Vehicle registration plates of Algeria

Algerian registration plates are manufactured according to the same standards as their French counterparts (prior to 2009), using the same font and dimensions – although there has been a recent tendency to apply custom typefaces (Impact and Century Gothic have been observed).^[1]

Standard plates[]

Algerian registration plate, front of the vehicle

Algerian registration plate, rear of the vehicle

Standard issue plates are white with black digits (affixed to the front of the vehicle) and yellow with black digits (mounted onto the rear of the vehicle). Being composed solely of numbers, they are one of the few vehicle registration plates which can accurately be referred to as 'number plates'.

Example of front and rear plates on a private vehicle manufactured in 1963, and registered in Blida

Example of front and rear plates on a private vehicle manufactured in 2020, and registered in Bordj Bou Arréridj Wilaya

The registration mark takes the form of three groups of digits separated by a space (early plates were separated with a hyphen^[2]). Since the late-1990s,^[3] The first group of numbers is composed of 5 digits (including leading zeroes – earlier plates have up to three digits with no leading zeroes), which make up the vehicle's actual registration/serial number.

Vehicle Class[]

The next group is formed of 3 digits, The first of the 3 digits indicates the class of the vehicle in accordance with the following list:^[4]

1. Private Vehicles
2. Trucks
3. Vans (Camionettes)
4. Buses
5. Tractor units
6. Other Tractors
7. Special vehicles
8. Trailers
9. Motorcycles

The second two of the three digits indicate the year in which a car has been manufactured. For example, 115 would indicate a private vehicle manufactured on 2015. Whereas 403 would indicate a bus manufactured on 2003.^[4] Up until December 2021, when the manufacturing date was unknown, vehicles were assigned an arbitrary number 22. However, as the year 2022 is approaching, this number is being replaced with 33 on December 2021.^[4]

Wilayas[]

A two-digit suffix on the plate identifies the wilaya (Arabic: ولاية) or province in which the vehicle was first registered. Starting from January 2022, the 10 new Wilayas created on December 18, 2019, will receive license plates in their own specific code. These wilayas are to have codes 49 and upwards, as shown on the table below^[4]

Specifications[]

Front plates are to have a white colour, whereas rear plates are to have a yellow colour. Digits are to have a black colour. Other colours are unacceptable and can result in a fine. Typical license plates consist of 1 line of digits. The length of such license plates are to be between 455 and 520 mm, and the height between 100 and 110 mm. Digits are to have a height of 75 mm. The number 1 is to have a width of 20 mm, and other numbers a width of 30 mm. Numbers are to be uniformly separated by a space of 10 mm.^[4] There are also license plates that are available in 2 lines. Such plates are to have a width of 275 mm and a height of 200 mm. The rest of the specifications match that of a 1-line license plates.^[4] Motorcycles are to have a reduced size plate. The width of such plates is to be 140 mm, and the height 120 mm. These plates will have 2 lines of digits as well. Height of the digits is to be 45mm. Width of the digit 1 is to be 15 mm, and the width of other digits 26 mm.^[4]

Special plates[]

Algerian army registration plate

Diplomatic vehicles are issued with plates featuring three groups of black digits, separated by hyphens, on a light teal background. The first group are the vehicle's actual registration/serial number (up to 3 digits in length); the second is composed of two digits indicating whether the vehicle belongs to a diplomat or embassy staff. The final two digits identify the embassy itself (e.g. 27 for Italy; 37 for Norway, &c.)

Example of front and rear plates on a diplomatic vehicle belonging to the Italian embassy

References[]

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