France occupied Algeria in 1830, which had been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for centuries.
Paris reinforced its permanence by sending nearly 1 million settlers here.
Algeria, which represents the most recent and bloodiest example of France's colonial history on the African continent, started its war of independence on Nov. 1, 1954, which cost almost 1.5 million lives.
Some 132 years of occupation and colonial rule in the country ended on July 5, 1962.
While Algeria, with its eight-year-long struggle for independence, was acknowledged as one of the countries that paid the heaviest price for this cause, the great pain experienced was written in history as a "black mark" left by France when it withdrew from Africa.
