French Algeria

French Algeria was a period from 1830 to 1962 when France colonized and controlled Algeria, which had been a part of the Ottoman Empire and then an independent kingdom before French rule. During this time, Algeria was considered an integral part of France, with settlers known as pieds-noirs holding significant land and political power. The colonization led to economic development but also to discrimination, land dispossession, and cultural suppression of Algerian Muslims. This fueled growing resistance and eventually a brutal war of independence, culminating in Algeria gaining independence in 1962, ending over a century of French colonization.