Algiers - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
It is quite insular with very few opportunities to meet other expats. - Dec 2021
Due to COVID not much interaction with any other expats. - Oct 2021
I think most people who come to Algeria know what they're getting into and find positive things to do to help morale. The mission community is great and supportive. It has been hard to meet other people due to Covid. - Aug 2021
Algeria is not a common destination for your usual crop of expats - NGO workers, journalists - but there are other diplomats here. Because there are not a ton of us, the expat community is pretty tight. You can meet many expats during the annual crop of "national day" parties at the various embassies, or at the one bar in town, The Brit Club (run by the British Embassy and open only to expats and their guests). Most of the expats whom we socialize with here really like Algeria and truly make the most of their time here in this vast and interesting country. - Apr 2021
The Embassy here does not hold many social events; socially this place is quite barren. - Oct 2020
Small expat community. Outside of dip circles it's unusual to see foreigners in Algeria. Morale varies. Work here can be challenging and some people have it tougher than others in that regard. If people are expecting this to be Morocco or Tunisia they are not happy but if you take it for what it is you'll be ok. - Sep 2019
Small - overall the morale is good. - Mar 2019
Small. Booze-focused. - Sep 2016
Expat community is virtually non-existent. The number of Americans living in the capital that aren't in the Embassy is like five people. The diplomatic community is small and very francophone.
Morale at the Embassy has varied between rock bottom low to relatively poor in my two years. Senior leadership and management by Embassy supervisors were the direct cause of this. However, the current Embassy community is very active socially and there is always something to do. - Jun 2016
Small and poor. This place grinds you down - it's incredibly frustrating to live here. There's so much potential and yet very little of it is realized. The bureaucracy is maddening and unpredictable, so working here is very difficult, and they'll get so much money in foreign currency reserves that many of us wonder what we're doing here trying to help. If you need to communicate with the Algerian government, it has to be by fax - they don't use email. And they don't pick up their phones very much. They have enough resources and history to be Morocco or Turkey if they really wanted to. They simply choose not to. Nothing will change here until oil prices fall and knock them off their collective keisters. - Mar 2014
Very small. - Oct 2013
Maybe a few hundred diplomats. - Dec 2011
Small. - Sep 2008
Medium size but shrinking due to security concerns. - Mar 2008
Small. There are about 1,000 Americans in Algeria - mostly in the southern oil-producing region. - Feb 2008
