leaves little room for someone arriving cold.

Algeria's diaspora points almost entirely in one direction: of its 1.8M emigrants, 1.4M live in France — a corridor rooted in long colonial and labor ties — leaving Canada and Spain far behind. The diaspora has edged up just 7% over the past decade. Immigration into Algeria is comparatively slight, with the largest group, from Western Sahara, numbering 168.9K.