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Algeria
Wilayat
Algeria is divided into forty-eight wilayat (sing.,
wilaya), which are, in effect, provinces (see
fig. 1). The wilayat owe their origins to the colonial
system, where they served as bureaucratic units of colonial administration.
The system was reformed and expanded (from fifteen provinces to
forty-eight) by the Wilaya Charter of 1969, which enumerated a
specific legal code for the government of the provinces. The system
was reformed again in 1976 by the national constitution.
Each wilaya is governed by a Popular Wilaya Assembly
(Assemblée Populaire de Wilaya--APW). This deliberative body consists
of thirty deputies and holds elections every five years. The first
APW elections were held in May 1969. Each wilaya is also
governed by a wali, or governor, who is appointed by
the president and is the latter's direct political representative
at the regional level. Both the Executive Council of the APW and
the APW itself report directly to the wali. Wilaya
government is responsible for the distribution of state services;
the regulation of small and medium-sized industry, agriculture,
tourism, road transport and education institutions; and the creation
of new state-owned enterprises. Efforts, most notably in the reforms
of the early 1980s, to strengthen the financial and political
autonomy of these regional governments have achieved only mixed
success. The APWs and other popularly elected bodies were in abeyance
in late 1993.
Data as of December 1993
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