Answer:
38 million
Explanation:
You want the current value of Algeria's population according to the model P = 38(1+r)^t. (P is in millions.)
Initial value
We generally assume that the "initial value" of a function is the y-intercept of its graph, the value when the independent variable is zero.
When the function is predicting into the future, we usually take the "current value" and the "initial value" to be the same thing, unless the description of the model tells you otherwise.
Here, that is ...
P = 38(1 +r)^0 = 38·1 = 38 . . . . . millions
The current population is 38 million.
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Additional comment
Any expression to the zero power has a value of 1.