Algerian War of Independence

500,000

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

200,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

FLN / ALN and Algerian Civilians — 150,000 military dead

France (Military and Civilians) — 25,600 military dead

Civilian Dead

300,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead — 300,000

Deadliest Engagements

Sétif and Guelma Massacres (1945)42,000

incl. 40,000 civilians

Philippeville Massacres and Reprisals (1955)12,000

incl. 11,500 civilians

Morice Line Battles (1957–1960)6,200

incl. 200 civilians

Battle of Algiers (1957)3,000

incl. 1,500 civilians

OAS Terror Campaign (1961–1962)2,800

incl. 2,600 civilians

Mélouza Massacre (1957)374

incl. 374 civilians

For Perspective

How Algeria's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

Algeria — total dead500,000

Korean War (1950–1953)400,000

Algerian War Total Dead500,000

Vietnam War (all sides)1,100,000

Harkis massacred post-independence100,000

Pieds-Noirs displaced900,000

Algerians forcibly resettled2,000,000

Milestones of Loss

25,000 dead

French military losses — comparable to US losses in Vietnam

100,000 dead

Conservative low-end estimate for Algerian war dead

300,000 dead

Most widely cited scholarly estimate for Algerian dead

500,000 dead

Algerian government's standard figure for total dead

1,000,000 dead

Upper bound cited by some Algerian nationalist sources, including the phrase 'one and a half million martyrs'

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.