Polling stations opened Saturday in Algeria's first parliamentary election since a popular uprising forced longtime autocratic president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from office in 2019.

Here are some key facts about Algeria, a North African nation of 44 million which Saturday is holding parliamentary elections amid a boycott by the Hirak anti-government protest movement.

A shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Algerian coast on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said.

Unrest broke out late Sunday in a southern Algerian town after a blogger and activist was handed a seven-year jail sentence for condoning acts of terrorism, a news website reported.

Thousands marched in Algeria's capital and other cities Monday to mark the second anniversary of the "Hirak" protest movement that forced long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power.

Algerians approved a revised version of the North African country's constitution with two thirds of votes cast, the electoral commission said Monday, after record low turnout in the previous day's referendum.

Eighteen people who took part in a banned anti-government protest were ordered Wednesday to stand trial next week, with nine of them put behind bars in the meantime, a lawyer said.

An Algerian court on Sunday sentenced to three years in jail a member of the "Hirak" protest movement that forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign last year, a rights group said.

The group, CNLD, lists prisoners of conscience in Algeria. It said earlier this month that 61 people were still behind bars for acts related to "Hirak".

The Algerian government decided Sunday to reduce the state budget by half due to a financial crisis caused by the global collapse in oil prices and worldwide coronavirus lockdowns. 

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has declared his country will not approach the IMF for loans, despite a financial crisis triggered by a collapse in global oil prices and coronavirus lockdowns.