Etymology

The name Algeria is derived from the name of the city of Algiers (French Alger), from the Arabic word al-jazā’ir, which translates as the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525. Al-jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name jazā’ir banī mazghannā, "the jazeera of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi. But, the thesis which seems nowadays most plausible is that the name Algeria (Dzaïr) comes from the name of the dynasty of Zirides, from the name of his founder Ziri ibn Menad Ibn bologhine, which reigned over Algiers and one party of actual Algeria in 11 ème century.