'Algiers, the white,' Algerians call their capital, here awakening under a pale winter sun. The city's arcaded quay was built by the French, whose 132-year rule of this North African land ended in 1962. Beyond Algiers, on opposite sides of a rugged mountain range, lie fertile coastal plains and the vast oil-rich desert.

—From "Algeria: Learning to Live With Independence," August 1973, National Geographic magazine