fbpx
Wikipedia

Algiers

Algiers (/ælˈɪərz/ al-JEERZ; Arabic: الجزائر, romanizedal-Jazāʾir; Berber languages: Dzayer; French: Alger, [alʒe]) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 census was 2,988,145[3] and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4,500,000. Algiers is located on the Mediterranean Sea and in the north-central portion of Algeria.[2]

Algiers
Dzayer (Berber languages)
الجزائر (Arabic)
Alger (French)
Nicknames: 
Algiers the White; Algiers the Dazzling
Algiers
Location in Algeria and Africa
Algiers
Algiers (Arab world)
Algiers
Algiers (Africa)
Coordinates: 36°45′14″N 3°3′32″E / 36.75389°N 3.05889°E / 36.75389; 3.05889
Country Algeria
ProvinceAlgiers Province
DistrictSidi M'Hamed District
Government
 • Wali (Governor)Ahmed Maâbed (since 2021)
Area
 • Capital city363 km2 (140 sq mi)
 • Metro
1,190 km2 (460 sq mi)
Highest elevation
424 m (1,391 ft)
Lowest elevation
2 m (7 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1][2]
 • Capital city4,510,000
 • Density12,424/km2 (32,180/sq mi)
 • Metro density7,012/km2 (18,160/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
Postal codes
16000–16132
Area code(+213) 021
ClimateCsa

Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea. The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore; the old part, the ancient city of the deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the Casbah or citadel (a UNESCO World Heritage Site),[4] 122 metres (400 ft) above the sea. The casbah and the two quays form a triangle.[5]

Names

The city's name is derived via French and Catalan Alger[6] from the Arabic name al-Jazāʾir (الجزائر), "The Islands". This name refers to the four former islands which lay off the city's coast before becoming part of the mainland in 1525. Al-Jazāʾir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name Jazaʾir Banī Mazghanna (جزائر بني مزغانة), "The Islands of the Banu Mazghanna, Sons of Mazghana", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.

In antiquity, the Greeks knew the town as Ikósion (Ancient Greek: Ἰκόσιον), which was Latinized as Icosium under Roman rule. The Greeks explained the name as coming from their word for "twenty" (εἴκοσι, eíkosi), supposedly because it had been founded by 20 companions of Hercules when he visited the Atlas Mountains during his labors.[7]

Algiers is also known as el-Behdja (البهجة, "The Joyous") or "Algiers the White" (French: Alger la Blanche) for its whitewashed buildings, seen rising from the sea.

History

Early history

The city's earliest history was as a small port in the Carthage where Phoenicians were trading with other Mediterraneans. After the Punic Wars, the Romans eventually took over administration of the town, which they called Icosium. Its ruins now form part of the modern city's marine quarter, with the Rue de la Marine following a former Roman road. Roman cemeteries existed near Bab-el-Oued and Bab Azoun. The city was given Latin rights by the emperor Vespasian. The bishops of Icosium are mentioned as late as the 5th century,[8] but the ancient town fell into obscurity during the Muslim conquest of North Africa.[9]

The present city was founded in 944 by Bologhine ibn Ziri, the founder of the Berber Zirid dynasty. He had earlier (935) built his own house and a Sanhaja center at Ashir, just south of Algiers. Although his Zirid dynasty was overthrown by Roger II of Sicily in 1148, the Zirids had already lost control of Algiers to their cousins the Hammadids in 1014.[10] The city was wrested from the Hammadids by the Almohads in 1159, and in the 13th century came under the dominion of the Ziyanid sultans of Tlemcen. Nominally part of the sultanate of Tlemcen, Algiers had a large measure of independence under Thaaliba amirs of its own due to Oran being the chief seaport of the Ziyanids.[8]

The Peñón of Algiers, an islet in front of Algiers harbour had been occupied by the Spaniards as early as 1302. Thereafter, a considerable amount of trade began to flow between Algiers and Spain. However, Algiers continued to be of comparatively little importance until after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, many of whom sought asylum in the city. In 1510, following their occupation of Oran and other towns on the coast of Africa, the Spaniards fortified the islet of Peñon[8] and imposed a levy intended to suppress corsair activity.[11]

Ottoman rule

 
Algiers by Antonio Salamanca, circa 1540, published in Civitates Orbis Terrarum
 
Abraham Duquesne delivering Christian captives in Algiers after the bombing in 1683.

In 1516, the amir of Algiers, Selim b. Teumi, invited the corsair brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa to expel the Spaniards. Aruj came to Algiers, ordered the assassination of Selim, and seized the town and ousted the Spanish in the Capture of Algiers (1516). Hayreddin, succeeding Aruj after the latter was killed in battle against the Spaniards in the Fall of Tlemcen (1517), was the founder of the pashaluk, which subsequently became the beylik, of Algeria. Barbarossa lost Algiers in 1524 but regained it with the Capture of Algiers (1529), and then formally invited the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to accept sovereignty over the territory and to annex Algiers to the Ottoman Empire.

 
Historic map of Algiers by Piri Reis

Algiers from this time became the chief seat of the Barbary pirates. In October 1541 in the Algiers expedition, the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sought to capture the city, but a storm destroyed a great number of his ships, and his army of some 30,000, chiefly made up of Spaniards, was defeated by the Algerians under their Pasha, Hassan.[8]

 
The bombardment of Algiers under Viscount Exmouth, August 1816, painted by Thomas Luny
 
Ornate Ottoman cannon found in Algiers on 8 October 1581 by Ca'fer el-Mu'allim. Length: 385 cm, cal:178 mm, weight: 2910 kg, stone projectile. Seized by France during the invasion of Algiers in 1830. Musée de l'Armée, Paris.

Formally part of the Ottoman Empire but essentially free from Ottoman control, starting in the 16th century Algiers turned to piracy and ransoming. Due to its location on the periphery of both the Ottoman and European economic spheres, and depending for its existence on a Mediterranean that was increasingly controlled by European shipping, backed by European navies, piracy became the primary economic activity. Repeated attempts were made by various nations to subdue the pirates that disturbed shipping in the western Mediterranean and engaged in slave raids as far north as Iceland.[12] By the 17th century, up to 40% of the city's 100,000 inhabitants were enslaved Europeans.[13] The United States fought two wars (the First and Second Barbary Wars) over Algiers' attacks on shipping.

Among the notable people held for ransom was the future Spanish novelist, Miguel de Cervantes, who was held captive in Algiers for almost five years, and wrote two plays set in Algiers of the period. The primary source for knowledge of Algiers of this period, since there are no contemporary local sources, is the Topografía e historia general de Argel (1612, but written earlier), published by Diego de Haedo, but whose authorship is disputed.[14][15] This work describes in detail the city, the behavior of its inhabitants, and its military defenses, with the unsuccessful hope of facilitating an attack by Spain so as to end the piracy.

A significant number of renegades lived in Algiers at the time, Christians converted voluntarily to Islam, many fleeing the law or other problems at home. Once converted to Islam, they were safe in Algiers. Many occupied positions of authority, such as Samson Rowlie, an Englishman who became Treasurer of Algiers.[16]

The city under Ottoman control was enclosed by a wall on all sides, including along the seafront. In this wall, five gates allowed access to the city, with five roads from each gate dividing the city and meeting in front of the Ketchaoua Mosque. In 1556, a citadel was constructed at the highest point in the wall. A major road running north to south divided the city in two: The upper city (al-Gabal, or 'the mountain') which consisted of about fifty small quarters of Andalusian, Jewish, Moorish and Kabyle communities, and the lower city (al-Wata, or 'the plains') which was the administrative, military and commercial centre of the city, mostly inhabited by Ottoman Turkish dignitaries and other upper-class families.[17]

In August 1816, the city was bombarded by a British squadron under Lord Exmouth (a descendant of Thomas Pellew, taken in an Algerian slave raid in 1715[18][self-published source?]), assisted by Dutch men-of-war, destroying the corsair fleet harboured in Algiers.[8]

French rule

 
Algiers depot and station grounds of Algerian Railway, 1894

The history of Algiers from 1830 to 1962 is bound to the larger history of Algeria and its relationship to France. On July 4, 1830, under the pretext of an affront to the French consul—whom the dey had hit with a fly-whisk when the consul said the French government was not prepared to pay its large outstanding debts to two Algerian merchants—a French army under General de Bourmont attacked the city in the 1830 invasion of Algiers. The city capitulated the following day. Algiers became the capital of French Algeria.

Many Europeans settled in Algiers, and by the early 20th century they formed a majority of the city's population.[19] During the 1930s, the architect Le Corbusier drew up plans for a complete redesign of the colonial city. Le Corbusier was highly critical of the urban style of Algiers, describing the European district as "nothing but crumbling walls and devastated nature, the whole a sullied blot". He also criticised the difference in living standards he perceived between the European and African residents of the city, describing a situation in which "the 'civilised' live like rats in holes" whereas "the 'barbarians' live in solitude, in well-being".[20] However, these plans were ultimately ignored by the French administration.

During World War II, Algiers was the first city to be seized from the Axis by the Allies in Operation Terminal, a part of Operation Torch.

 
City and harbour of Algiers, c. 1921

In 1962, after a bloody independence struggle in which hundreds of thousands (estimates range between 350,000 and 1,500,000) died (mostly Algerians but also French and Pieds-Noirs) during fighting between the French Army and the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale, Algeria gained its independence, with Algiers as its capital. Since then, despite losing its entire pied-noir population, the city has expanded massively. It now has about five million inhabitants, or 10 percent of Algeria's population—and its suburbs now cover most of the surrounding Mitidja plain.

Algerian War

The "tense truce" between Algerian rebels, French army and the OAS in 1962

Algiers also played a pivotal role in the Algerian War (1954–1962), particularly during the Battle of Algiers when the 10th Parachute Division of the French Army, starting on January 7, 1957, and on the orders of the French Minister of Justice François Mitterrand (who authorized any means "to eliminate the insurrectionists"[citation needed]), led attacks against the Algerian fighters for independence. Algiers remains marked by this battle, which was characterized by merciless fighting between FLN forces which carried out a guerrilla campaign against the French military and police and pro-French Algerian soldiers, and the French Army which responded with a bloody repression, torture and blanket terrorism against the native population. The demonstrations of May 13 during the crisis of 1958 provoked the fall of the Fourth Republic in France, as well as the return of General de Gaulle to power.

Independence

Algeria achieved independence on July 5, 1962. Run by the FLN that had secured independence, Algiers became a member of Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. In October 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Algiers was the site of demonstrations demanding the end of the single-party system and the creation of a real democracy baptized the "Spring of Algier". The demonstrators were repressed by the authorities (more than 300 dead), but the movement constituted a turning point in the political history of modern Algeria. In 1989, a new constitution was adopted that put an end to the one-party rule and saw the creation of more than fifty political parties, as well as official freedom of the press.

Crisis of the 1990s

The city became the theatre of many political demonstrations of all descriptions until 1993. In 1991, a political entity dominated by religious conservatives called the Islamic Salvation Front engaged in a political test of wills with the authorities. In the 1992 elections for the Algerian National Assembly, the Islamists garnered a large amount of support in the first round. Fearing an eventual win by the Islamists, the army canceled the election process, setting off a civil war between the State and armed religious conservatives which would last for a decade.

On December 11, 2007, two car bombs exploded in Algiers. One bomb targeted two United Nations office buildings and the other targeted a government building housing the Supreme Court. The death toll was at least 62, with over two hundred injured in the attacks.[21] However, only 26 remained hospitalized the following day.[22] As of 2008, it is speculated that the attack was carried out by the Al Qaida cell within the city.[23]

Indigenous terrorist groups have been actively operating in Algeria since around 2002.

Geography

Districts of Algiers

 
Notre Dame d'Afrique, built by European settlers in 1872[24]
  • The Casbah (of Al Qasbah, "the Citadel"), Ier District of Algiers: called Al-Djazaïr Al Mahroussa ("Well Kept Algiers"), is founded on the ruins of old Icosium. It is a small city which, built on a hill, goes down towards the sea, divided in two: the High city and the Low city. One finds there masonries and mosques of the 17th century; Ketchaoua mosque (built in 1794 by the Dey Baba Hassan) flanked by two minarets, mosque el Djedid (built in 1660, at the time of Turkish regency) with its large finished ovoid cupola points some and its four coupolettes, mosque El Kébir (oldest of the mosques, it was built by Almoravid Youssef Ibn Tachfin and rebuilt later in 1794), mosque Ali Betchnin (Raïs, 1623), Dar Aziza, palate of Jénina. In the Kasbah, there are also labyrinths of lanes and houses that are very picturesque, and if one gets lost there, it is enough to go down again towards the sea to reposition oneself.
  • Bab El Oued: Literally the River's Gate, the popular district which extends from the Casbah beyond "the gate of the river". It is the capital's darling and best liked borough. Famous for its square with "the three clocks" and for its "market Triplet", it is also a district of workshops and manufacturing plants.
  • Edge of sea: from 1840, the architects Pierre-August Guiauchain and Charles Frédéric Chassériau designed new buildings apart from the Casbah, town hall, law courts, buildings, theatre, palace of the Governor, and casino, to form an elegant walk bordered by arcades which is today the boulevard Che Guevara (formerly the Boulevard of the Republic).
  • Kouba (will daira of Hussein-dey): Kouba is an old village which was absorbed by the expansion of the town of Algiers. Kouba quickly developed under the French colonial era then continued growing due to formidable demographic expansion that Algiers saw after the independence of Algeria in 1962. It is today a district of Algiers which is largely made up of houses, villas, and buildings not exceeding five stories.
  • El Harrach, a suburb of Algiers, is located about 10 kilometres (6 miles) to the east of the city.
  • The communes of Hydra, Ben Aknoun, El-Biar and Bouzareah form what the inhabitants of Algiers call the "Heights of Algiers". These communes shelter the majority of the foreign embassies of Algiers, of many ministries and university centres, which makes it one of the administrative and policy centres of the country.
  • The Didouche Mourad street is located in the 3rd district Of Algiers. It extends from the Grande Post office to the Heights of Algiers. It crosses in particular the place Audin, the Faculty of Algiers, The Crowned Heart and the Freedom Park (formerly Galland). It is bordered by smart stores and restaurants along most of its length. It is regarded as the heart of the capital.
 
Astronautical view of Algiers

Climate

Algiers has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea aids in moderating the city's temperatures. As a result, Algiers usually does not see the extreme temperatures that are experienced in the adjacent interior. Algiers on average receives roughly 600 millimetres (24 in) of rain per year, the bulk of which is seen between October and April. The precipitation is higher than in most of coastal Mediterranean Spain, and similar to most of coastal Mediterranean France, as opposed to the interior North African semi-arid or arid climate.

Snow is very rare; in 2012, the city received 100 millimetres (4 in) of snowfall, its first snowfall in eight years.[25]

Climate data for Algiers (Houari Boumediene Airport ) 1976–2005 averages, extremes 1838–present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 27.6
(81.7)
31.4
(88.5)
36.3
(97.3)
36.5
(97.7)
41.1
(106.0)
44.6
(112.3)
45.2
(113.4)
47.5
(117.5)
44.4
(111.9)
39.5
(103.1)
34.4
(93.9)
30.4
(86.7)
47.5
(117.5)
Average high °C (°F) 16.7
(62.1)
17.4
(63.3)
19.3
(66.7)
20.9
(69.6)
23.9
(75.0)
28.2
(82.8)
31.2
(88.2)
32.2
(90.0)
29.6
(85.3)
25.9
(78.6)
20.8
(69.4)
17.9
(64.2)
23.7
(74.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 11.1
(52.0)
11.7
(53.1)
13.2
(55.8)
14.9
(58.8)
18.1
(64.6)
22.2
(72.0)
25.1
(77.2)
26.0
(78.8)
23.6
(74.5)
20.1
(68.2)
15.3
(59.5)
12.6
(54.7)
17.8
(64.0)
Average low °C (°F) 5.5
(41.9)
5.9
(42.6)
7.1
(44.8)
8.8
(47.8)
12.3
(54.1)
16.1
(61.0)
18.9
(66.0)
19.8
(67.6)
17.6
(63.7)
14.2
(57.6)
9.8
(49.6)
7.2
(45.0)
11.9
(53.4)
Record low °C (°F) −3.3
(26.1)
−1.9
(28.6)
−1.0
(30.2)
−0.8
(30.6)
2.6
(36.7)
5.5
(41.9)
9.0
(48.2)
9.5
(49.1)
8.2
(46.8)
4.1
(39.4)
−0.1
(31.8)
−2.3
(27.9)
−3.3
(26.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 81.4
(3.20)
72.7
(2.86)
55.0
(2.17)
58.4
(2.30)
41.9
(1.65)
8.5
(0.33)
4.5
(0.18)
8.2
(0.32)
28.3
(1.11)
58.8
(2.31)
89.6
(3.53)
91.0
(3.58)
598.3
(23.56)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 11.4 10.6 9.7 9.1 7.3 2.5 1.5 2.5 5.3 8.6 11.1 12.1 91.7
Average relative humidity (%) 71 66 65 62 66 66 67 65 68 66 68 68 67
Mean monthly sunshine hours 139.5 158.2 207.7 228.0 300.7 300.0 353.4 325.5 267.0 198.4 153.0 145.7 2,777.1
Mean daily sunshine hours 4.5 5.6 6.7 7.6 9.7 10.0 11.4 10.5 8.9 6.4 5.1 4.7 7.6
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization (average temperatures and precipitation, 1976–2005)[26]
Source 2: Arab Meteorology Book (humidity and sun),[27] Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[28]

Climate change

A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, a "moderate" scenario of climate change where global warming reaches ~2.5–3 °C (4.5–5.4 °F) by 2100, the climate of Algiers in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Perth in Australia. The annual temperature would increase by 2.6 °C (4.7 °F), and the temperature of the warmest month by 1.9 °C (3.4 °F), while the temperature of the coldest month would be 3.8 °C (6.8 °F) higher.[29][30] According to Climate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with 2.7 °C (4.9 °F), which closely matches RCP 4.5.[31]

Moreover, according to the 2022 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Algiers is one of 12 major African cities (Abidjan, Alexandria, Algiers, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Lagos, Lomé, Luanda and Maputo) which would be the most severely affected by the future sea level rise. It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of USD 65 billion under RCP 4.5 and USD 86.5 billion for the high-emission scenario RCP 8.5 by the year 2050. Additionally, RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from marine ice sheet instability at high levels of warming would involve up to 137.5 billion USD in damages, while the additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to USD 187 billion for the "moderate" RCP4.5, USD 206 billion for RCP8.5 and USD 397 billion under the high-end ice sheet instability scenario.[32] Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures.[33] Finally, The Casbah is on the list of 10 African cultural heritage sites most threatened by sea level rise.[32]

Government

The city (and province) of Algiers is composed of 13 administrative districts, sub-divided into 57 communes listed below with their populations at the 1998 and 2008 Censuses:

Name Name in
Arabic
Population
(1998)
[34]
Population
(2008)
[3]
Bab El Oued باب الوادي 87,557 64,732
Bologhine بولوغين 43,283 43,835
Casbah القصبة 50,453 36,762
Oued Koriche وادي قريش 53,378 46,182
Raïs Hamidou الرايس حميدو 21,518 28,451
Bab El Oued District 256,189 219,962
Baraki براقي 95,247 116,375
Les Eucalyptus الكليتوس 96,310 116,107
Sidi Moussa سيدي موسى 27,888 40,750
Baraki District 219,445 273,232
Bir Mourad Raïs بئر مراد رايس 43,254 45,345
Birkhadem بئر خادم 55,084 77,749
Djasr Kasentina جسر قسنطينة 82,729 133,247
Hydra حيدرة 35,727 31,133
Saoula سحاولة 31,388 41,690
Bir Mourad Raïs District 248,182 329,164
Birtouta بئر توتة 21,808 30,575
Ouled Chebel أولاد الشبل 16,335 20,006
Tessala El Merdja تسالة المرجى 10,792 15,847
Birtouta District 48,935 66,428
Ben Aknoun بن عكنون 19,404 18,838
Beni Messous بني مسوس 17,490 36,191
Bouzareah بوزريعة 69,153 83,797
El Biar الأبيار 52,582 47,332
Bouzareah District 158,629 186,158
Aïn Bénian عين البنيان 52,343 68,354
Chéraga الشراقة 60,374 80,824
Dely Ibrahim دالي إبرهيم 30,576 35,230
El Hammamet الحمامات الرومانية 19,651 23,990
Ouled Fayet أولاد فايت 15,209 27,593
Chéraga District 178,153 235,991
Aïn Taya عين طاية 29,515 34,501
Bab Ezzouar باب الزوار 92,157 96,597
Bordj El Bahri برج البحري 27,905 52,816
Bordj El Kiffan برج الكيفان 103,690 151,950
Dar El Beïda الدار البيضاء 44,753 80,033
El Marsa المرسى 8,784 12,100
Mohammedia المحمدية 42,079 62,543
Dar El Beïda District 348,883 490,540
Baba Hassen بابا حسن 13,827 23,756
Douera دويرة 41,804 56,998
Draria درارية 23,050 44,141
El Achour العاشور 19,524 41,070
Khraicia خراسية 17,690 27,910
Draria District 115,895 193,875
Bachdjerrah باش جراح 90,073 93,289
Bourouba بوروبة 77,498 71,661
El Harrach الحراش 48,167 48,869
Oued Smar وادي سمار 21,397 32,062
El Harrach District 237,135 245,881
El Magharia المغارية 30,457 31,453
Hussein Dey حسين داي 49,921 40,698
Kouba القبة 105,253 104,708
Mohamed Belouizdad
(Hamma Annassers)
الحامة العناصر 59,248 44,050
Hussein Dey District 244,879 220,909
Haraoua الهراوة 18,167 27,565
Reghaïa رغاية 66,215 85,452
Rouïba الرويبة 49,881 61,984
Rouïba District 134,263 175,001
Alger Centre الجزائرالوسطى 96,329 75,541
El Madania المدنية 51,404 40,301
El Mouradia المرادية 29,503 22,813
Sidi M'Hamed سيدي امحمد 90,455 67,873
Sidi M'Hamed District 267,691 206,528
Mahelma محالمة 14,810 20,758
Rahmania الرحمانية 5,759 7,396
Souidania سويدانية 11,620 17,105
Staoueli سطاوالي 38,915 47,664
Zéralda زرالدة 33,047 51,552
Zéralda District 104,151 144,475
Totals الجزائر 2,562,428 2,988,145

Local architecture

 
Algiers waterfront
 
Cosmopolitan Algiers

There are many public buildings of interest, including the whole Kasbah quarter, Martyrs Square (Sahat ech-Chouhada ساحة الشهداء), the government offices (formerly the British consulate), the "Grand", "New", and Ketchaoua Mosques, the Roman Catholic cathedral of Notre Dame d'Afrique, the Bardo Museum, the old Bibliothèque Nationale d'Alger—a moorish palace built in 1799–1800 and the new National Library, built in a style reminiscent of the British Library.

The main building in the Kasbah was begun in 1516 on the site of an older building, and served as the palace of the deys until the French conquest. A road has been cut through the centre of the building, the mosque turned into barracks, and the hall of audience allowed to fall into ruin. There still remain a minaret and some marble arches and columns. Traces exist of the vaults in which were stored the treasures of the dey.[35]

Djamaa el Kebir (Jamaa-el-Kebir الجامع الكبير) is the oldest mosque in Algiers. It was first built by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, but reconstructed many times. The pulpit (minbar منبر) bears an inscription showing that the building existed in 1097. The minaret was built by the sultan of Tlemcen, in 1324.[36] The interior of the mosque is square and is divided into aisles by columns joined by Moorish arches.[35]

The New Mosque (Jamaa-el-Jedid الجامع الجديد), dating from the 17th century, is in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by a large white cupola, with four small cupolas at the corners. The minaret is 27 metres (89 ft) high. The interior resembles that of the Grand Mosque.[35]

The church of the Holy Trinity (built in 1870) stands at the southern end of the rue d'Isly near the site of the demolished Fort Bab Azoun باب عزون. The interior is richly decorated with various coloured marbles. Many of these marbles contain memorial inscriptions relating to the British residents (voluntary and involuntary) of Algiers from the time of John Tipton, the first English consul, in 1580 (NB Some sources give 1585). One tablet records that in 1631 two Algerine pirate crews landed in Ireland, sacked Baltimore, and enslaved its inhabitants.[35]

 
The Ketchaoua Mosque

The Ketchaoua Mosque (Djamaa Ketchaoua جامع كتشاوة), at the foot of the Casbah, was before independence in 1962 the cathedral of St Philippe, itself made in 1845 from a mosque dating from 1612. The principal entrance, reached by a flight of 23 steps, is ornamented with a portico supported by four black-veined marble columns. The roof of the nave is of Moorish plaster work. It rests on a series of arcades supported by white marble columns. Several of these columns belonged to the original mosque. In one of the chapels was a tomb containing the bones of Geronimo.[35] The building seems a curious blend of Moorish and Byzantine styles.

Algiers possesses a college with schools of law, medicine, science and letters. The college buildings are large and handsome. The Bardo Museum holds some of the ancient sculptures and mosaics discovered in Algeria, together with medals and Algerian money.[35]

The port of Algiers is sheltered from all winds. There are two harbours, both artificial—the old or northern harbour and the southern or Agha harbour. The northern harbour covers an area of 95 hectares (235 acres). An opening in the south jetty affords an entrance into Agha harbour, constructed in Agha Bay. Agha harbour has also an independent entrance on its southern side. The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair-ad-Din Barbarossa (see History, below), who, to accommodated his pirate vessels, caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a mole. The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544.[35]

Algiers was a walled city from the time of the deys until the close of the 19th century. The French, after their occupation of the city (1830), built a rampart, parapet and ditch, with two terminal forts, Bab Azoun باب عزون to the south and Bab-el-Oued اد to the north. The forts and part of the ramparts were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, when a line of forts occupying the heights of Bouzareah بوزريعة (at an elevation of 396 metres (1,299 ft) above the sea) took their place.[35]

Notre Dame d'Afrique, a church built (1858–1872) in a mixture of the Roman and Byzantine styles, is conspicuously situated overlooking the sea, on the shoulder of the Bouzareah hills, 3 km (2 mi) to the north of the city. Above the altar is a statue of the Virgin depicted as a black woman. The church also contains a solid silver statue of the archangel Michael, belonging to the confraternity of Neapolitan fishermen.[8]

Villa Abd-el-Tif, former residence of the dey, was used during the French period, to accommodate French artists, chiefly painters, and winners of the Abd-el-Tif prize, among whom Maurice Boitel, for a while of two years. Nowadays, Algerian artists are back in the villa's studios.

Monuments

 
The Monument of the Martyrs (Maquam E'chahid)
 
Grand Post Office
  • Notre Dame d'Afrique, accessible by one cable car, is one of the city's most outstanding monuments: located in the district of Z' will ghara, the basilica was built around 1858.
  • Monument des Martyrs (Marquand E' chahid): an iconic concrete monument commemorating the Algerian war for independence. The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th anniversary of Algeria's independence. It is fashioned in the shape of three standing palm leaves which shelter the "Eternal Flame" beneath. At the edge of each palm leaf stands a statue of a soldier, each representing a stage of Algeria's struggle.
 
The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs
  • The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs near the port.
  • Place of the Emir Abdelkader (formerly Bugeaud): in memory of the famous emir Abd El-Kader, resistant during French conquest of Algeria.
  • Grand Post Office (1910, by Voinot and Tondoire): construction of the neo-Moorish type which is in full centre town of Algiers.
  • The Jardin d'essai (Garden of Test; El-Hamma): situated in the east of Algiers, it extends over 80 hectares (198 acres) and contains exotic plants and gardens. It was created in 1832 by A. Hardy.
  • Villa Abd-el-Hair, with the top of the Garden of test, one of the old residences of the dey, where until 1962, were placed the artists prizes winner of Price Abd-el-Hair, and in particular Maurice Boitel and Andre Hamburg.
  • Citadel.
  • Riadh El-Feth (shopping centre and art gallery).
  • Ketchaoua Mosque (This mosque became the Saint-Philippe cathedral during colonization before becoming again a mosque).
  • National Library, is in the district of El HAMMA and was built in the 1990s.
  • Djamaa el Kebir at the Rue de la Marine. It is the oldest mosque of Algiers and was built during the reign of the Almoravid sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin.
  • Le Bastion 23 – Palais des Rais, built in 1576 by Dey Ramdhan Pacha and located in the lower Casbah in the Bab El Oued neighborhood.

Demographics

Year Population
1977 (Census) 1,523,000[37]
1987 (Census) 1,507,241[37]
1998 (Census) 2,086,212[37]
2008 (Census) 2,364,230[37]

Algiers has a population of about 3,335,418 (2012 estimate).[38]

The ethnic distribution is 53% from an Arabic-speaking background, 44% from a Berber-speaking background and 3% foreign-born.

  • 1940 – 300,000 people lived in Algiers.
  • 1960 – 900,000 people lived in Algiers.
  • 1963 – 600,000 people lived in Algiers.

Economy

 
Ministry of Finance of Algeria

Algiers is an important economic, commercial and financial center, with in particular a stock exchange with a capitalisation of 60 million euros. The city has the highest cost of living of any city in North Africa, as well as the 50th highest worldwide, as of March 2007, having gained one position compared to the previous year.[39]

Mohamed Ben Ali El Abbar, president of the Council of Administration of the Emirate Group EMAAR, presented five "megaprojects" to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, during a ceremony which took place Saturday, July 15, in the People's Palace of Algiers. These projects will transform the city of Algiers and its surroundings by equipping them with a retail area and restoration and leisure facilities.

The first project will concentrate on the reorganization and the development of the infrastructures of the railway station "Aga" located in the downtown area. The ultramodern station intended to accommodate more than 80.000 passengers per day, will become a centre of circulation in the heart of the grid system, surrounded by commercial offices and buildings and hotels intended for travellers in transit. A shopping centre and three high-rise office buildings rising with the top of the commercial zone will accompany the project.

The second project will not relate to the bay of Algiers and aims to revitalize the sea front. The development of the 44 km (27 mi) sea front will include marinas, channels, luxury hotels, offices, apartments of great standing, luxury stores and leisure amenities. A crescent-shaped peninsula will be set up on the open sea. The project of the bay of Algiers will also comprise six small islands, of which four of round form, connected to each other by bridges and marinas and will include tourist and residential complexes.

 
Air Algérie head office in Place Audin near the University of Algiers, in Alger-Centre

The third project will relate to restructuring an area of Algiers, qualified by the originators of the project of "city of wellness". El Abbar indicated to the journalists that the complex would be "agreeable for all those which will want to combine tourism and well-being or tourism and relaxation". The complex will include a university, a research center and a medical centre. It should also include a hospital complex, a care centre, a hotel zone, an urban centre and a thermal spa with villas and apartments. The university will include a medical school and a school for care male nurses which will be able to accommodate 500 students. The university campus will have the possibility of seeing setting up broad ranges of buildings of research laboratories and residences.

Another project relates to technological implantation of a campus in Sidi Abdellah, 25 km (16 mi) south-east from Algiers. This 90 hectares (222 acres) site will include shopping centres, residential zones with high standard apartments and a golf course surrounded by villas and hotels. Two other residential zones, including 1.800 apartments and 40 high standard villas, will be built on the surrounding hills.

The fifth project is that of the tourist complex Colonel Abbès, which will be located 25 km (16 mi) west from Algiers. This complex will include several retail zones, meeting places, and residential zones composed of apartments and villas with views of the sea.[40]

There is another project under construction, by the name of Algiers Medina. The first step of the project is nearly complete.

A Hewlett Packard office for French-speaking countries in Africa is in Algiers.[41]

Tourist installations

 
Panorama of the city as seen from Bologhine district

Some 20 km (12 mi) to the west of Algiers are such seaside resorts as Sidi Fredj (ex-Sidi Ferruch), Palm Beach, Douaouda, Zéralda, and the Club of the Pines (residence of State); there are tourist complexes, Algerian and other restaurants, souvenir shops, supervised beaches, and other amenities. The city is also equipped with important hotel complexes such as the hotel Hilton, El-Aurassi or El Djazair. Algiers also has the first water park in the country. The tourism of Algiers is growing but is not as developed as that of the larger cities in Morocco or Tunisia.

Education

The presence of a large diplomatic community in Algiers prompted the creation of multiple international educational institutions. These schools include :

There was formerly the École japonaise d'Alger (アルジェ日本人学校 Aruje Nihonjin Gakkō), a school for Japanese children.[42][43]

Public transport

 
Public transport of Algiers
 
Various means of transport in Algiers
  • ETUSA (urban and suburban bus transportation for Algiers) operates bus service in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs. 54 lines are operating, with service from 5:30 a.m. to 12:45 a.m.
  • SNTF (national railroad company) operates commuter-rail lines connecting the capital to the surrounding suburbs.
  • Algiers Metro, opened November 1, 2011.
  • Algiers tramway, opened on May 8, 2011.
  • Houari Boumediene Airport is located 20 km (12 mi) from the city. The airport serves domestics, many European cities, West Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America. On July 5, 2006, a new international air terminal was opened for service. The terminal is managed by Aéroports de Paris.

4 urban beltways:

  • El Madania – Belouizdad
  • Notre Dame d'Afrique – Bologhine
  • Memorial des Martyres/Riad el Feth – Jardin d'essais
  • Palais de la culture – Oued Kniss

Sports

Algiers is the sporting centre of Algeria. The city has a number of professional clubs in the variety of sports, which have won national and international titles. Among the sports facilities within the city, there is an enormous sporting complex – Complex of OCO – Mohamed Boudiaf. This includes the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 (capacity 64,000), a venue for athletics, an Olympic swimming pool, a multisports room (the Cupola), an 18-hole golf course, and several tennis courts.

The following major sporting events have been held in Algiers (not-exhaustive list):

Football clubs

Major association football club based in Algiers include:

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Algiers is twinned with:

In addition, many of the wards and cities within Algiers maintain sister-city relationships with other foreign cities.

Cooperation agreements

Algiers has cooperation agreements with:

Films about Algiers

 
The Battle of Algiers (1966), Italian-Algerian movie by Gillo Pontecorvo.

Notable people

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Population of the city proper according to the 2008 census". Citypopulation.de. from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  2. ^ a b . Esa.un.org. Archived from the original on 2020. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  3. ^ a b Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques de l'Algérie (web).
  4. ^ UNESCO, Decision Text, World Heritage Centre, retrieved 21 July 2017
  5. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 653.
  6. ^ Origins of Algiers by Louis Leschi, speech delivered June 16, 1941, published in El Djezair Sheets, July 1941 History of Algeria 2013-01-16 at the Wayback Machine (in French).
  7. ^ Lipiński (2004), p. 403.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 655.
  9. ^ "History of Algeria - Key Figures in Algeria's history". www.nationsonline.org. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  10. ^ Ruedy, John Douglas (2005) Modern Algeria: The origins and development of a nation Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana page 13 2016-05-17 at the Wayback Machine, ISBN 978-0-253-21782-0
  11. ^ Celik, Zeynep, Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule, University of California Press, 1997, p. 13.
  12. ^ "Tyrkjaránið – Heimaslóð" (in Icelandic). Heimaslod.is. from the original on 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  13. ^ Martin Reinheimer (2003). "From Amrum to Algiers and Back: The Reintegration of a Renegade in the Eighteenth Century". Central European History. Cambridge University Press. 36 (2): 209–233. doi:10.1163/156916103770866121. JSTOR 4547299. S2CID 143504775. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  14. ^ Eisenberg, Daniel [in Spanish] (1996). . Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America. 16 (1): 32–53. Archived from the original on 2015-03-18. Others have disputed Eisenberg's attribution of the work to Cervantes.
  15. ^ Eisenberg, Daniel [in Spanish] (1999). "¿Por qué volvió Cervantes de Argel?" ("Why Did Cervantes return from Algiers?". Ingeniosa invención: Essays on Golden Age Spanish Literature for Geoffrey L. Stagg in Honor of his Eighty-Fifth Birthday. Newark, Delaware: Juan de la Cuesta. pp. 241–253. ISBN 0936388838.
  16. ^ "The First Muslims in England". BBC News. 20 March 2016. from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  17. ^ Celik, Zeynep, Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule, University of California Press, 1997, pp. 13–14.
  18. ^ Godfrey., Mugoti (2009). Africa (a-z). [Place of publication not identified]: Lulu Com. ISBN 978-1435728905. OCLC 946180025.[self-published source]
  19. ^ Albert Habib Hourani, Malise Ruthven (2002). "A history of the Arab peoples 2015-09-06 at the Wayback Machine". Harvard University Press. p.323. ISBN 0-674-01017-5
  20. ^ Celik, Zeynep, Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule, University of California Press, 1997, p. 5.
  21. ^ "Les autorités accusent al-Qaïda". RFI. from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  22. ^ "Toll in Algiers bombings rises to 31". Associated Press. from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  23. ^ "Al Qaeda blamed for Algeria bombs". CNN. 2007-12-12. from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  24. ^ "Notre Dame d'Afrique and Carmelite Convent, Algiers, Algeria". World Digital Library. 1899. from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  25. ^ Balmforth, Richard (4 February 2012). "European Chill Moves West, 122 Die in Ukraine". Reuters. from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  26. ^ "World Weather Information Service–Algiers". World Meteorological Organization. from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  27. ^ "Appendix I: Meteorological Data" (PDF). Springer. (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  28. ^ "Station Alger" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  29. ^ Bastin, Jean-Francois; Clark, Emily; Elliott, Thomas; Hart, Simon; van den Hoogen, Johan; Hordijk, Iris; Ma, Haozhi; Majumder, Sabiha; Manoli, Gabriele; Maschler, Julia; Mo, Lidong; Routh, Devin; Yu, Kailiang; Zohner, Constantin M.; Thomas W., Crowther (10 July 2019). "Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues". PLOS One. S2 Table. Summary statistics of the global analysis of city analogues. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217592.
  30. ^ "Cities of the future: visualizing climate change to inspire action". Current vs. future cities. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  31. ^ "The CAT Thermometer". Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  32. ^ a b Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: Chapter 9: Africa. In Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke,V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2043–2121
  33. ^ Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (PDF). IPCC. August 2021. p. TS14. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  34. ^ Census of 25 June 1998: Office National des Statistiques de l'Algérie (web).
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h Chisholm 1911, p. 654.
  36. ^ "Fountain in Mosque of El Kebir, Algiers, Algeria". World Digital Library. 1899. from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  37. ^ a b c d "Algeria: Provinces & Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  38. ^ . World-gazetteer.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  39. ^ "MERCER Human Resources Consulting – Moscow tops Mercer's cost of living list; London is close behind". Mercerhr.com. from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  40. ^ The report 2008 : Algeria. Oxford Business Group. 2008. ISBN 978-1-902339-09-2.
  41. ^ "HP Office locations". Welcome.hp.com. from the original on 2009-09-28. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  42. ^ Kobori, Iwao (Conseiller aupres del'Universite des Nations Unies). "L'Algerie et moi" ( 2015-01-16 at the Wayback Machine). Japan-Algeria Center. Retrieved on 16 January 2015.
  43. ^ "過去に指定・認定していた在外教育施設" ( 2015-01-15 at the Wayback Machine). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved on January 15, 2015.
  44. ^ . 1.ville.montreal.qc.ca. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  45. ^ "Градина "Алжир" – София". opoznai.bg (in Bulgarian). Opoznai.bg. 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  46. ^ "Lisboa – Geminações de Cidades e Vilas" [Lisbon – Twinning of Cities and Towns]. Associação Nacional de Municípios Portugueses [National Association of Portuguese Municipalities] (in Portuguese). from the original on 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  47. ^ [Lisbon – Twinning Agreements, Cooperation and Friendship]. Camara Municipal de Lisboa (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  48. ^ . Paris: Marie de Paris. Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-09-10.

Bibliography

  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Algiers". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 653–655.
  • Carroll, David. Albert Camus the Algerian (Columbia University Press, 2007).
  • Emerson, Charles. 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War (2013) compares Algiers to 20 major world cities; pp 267–79.
  • Benseddik, Nacéra (2004), "Chronique d'une Cité Antique", Alger: Lumières sur la Ville, Actes du Colloque de l'EPAU 4–6 May 2001, Algiers, pp. 29–34. (in French)
  • Ghaki, Mansour (2015), "Toponymie et Onomastique Libyques: L'Apport de l'Écriture Punique/Néopunique" (PDF), La Lingua nella Vita e la Vita della Lingua: Itinerari e Percorsi degli Studi Berberi, Studi Africanistici: Quaderni di Studi Berberi e Libico-Berberi, vol. No. 4, Naples: Unior, pp. 65–71, ISBN 978-88-6719-125-3, ISSN 2283-5636, archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. (in French)
  • Lipiński, Edward (2004), Itineraria Phoenicia, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, No. 127, Studia Phoenicia, Vol. XVIII, Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, ISBN 9789042913448.

algiers, this, article, about, capital, algeria, other, uses, disambiguation, algerine, redirects, here, other, uses, algerine, disambiguation, ɪər, jeerz, arabic, الجزائر, romanized, jazāʾir, berber, languages, dzayer, french, alger, alʒe, capital, largest, c. This article is about the capital of Algeria For other uses see Algiers disambiguation Algerine redirects here For other uses see Algerine disambiguation Algiers ae l ˈ dʒ ɪer z al JEERZ Arabic الجزائر romanized al Jazaʾir Berber languages Dzayer French Alger alʒe is the capital and largest city of Algeria The city s population at the 2008 census was 2 988 145 3 and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4 500 000 Algiers is located on the Mediterranean Sea and in the north central portion of Algeria 2 Algiers Dzayer Berber languages الجزائر Arabic Alger French Capital cityFrom top left to right Coast Martyrs Memorial Ahmed Francis Building Basilica of Our Lady of Africa Central Post Office Ketchaoua Mosque HarbourCoat of armsNicknames Algiers the White Algiers the DazzlingAlgiersLocation in Algeria and AfricaShow map of AlgeriaAlgiersAlgiers Arab world Show map of Arab worldAlgiersAlgiers Africa Show map of AfricaCoordinates 36 45 14 N 3 3 32 E 36 75389 N 3 05889 E 36 75389 3 05889Country AlgeriaProvinceAlgiers ProvinceDistrictSidi M Hamed DistrictGovernment Wali Governor Ahmed Maabed since 2021 Area Capital city363 km2 140 sq mi Metro1 190 km2 460 sq mi Highest elevation424 m 1 391 ft Lowest elevation2 m 7 ft Population 2011 1 2 Capital city4 510 000 Density12 424 km2 32 180 sq mi Metro density7 012 km2 18 160 sq mi Time zoneUTC 01 00 CET Postal codes16000 16132Area code 213 021ClimateCsaAlgiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore the old part the ancient city of the deys climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the Casbah or citadel a UNESCO World Heritage Site 4 122 metres 400 ft above the sea The casbah and the two quays form a triangle 5 Contents 1 Names 2 History 2 1 Early history 2 2 Ottoman rule 2 3 French rule 2 4 Algerian War 2 5 Independence 2 6 Crisis of the 1990s 3 Geography 3 1 Districts of Algiers 3 2 Climate 3 2 1 Climate change 4 Government 5 Local architecture 5 1 Monuments 6 Demographics 7 Economy 8 Tourist installations 9 Education 10 Public transport 11 Sports 11 1 Football clubs 12 International relations 12 1 Twin towns sister cities 12 2 Cooperation agreements 13 Films about Algiers 14 Notable people 15 References 15 1 Citations 15 2 BibliographyNames EditThe city s name is derived via French and Catalan Alger 6 from the Arabic name al Jazaʾir الجزائر The Islands This name refers to the four former islands which lay off the city s coast before becoming part of the mainland in 1525 Al Jazaʾir is itself a truncated form of the city s older name Jazaʾir Bani Mazghanna جزائر بني مزغانة The Islands of the Banu Mazghanna Sons of Mazghana used by early medieval geographers such as al Idrisi and Yaqut al Hamawi In antiquity the Greeks knew the town as Ikosion Ancient Greek Ἰkosion which was Latinized as Icosium under Roman rule The Greeks explained the name as coming from their word for twenty eἴkosi eikosi supposedly because it had been founded by 20 companions of Hercules when he visited the Atlas Mountains during his labors 7 Algiers is also known as el Behdja البهجة The Joyous or Algiers the White French Alger la Blanche for its whitewashed buildings seen rising from the sea History EditSee also Timeline of Algiers Early history Edit Main article Icosium The city s earliest history was as a small port in the Carthage where Phoenicians were trading with other Mediterraneans After the Punic Wars the Romans eventually took over administration of the town which they called Icosium Its ruins now form part of the modern city s marine quarter with the Rue de la Marine following a former Roman road Roman cemeteries existed near Bab el Oued and Bab Azoun The city was given Latin rights by the emperor Vespasian The bishops of Icosium are mentioned as late as the 5th century 8 but the ancient town fell into obscurity during the Muslim conquest of North Africa 9 The present city was founded in 944 by Bologhine ibn Ziri the founder of the Berber Zirid dynasty He had earlier 935 built his own house and a Sanhaja center at Ashir just south of Algiers Although his Zirid dynasty was overthrown by Roger II of Sicily in 1148 the Zirids had already lost control of Algiers to their cousins the Hammadids in 1014 10 The city was wrested from the Hammadids by the Almohads in 1159 and in the 13th century came under the dominion of the Ziyanid sultans of Tlemcen Nominally part of the sultanate of Tlemcen Algiers had a large measure of independence under Thaaliba amirs of its own due to Oran being the chief seaport of the Ziyanids 8 The Penon of Algiers an islet in front of Algiers harbour had been occupied by the Spaniards as early as 1302 Thereafter a considerable amount of trade began to flow between Algiers and Spain However Algiers continued to be of comparatively little importance until after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain many of whom sought asylum in the city In 1510 following their occupation of Oran and other towns on the coast of Africa the Spaniards fortified the islet of Penon 8 and imposed a levy intended to suppress corsair activity 11 Ottoman rule Edit Algiers by Antonio Salamanca circa 1540 published in Civitates Orbis Terrarum Abraham Duquesne delivering Christian captives in Algiers after the bombing in 1683 In 1516 the amir of Algiers Selim b Teumi invited the corsair brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa to expel the Spaniards Aruj came to Algiers ordered the assassination of Selim and seized the town and ousted the Spanish in the Capture of Algiers 1516 Hayreddin succeeding Aruj after the latter was killed in battle against the Spaniards in the Fall of Tlemcen 1517 was the founder of the pashaluk which subsequently became the beylik of Algeria Barbarossa lost Algiers in 1524 but regained it with the Capture of Algiers 1529 and then formally invited the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to accept sovereignty over the territory and to annex Algiers to the Ottoman Empire Historic map of Algiers by Piri Reis Algiers from this time became the chief seat of the Barbary pirates In October 1541 in the Algiers expedition the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sought to capture the city but a storm destroyed a great number of his ships and his army of some 30 000 chiefly made up of Spaniards was defeated by the Algerians under their Pasha Hassan 8 The bombardment of Algiers under Viscount Exmouth August 1816 painted by Thomas Luny Ornate Ottoman cannon found in Algiers on 8 October 1581 by Ca fer el Mu allim Length 385 cm cal 178 mm weight 2910 kg stone projectile Seized by France during the invasion of Algiers in 1830 Musee de l Armee Paris Formally part of the Ottoman Empire but essentially free from Ottoman control starting in the 16th century Algiers turned to piracy and ransoming Due to its location on the periphery of both the Ottoman and European economic spheres and depending for its existence on a Mediterranean that was increasingly controlled by European shipping backed by European navies piracy became the primary economic activity Repeated attempts were made by various nations to subdue the pirates that disturbed shipping in the western Mediterranean and engaged in slave raids as far north as Iceland 12 By the 17th century up to 40 of the city s 100 000 inhabitants were enslaved Europeans 13 The United States fought two wars the First and Second Barbary Wars over Algiers attacks on shipping Among the notable people held for ransom was the future Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes who was held captive in Algiers for almost five years and wrote two plays set in Algiers of the period The primary source for knowledge of Algiers of this period since there are no contemporary local sources is the Topografia e historia general de Argel 1612 but written earlier published by Diego de Haedo but whose authorship is disputed 14 15 This work describes in detail the city the behavior of its inhabitants and its military defenses with the unsuccessful hope of facilitating an attack by Spain so as to end the piracy A significant number of renegades lived in Algiers at the time Christians converted voluntarily to Islam many fleeing the law or other problems at home Once converted to Islam they were safe in Algiers Many occupied positions of authority such as Samson Rowlie an Englishman who became Treasurer of Algiers 16 The city under Ottoman control was enclosed by a wall on all sides including along the seafront In this wall five gates allowed access to the city with five roads from each gate dividing the city and meeting in front of the Ketchaoua Mosque In 1556 a citadel was constructed at the highest point in the wall A major road running north to south divided the city in two The upper city al Gabal or the mountain which consisted of about fifty small quarters of Andalusian Jewish Moorish and Kabyle communities and the lower city al Wata or the plains which was the administrative military and commercial centre of the city mostly inhabited by Ottoman Turkish dignitaries and other upper class families 17 In August 1816 the city was bombarded by a British squadron under Lord Exmouth a descendant of Thomas Pellew taken in an Algerian slave raid in 1715 18 self published source assisted by Dutch men of war destroying the corsair fleet harboured in Algiers 8 French rule Edit Algiers depot and station grounds of Algerian Railway 1894 The history of Algiers from 1830 to 1962 is bound to the larger history of Algeria and its relationship to France On July 4 1830 under the pretext of an affront to the French consul whom the dey had hit with a fly whisk when the consul said the French government was not prepared to pay its large outstanding debts to two Algerian merchants a French army under General de Bourmont attacked the city in the 1830 invasion of Algiers The city capitulated the following day Algiers became the capital of French Algeria Many Europeans settled in Algiers and by the early 20th century they formed a majority of the city s population 19 During the 1930s the architect Le Corbusier drew up plans for a complete redesign of the colonial city Le Corbusier was highly critical of the urban style of Algiers describing the European district as nothing but crumbling walls and devastated nature the whole a sullied blot He also criticised the difference in living standards he perceived between the European and African residents of the city describing a situation in which the civilised live like rats in holes whereas the barbarians live in solitude in well being 20 However these plans were ultimately ignored by the French administration During World War II Algiers was the first city to be seized from the Axis by the Allies in Operation Terminal a part of Operation Torch City and harbour of Algiers c 1921 In 1962 after a bloody independence struggle in which hundreds of thousands estimates range between 350 000 and 1 500 000 died mostly Algerians but also French and Pieds Noirs during fighting between the French Army and the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale Algeria gained its independence with Algiers as its capital Since then despite losing its entire pied noir population the city has expanded massively It now has about five million inhabitants or 10 percent of Algeria s population and its suburbs now cover most of the surrounding Mitidja plain Algerian War Edit source source source source source source source source source source track The tense truce between Algerian rebels French army and the OAS in 1962 Algiers also played a pivotal role in the Algerian War 1954 1962 particularly during the Battle of Algiers when the 10th Parachute Division of the French Army starting on January 7 1957 and on the orders of the French Minister of Justice Francois Mitterrand who authorized any means to eliminate the insurrectionists citation needed led attacks against the Algerian fighters for independence Algiers remains marked by this battle which was characterized by merciless fighting between FLN forces which carried out a guerrilla campaign against the French military and police and pro French Algerian soldiers and the French Army which responded with a bloody repression torture and blanket terrorism against the native population The demonstrations of May 13 during the crisis of 1958 provoked the fall of the Fourth Republic in France as well as the return of General de Gaulle to power Independence Edit Algeria achieved independence on July 5 1962 Run by the FLN that had secured independence Algiers became a member of Non Aligned Movement during the Cold War In October 1988 one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall Algiers was the site of demonstrations demanding the end of the single party system and the creation of a real democracy baptized the Spring of Algier The demonstrators were repressed by the authorities more than 300 dead but the movement constituted a turning point in the political history of modern Algeria In 1989 a new constitution was adopted that put an end to the one party rule and saw the creation of more than fifty political parties as well as official freedom of the press Crisis of the 1990s Edit The city became the theatre of many political demonstrations of all descriptions until 1993 In 1991 a political entity dominated by religious conservatives called the Islamic Salvation Front engaged in a political test of wills with the authorities In the 1992 elections for the Algerian National Assembly the Islamists garnered a large amount of support in the first round Fearing an eventual win by the Islamists the army canceled the election process setting off a civil war between the State and armed religious conservatives which would last for a decade On December 11 2007 two car bombs exploded in Algiers One bomb targeted two United Nations office buildings and the other targeted a government building housing the Supreme Court The death toll was at least 62 with over two hundred injured in the attacks 21 However only 26 remained hospitalized the following day 22 As of 2008 update it is speculated that the attack was carried out by the Al Qaida cell within the city 23 Indigenous terrorist groups have been actively operating in Algeria since around 2002 Geography EditDistricts of Algiers Edit Notre Dame d Afrique built by European settlers in 1872 24 The Casbah of Al Qasbah the Citadel Ier District of Algiers called Al Djazair Al Mahroussa Well Kept Algiers is founded on the ruins of old Icosium It is a small city which built on a hill goes down towards the sea divided in two the High city and the Low city One finds there masonries and mosques of the 17th century Ketchaoua mosque built in 1794 by the Dey Baba Hassan flanked by two minarets mosque el Djedid built in 1660 at the time of Turkish regency with its large finished ovoid cupola points some and its four coupolettes mosque El Kebir oldest of the mosques it was built by Almoravid Youssef Ibn Tachfin and rebuilt later in 1794 mosque Ali Betchnin Rais 1623 Dar Aziza palate of Jenina In the Kasbah there are also labyrinths of lanes and houses that are very picturesque and if one gets lost there it is enough to go down again towards the sea to reposition oneself Bab El Oued Literally the River s Gate the popular district which extends from the Casbah beyond the gate of the river It is the capital s darling and best liked borough Famous for its square with the three clocks and for its market Triplet it is also a district of workshops and manufacturing plants Edge of sea from 1840 the architects Pierre August Guiauchain and Charles Frederic Chasseriau designed new buildings apart from the Casbah town hall law courts buildings theatre palace of the Governor and casino to form an elegant walk bordered by arcades which is today the boulevard Che Guevara formerly the Boulevard of the Republic Kouba will daira of Hussein dey Kouba is an old village which was absorbed by the expansion of the town of Algiers Kouba quickly developed under the French colonial era then continued growing due to formidable demographic expansion that Algiers saw after the independence of Algeria in 1962 It is today a district of Algiers which is largely made up of houses villas and buildings not exceeding five stories El Harrach a suburb of Algiers is located about 10 kilometres 6 miles to the east of the city The communes of Hydra Ben Aknoun El Biar and Bouzareah form what the inhabitants of Algiers call the Heights of Algiers These communes shelter the majority of the foreign embassies of Algiers of many ministries and university centres which makes it one of the administrative and policy centres of the country The Didouche Mourad street is located in the 3rd district Of Algiers It extends from the Grande Post office to the Heights of Algiers It crosses in particular the place Audin the Faculty of Algiers The Crowned Heart and the Freedom Park formerly Galland It is bordered by smart stores and restaurants along most of its length It is regarded as the heart of the capital Astronautical view of Algiers Climate Edit Algiers has a Mediterranean climate Koppen climate classification Csa Its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea aids in moderating the city s temperatures As a result Algiers usually does not see the extreme temperatures that are experienced in the adjacent interior Algiers on average receives roughly 600 millimetres 24 in of rain per year the bulk of which is seen between October and April The precipitation is higher than in most of coastal Mediterranean Spain and similar to most of coastal Mediterranean France as opposed to the interior North African semi arid or arid climate Snow is very rare in 2012 the city received 100 millimetres 4 in of snowfall its first snowfall in eight years 25 Climate data for Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport 1976 2005 averages extremes 1838 presentMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 27 6 81 7 31 4 88 5 36 3 97 3 36 5 97 7 41 1 106 0 44 6 112 3 45 2 113 4 47 5 117 5 44 4 111 9 39 5 103 1 34 4 93 9 30 4 86 7 47 5 117 5 Average high C F 16 7 62 1 17 4 63 3 19 3 66 7 20 9 69 6 23 9 75 0 28 2 82 8 31 2 88 2 32 2 90 0 29 6 85 3 25 9 78 6 20 8 69 4 17 9 64 2 23 7 74 7 Daily mean C F 11 1 52 0 11 7 53 1 13 2 55 8 14 9 58 8 18 1 64 6 22 2 72 0 25 1 77 2 26 0 78 8 23 6 74 5 20 1 68 2 15 3 59 5 12 6 54 7 17 8 64 0 Average low C F 5 5 41 9 5 9 42 6 7 1 44 8 8 8 47 8 12 3 54 1 16 1 61 0 18 9 66 0 19 8 67 6 17 6 63 7 14 2 57 6 9 8 49 6 7 2 45 0 11 9 53 4 Record low C F 3 3 26 1 1 9 28 6 1 0 30 2 0 8 30 6 2 6 36 7 5 5 41 9 9 0 48 2 9 5 49 1 8 2 46 8 4 1 39 4 0 1 31 8 2 3 27 9 3 3 26 1 Average precipitation mm inches 81 4 3 20 72 7 2 86 55 0 2 17 58 4 2 30 41 9 1 65 8 5 0 33 4 5 0 18 8 2 0 32 28 3 1 11 58 8 2 31 89 6 3 53 91 0 3 58 598 3 23 56 Average precipitation days 0 1 mm 11 4 10 6 9 7 9 1 7 3 2 5 1 5 2 5 5 3 8 6 11 1 12 1 91 7Average relative humidity 71 66 65 62 66 66 67 65 68 66 68 68 67Mean monthly sunshine hours 139 5 158 2 207 7 228 0 300 7 300 0 353 4 325 5 267 0 198 4 153 0 145 7 2 777 1Mean daily sunshine hours 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 6 9 7 10 0 11 4 10 5 8 9 6 4 5 1 4 7 7 6Source 1 World Meteorological Organization average temperatures and precipitation 1976 2005 26 Source 2 Arab Meteorology Book humidity and sun 27 Meteo Climat record highs and lows 28 Climate change Edit A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4 5 a moderate scenario of climate change where global warming reaches 2 5 3 C 4 5 5 4 F by 2100 the climate of Algiers in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Perth in Australia The annual temperature would increase by 2 6 C 4 7 F and the temperature of the warmest month by 1 9 C 3 4 F while the temperature of the coldest month would be 3 8 C 6 8 F higher 29 30 According to Climate Action Tracker the current warming trajectory appears consistent with 2 7 C 4 9 F which closely matches RCP 4 5 31 Moreover according to the 2022 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Algiers is one of 12 major African cities Abidjan Alexandria Algiers Cape Town Casablanca Dakar Dar es Salaam Durban Lagos Lome Luanda and Maputo which would be the most severely affected by the future sea level rise It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of USD 65 billion under RCP 4 5 and USD 86 5 billion for the high emission scenario RCP 8 5 by the year 2050 Additionally RCP 8 5 combined with the hypothetical impact from marine ice sheet instability at high levels of warming would involve up to 137 5 billion USD in damages while the additional accounting for the low probability high damage events may increase aggregate risks to USD 187 billion for the moderate RCP4 5 USD 206 billion for RCP8 5 and USD 397 billion under the high end ice sheet instability scenario 32 Since sea level rise would continue for about 10 000 years under every scenario of climate change future costs of sea level rise would only increase especially without adaptation measures 33 Finally The Casbah is on the list of 10 African cultural heritage sites most threatened by sea level rise 32 Government EditFurther information List of mayors of Algiers See also fr Alger Administration et politique The city and province of Algiers is composed of 13 administrative districts sub divided into 57 communes listed below with their populations at the 1998 and 2008 Censuses Name Name in Arabic Population 1998 34 Population 2008 3 Bab El Oued باب الوادي 87 557 64 732Bologhine بولوغين 43 283 43 835Casbah القصبة 50 453 36 762Oued Koriche وادي قريش 53 378 46 182Rais Hamidou الرايس حميدو 21 518 28 451Bab El Oued District 256 189 219 962Baraki براقي 95 247 116 375Les Eucalyptus الكليتوس 96 310 116 107Sidi Moussa سيدي موسى 27 888 40 750Baraki District 219 445 273 232Bir Mourad Rais بئر مراد رايس 43 254 45 345Birkhadem بئر خادم 55 084 77 749Djasr Kasentina جسر قسنطينة 82 729 133 247Hydra حيدرة 35 727 31 133Saoula سحاولة 31 388 41 690Bir Mourad Rais District 248 182 329 164Birtouta بئر توتة 21 808 30 575Ouled Chebel أولاد الشبل 16 335 20 006Tessala El Merdja تسالة المرجى 10 792 15 847Birtouta District 48 935 66 428Ben Aknoun بن عكنون 19 404 18 838Beni Messous بني مسوس 17 490 36 191Bouzareah بوزريعة 69 153 83 797El Biar الأبيار 52 582 47 332Bouzareah District 158 629 186 158Ain Benian عين البنيان 52 343 68 354Cheraga الشراقة 60 374 80 824Dely Ibrahim دالي إبرهيم 30 576 35 230El Hammamet الحمامات الرومانية 19 651 23 990Ouled Fayet أولاد فايت 15 209 27 593Cheraga District 178 153 235 991Ain Taya عين طاية 29 515 34 501Bab Ezzouar باب الزوار 92 157 96 597Bordj El Bahri برج البحري 27 905 52 816Bordj El Kiffan برج الكيفان 103 690 151 950Dar El Beida الدار البيضاء 44 753 80 033El Marsa المرسى 8 784 12 100Mohammedia المحمدية 42 079 62 543Dar El Beida District 348 883 490 540Baba Hassen بابا حسن 13 827 23 756Douera دويرة 41 804 56 998Draria درارية 23 050 44 141El Achour العاشور 19 524 41 070Khraicia خراسية 17 690 27 910Draria District 115 895 193 875Bachdjerrah باش جراح 90 073 93 289Bourouba بوروبة 77 498 71 661El Harrach الحراش 48 167 48 869Oued Smar وادي سمار 21 397 32 062El Harrach District 237 135 245 881El Magharia المغارية 30 457 31 453Hussein Dey حسين داي 49 921 40 698Kouba القبة 105 253 104 708Mohamed Belouizdad Hamma Annassers الحامة العناصر 59 248 44 050Hussein Dey District 244 879 220 909Haraoua الهراوة 18 167 27 565Reghaia رغاية 66 215 85 452Rouiba الرويبة 49 881 61 984Rouiba District 134 263 175 001Alger Centre الجزائرالوسطى 96 329 75 541El Madania المدنية 51 404 40 301El Mouradia المرادية 29 503 22 813Sidi M Hamed سيدي امحمد 90 455 67 873Sidi M Hamed District 267 691 206 528Mahelma محالمة 14 810 20 758Rahmania الرحمانية 5 759 7 396Souidania سويدانية 11 620 17 105Staoueli سطاوالي 38 915 47 664Zeralda زرالدة 33 047 51 552Zeralda District 104 151 144 475Totals الجزائر 2 562 428 2 988 145Local architecture Edit Algiers waterfront Cosmopolitan Algiers Further information List of mosques in Algeria There are many public buildings of interest including the whole Kasbah quarter Martyrs Square Sahat ech Chouhada ساحة الشهداء the government offices formerly the British consulate the Grand New and Ketchaoua Mosques the Roman Catholic cathedral of Notre Dame d Afrique the Bardo Museum the old Bibliotheque Nationale d Alger a moorish palace built in 1799 1800 and the new National Library built in a style reminiscent of the British Library The main building in the Kasbah was begun in 1516 on the site of an older building and served as the palace of the deys until the French conquest A road has been cut through the centre of the building the mosque turned into barracks and the hall of audience allowed to fall into ruin There still remain a minaret and some marble arches and columns Traces exist of the vaults in which were stored the treasures of the dey 35 Djamaa el Kebir Jamaa el Kebir الجامع الكبير is the oldest mosque in Algiers It was first built by Yusuf ibn Tashfin but reconstructed many times The pulpit minbar منبر bears an inscription showing that the building existed in 1097 The minaret was built by the sultan of Tlemcen in 1324 36 The interior of the mosque is square and is divided into aisles by columns joined by Moorish arches 35 The New Mosque Jamaa el Jedid الجامع الجديد dating from the 17th century is in the form of a Greek cross surmounted by a large white cupola with four small cupolas at the corners The minaret is 27 metres 89 ft high The interior resembles that of the Grand Mosque 35 The church of the Holy Trinity built in 1870 stands at the southern end of the rue d Isly near the site of the demolished Fort Bab Azoun باب عزون The interior is richly decorated with various coloured marbles Many of these marbles contain memorial inscriptions relating to the British residents voluntary and involuntary of Algiers from the time of John Tipton the first English consul in 1580 NB Some sources give 1585 One tablet records that in 1631 two Algerine pirate crews landed in Ireland sacked Baltimore and enslaved its inhabitants 35 The Ketchaoua Mosque The Ketchaoua Mosque Djamaa Ketchaoua جامع كتشاوة at the foot of the Casbah was before independence in 1962 the cathedral of St Philippe itself made in 1845 from a mosque dating from 1612 The principal entrance reached by a flight of 23 steps is ornamented with a portico supported by four black veined marble columns The roof of the nave is of Moorish plaster work It rests on a series of arcades supported by white marble columns Several of these columns belonged to the original mosque In one of the chapels was a tomb containing the bones of Geronimo 35 The building seems a curious blend of Moorish and Byzantine styles Algiers possesses a college with schools of law medicine science and letters The college buildings are large and handsome The Bardo Museum holds some of the ancient sculptures and mosaics discovered in Algeria together with medals and Algerian money 35 The port of Algiers is sheltered from all winds There are two harbours both artificial the old or northern harbour and the southern or Agha harbour The northern harbour covers an area of 95 hectares 235 acres An opening in the south jetty affords an entrance into Agha harbour constructed in Agha Bay Agha harbour has also an independent entrance on its southern side The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair ad Din Barbarossa see History below who to accommodated his pirate vessels caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a mole The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544 35 Algiers was a walled city from the time of the deys until the close of the 19th century The French after their occupation of the city 1830 built a rampart parapet and ditch with two terminal forts Bab Azoun باب عزون to the south and Bab el Oued اد to the north The forts and part of the ramparts were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century when a line of forts occupying the heights of Bouzareah بوزريعة at an elevation of 396 metres 1 299 ft above the sea took their place 35 Notre Dame d Afrique a church built 1858 1872 in a mixture of the Roman and Byzantine styles is conspicuously situated overlooking the sea on the shoulder of the Bouzareah hills 3 km 2 mi to the north of the city Above the altar is a statue of the Virgin depicted as a black woman The church also contains a solid silver statue of the archangel Michael belonging to the confraternity of Neapolitan fishermen 8 Villa Abd el Tif former residence of the dey was used during the French period to accommodate French artists chiefly painters and winners of the Abd el Tif prize among whom Maurice Boitel for a while of two years Nowadays Algerian artists are back in the villa s studios Monuments Edit The Monument of the Martyrs Maquam E chahid Grand Post Office Notre Dame d Afrique accessible by one cable car is one of the city s most outstanding monuments located in the district of Z will ghara the basilica was built around 1858 Monument des Martyrs Marquand E chahid an iconic concrete monument commemorating the Algerian war for independence The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th anniversary of Algeria s independence It is fashioned in the shape of three standing palm leaves which shelter the Eternal Flame beneath At the edge of each palm leaf stands a statue of a soldier each representing a stage of Algeria s struggle The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs near the port Place of the Emir Abdelkader formerly Bugeaud in memory of the famous emir Abd El Kader resistant during French conquest of Algeria Grand Post Office 1910 by Voinot and Tondoire construction of the neo Moorish type which is in full centre town of Algiers The Jardin d essai Garden of Test El Hamma situated in the east of Algiers it extends over 80 hectares 198 acres and contains exotic plants and gardens It was created in 1832 by A Hardy Villa Abd el Hair with the top of the Garden of test one of the old residences of the dey where until 1962 were placed the artists prizes winner of Price Abd el Hair and in particular Maurice Boitel and Andre Hamburg Citadel Riadh El Feth shopping centre and art gallery Ketchaoua Mosque This mosque became the Saint Philippe cathedral during colonization before becoming again a mosque National Library is in the district of El HAMMA and was built in the 1990s Djamaa el Kebir at the Rue de la Marine It is the oldest mosque of Algiers and was built during the reign of the Almoravid sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin Le Bastion 23 Palais des Rais built in 1576 by Dey Ramdhan Pacha and located in the lower Casbah in the Bab El Oued neighborhood Demographics EditYear Population1977 Census 1 523 000 37 1987 Census 1 507 241 37 1998 Census 2 086 212 37 2008 Census 2 364 230 37 Algiers has a population of about 3 335 418 2012 estimate 38 The ethnic distribution is 53 from an Arabic speaking background 44 from a Berber speaking background and 3 foreign born 1940 300 000 people lived in Algiers 1960 900 000 people lived in Algiers 1963 600 000 people lived in Algiers Economy Edit Ministry of Finance of Algeria Algiers is an important economic commercial and financial center with in particular a stock exchange with a capitalisation of 60 million euros The city has the highest cost of living of any city in North Africa as well as the 50th highest worldwide as of March 2007 having gained one position compared to the previous year 39 Mohamed Ben Ali El Abbar president of the Council of Administration of the Emirate Group EMAAR presented five megaprojects to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika during a ceremony which took place Saturday July 15 in the People s Palace of Algiers These projects will transform the city of Algiers and its surroundings by equipping them with a retail area and restoration and leisure facilities The first project will concentrate on the reorganization and the development of the infrastructures of the railway station Aga located in the downtown area The ultramodern station intended to accommodate more than 80 000 passengers per day will become a centre of circulation in the heart of the grid system surrounded by commercial offices and buildings and hotels intended for travellers in transit A shopping centre and three high rise office buildings rising with the top of the commercial zone will accompany the project The second project will not relate to the bay of Algiers and aims to revitalize the sea front The development of the 44 km 27 mi sea front will include marinas channels luxury hotels offices apartments of great standing luxury stores and leisure amenities A crescent shaped peninsula will be set up on the open sea The project of the bay of Algiers will also comprise six small islands of which four of round form connected to each other by bridges and marinas and will include tourist and residential complexes Air Algerie head office in Place Audin near the University of Algiers in Alger Centre The third project will relate to restructuring an area of Algiers qualified by the originators of the project of city of wellness El Abbar indicated to the journalists that the complex would be agreeable for all those which will want to combine tourism and well being or tourism and relaxation The complex will include a university a research center and a medical centre It should also include a hospital complex a care centre a hotel zone an urban centre and a thermal spa with villas and apartments The university will include a medical school and a school for care male nurses which will be able to accommodate 500 students The university campus will have the possibility of seeing setting up broad ranges of buildings of research laboratories and residences Another project relates to technological implantation of a campus in Sidi Abdellah 25 km 16 mi south east from Algiers This 90 hectares 222 acres site will include shopping centres residential zones with high standard apartments and a golf course surrounded by villas and hotels Two other residential zones including 1 800 apartments and 40 high standard villas will be built on the surrounding hills The fifth project is that of the tourist complex Colonel Abbes which will be located 25 km 16 mi west from Algiers This complex will include several retail zones meeting places and residential zones composed of apartments and villas with views of the sea 40 There is another project under construction by the name of Algiers Medina The first step of the project is nearly complete A Hewlett Packard office for French speaking countries in Africa is in Algiers 41 Tourist installations Edit Panorama of the city as seen from Bologhine district Some 20 km 12 mi to the west of Algiers are such seaside resorts as Sidi Fredj ex Sidi Ferruch Palm Beach Douaouda Zeralda and the Club of the Pines residence of State there are tourist complexes Algerian and other restaurants souvenir shops supervised beaches and other amenities The city is also equipped with important hotel complexes such as the hotel Hilton El Aurassi or El Djazair Algiers also has the first water park in the country The tourism of Algiers is growing but is not as developed as that of the larger cities in Morocco or Tunisia Education EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it January 2017 The presence of a large diplomatic community in Algiers prompted the creation of multiple international educational institutions These schools include American International School of Algiers El Kalimat School English language school Lycee International Alexandre Dumas d Alger French school Roma Italian School of Algiers Russian Embassy School in Algiers There was formerly the Ecole japonaise d Alger アルジェ日本人学校 Aruje Nihonjin Gakkō a school for Japanese children 42 43 Public transport Edit Public transport of Algiers Various means of transport in Algiers ETUSA urban and suburban bus transportation for Algiers operates bus service in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs 54 lines are operating with service from 5 30 a m to 12 45 a m SNTF national railroad company operates commuter rail lines connecting the capital to the surrounding suburbs Algiers Metro opened November 1 2011 Algiers tramway opened on May 8 2011 Houari Boumediene Airport is located 20 km 12 mi from the city The airport serves domestics many European cities West Africa the Middle East Asia and North America On July 5 2006 a new international air terminal was opened for service The terminal is managed by Aeroports de Paris 4 urban beltways El Madania Belouizdad Notre Dame d Afrique Bologhine Memorial des Martyres Riad el Feth Jardin d essais Palais de la culture Oued KnissSports EditAlgiers is the sporting centre of Algeria The city has a number of professional clubs in the variety of sports which have won national and international titles Among the sports facilities within the city there is an enormous sporting complex Complex of OCO Mohamed Boudiaf This includes the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 capacity 64 000 a venue for athletics an Olympic swimming pool a multisports room the Cupola an 18 hole golf course and several tennis courts The following major sporting events have been held in Algiers not exhaustive list Mediterranean Games 1975 All Africa Games 1978 2007 African Cup of Nations 1990 African Handball Nations Championship 1989 2001 Pan Arab Games 2004 FIBA Africa Championship 2005 Men s U19 World Championship 2005 Football clubs Edit Major association football club based in Algiers include MC Alger CR Belouizdad USM AlgerInternational relations EditSee also List of twin towns and sister cities in Algeria This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Twin towns sister cities Edit Algiers is twinned with Montreal Canada 44 Moscow Russia citation needed Sofia Bulgaria 45 In addition many of the wards and cities within Algiers maintain sister city relationships with other foreign cities Cooperation agreements Edit Algiers has cooperation agreements with Lisbon Portugal 46 47 Paris France 48 Films about Algiers Edit The Battle of Algiers 1966 Italian Algerian movie by Gillo Pontecorvo Algiers 1938 starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr and directed by John Cromwell The Battle of Algiers 1966 directed by Gillo Pontecorvo Tahya ya Didou Alger Insolite 1970 Mohammed Zinet Bab El Oued City 1994 directed by Merzak Allouache Viva Laldjerie 2003 directed by Nadir Mokneche with Biyouna and Lubna Azabal Bab el Web 2004 directed by Merzak Allouache with Samy Naceri Julie Gayet Faudel Once upon a time in the Oued 2005 directed by Djamel Bensalah Beur White Red 2005 directed by Mahmoud Zemmouri Delice Paloma 2007 directed by Nadir Mokneche with Biyouna and Nadia Kaci Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion 1950 starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Carry on Spying 1964 directed by Gerald Thomas with Kenneth Williams Charles Hawtrey Barbara Windsor amp Renee HoustonNotable people EditMain article List of people from Algiers Province Sidi Abd al Rahman al Tha alibi 15th century theologian and sufi Sidi Ahmed Zouaoui 15th century theologian and sufi Sidi M hamed Bou Qobrine 18th century theologian and sufi Mohamed ben Zamoum 19th century resistant against French colonization Khalid ibn Hashim 19th 20th century resistant against French colonization Albert Camus 20th century Nobel Laureate Abdelhalim Bensmaia 20th century scholar reformist humanist and musician Lyes Deriche 20th century leader of the Algerian national political movement Brahim Boushaki 20th century theologian and sufi Ali La Pointe 20th century militant of the Algerian national political movement Mohamed Aichaoui 20th century militant of the Algerian national political movement Mohamed Seghir Boushaki 20th century leader of the Algerian national political movement El Hadj M Hamed El Anka 20th century artist Ahmed Mahsas 20th century leader of the Algerian national political movement Hocine Mezali 20th 21st century journalist and writer Djamila Bouhired 20th century militant of the Algerian national political movement Hassiba Ben Bouali 20th century militant of the Algerian national political movement Mohamed Belouizdad 20th century leader of the Algerian national political movement against the French Djamila Boupacha 20th century militant of the Algerian national political movement Mohamed Bencheneb 20th century professor writer and historian Mourad Didouche 20th century leader of the Algerian national political movement Islam Slimani footballer Ali Haroun 20th century politician and lawyer Mohamed Missouri 20th century boxer and coach Hamdan Khodja 19th century dignitary and scholar Mohamed Belhocine 20th 21st century professor of internal medicine and epidemiology Amine ibn El Boushaki 20th 21st century judoka Amina Belouizdad 20th century television presenter Ali Fawzi Rebaine 21st century politician and doctor Mohamed Arkab 20th 21st century politician and engineer Rezki Zerarti 20th 21st century politician and engineer Arezki Hamza Dembri born 2004 Algerian footballer Mustapha Khedali 1934 in Alger died 2008 Algerian football player and manager Lotfi Laggoun born 1984 in Alger footballer Barbary pirates Botanical Garden Hamma List of Ottoman governors of AlgiersReferences Edit Algeria portalThis article was originally based on a translation of the French Wikipedia s article Alger Citations Edit Population of the city proper according to the 2008 census Citypopulation de Archived from the original on 15 June 2010 Retrieved 2010 06 27 a b UN World Urbanization Prospects Esa un org Archived from the original on 2020 Retrieved 2010 06 27 a b Census 14 April 2008 Office National des Statistiques de l Algerie web UNESCO Decision Text World Heritage Centre retrieved 21 July 2017 Chisholm 1911 p 653 Origins of Algiers by Louis Leschi speech delivered June 16 1941 published in El Djezair Sheets July 1941 History of Algeria Archived 2013 01 16 at the Wayback Machine in French Lipinski 2004 p 403 a b c d e f Chisholm 1911 p 655 History of Algeria Key Figures in Algeria s history www nationsonline org Retrieved 2022 03 15 Ruedy John Douglas 2005 Modern Algeria The origins and development of a nation Indiana University Press Bloomington Indiana page 13 Archived 2016 05 17 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 978 0 253 21782 0 Celik Zeynep Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations Algiers Under French Rule University of California Press 1997 p 13 Tyrkjaranid Heimaslod in Icelandic Heimaslod is Archived from the original on 2011 05 27 Retrieved 2010 06 27 Martin Reinheimer 2003 From Amrum to Algiers and Back The Reintegration of a Renegade in the Eighteenth Century Central European History Cambridge University Press 36 2 209 233 doi 10 1163 156916103770866121 JSTOR 4547299 S2CID 143504775 Retrieved 2021 06 23 Eisenberg Daniel in Spanish 1996 Cervantes autor de la Topografia e historia general de Argel publicada por Diego de Haedo Cervantes Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America 16 1 32 53 Archived from the original on 2015 03 18 Others have disputed Eisenberg s attribution of the work to Cervantes Eisenberg Daniel in Spanish 1999 Por que volvio Cervantes de Argel Why Did Cervantes return from Algiers Ingeniosa invencion Essays on Golden Age Spanish Literature for Geoffrey L Stagg in Honor of his Eighty Fifth Birthday Newark Delaware Juan de la Cuesta pp 241 253 ISBN 0936388838 The First Muslims in England BBC News 20 March 2016 Archived from the original on 2016 03 21 Retrieved 2016 03 21 Celik Zeynep Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations Algiers Under French Rule University of California Press 1997 pp 13 14 Godfrey Mugoti 2009 Africa a z Place of publication not identified Lulu Com ISBN 978 1435728905 OCLC 946180025 self published source Albert Habib Hourani Malise Ruthven 2002 A history of the Arab peoples Archived 2015 09 06 at the Wayback Machine Harvard University Press p 323 ISBN 0 674 01017 5 Celik Zeynep Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations Algiers Under French Rule University of California Press 1997 p 5 Les autorites accusent al Qaida RFI Archived from the original on 13 December 2007 Retrieved 2007 12 11 Toll in Algiers bombings rises to 31 Associated Press Archived from the original on 2007 12 14 Retrieved 2007 12 12 Al Qaeda blamed for Algeria bombs CNN 2007 12 12 Archived from the original on 12 December 2007 Retrieved 2007 12 11 Notre Dame d Afrique and Carmelite Convent Algiers Algeria World Digital Library 1899 Archived from the original on 2013 09 27 Retrieved 2013 09 25 Balmforth Richard 4 February 2012 European Chill Moves West 122 Die in Ukraine Reuters Archived from the original on 14 September 2014 Retrieved 30 June 2017 World Weather Information Service Algiers World Meteorological Organization Archived from the original on 18 October 2016 Retrieved 16 October 2016 Appendix I Meteorological Data PDF Springer Archived PDF from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 16 October 2016 Station Alger in French Meteo Climat Retrieved 16 October 2016 Bastin Jean Francois Clark Emily Elliott Thomas Hart Simon van den Hoogen Johan Hordijk Iris Ma Haozhi Majumder Sabiha Manoli Gabriele Maschler Julia Mo Lidong Routh Devin Yu Kailiang Zohner Constantin M Thomas W Crowther 10 July 2019 Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues PLOS One S2 Table Summary statistics of the global analysis of city analogues doi 10 1371 journal pone 0217592 Cities of the future visualizing climate change to inspire action Current vs future cities Retrieved 8 January 2023 The CAT Thermometer Retrieved 8 January 2023 a b Trisos C H I O Adelekan E Totin A Ayanlade J Efitre A Gemeda K Kalaba C Lennard C Masao Y Mgaya G Ngaruiya D Olago N P Simpson and S Zakieldeen 2022 Chapter 9 Africa In Climate Change 2022 Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability H O Portner D C Roberts M Tignor E S Poloczanska K Mintenbeck A Alegria M Craig S Langsdorf S Loschke V Moller A Okem B Rama eds Cambridge University Press Cambridge United Kingdom and New York NY USA pp 2043 2121 Technical Summary In Climate Change 2021 The Physical Science Basis Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change PDF IPCC August 2021 p TS14 Retrieved 12 November 2021 Census of 25 June 1998 Office National des Statistiques de l Algerie web a b c d e f g h Chisholm 1911 p 654 Fountain in Mosque of El Kebir Algiers Algeria World Digital Library 1899 Archived from the original on 2013 09 27 Retrieved 2013 09 24 a b c d Algeria Provinces amp Major Cities Population Statistics Maps Charts Weather and Web Information Archived from the original on 2011 10 01 Retrieved 2019 03 28 Algiers in the World Gazetteer World gazetteer com Archived from the original on 2007 09 30 Retrieved 2010 06 27 MERCER Human Resources Consulting Moscow tops Mercer s cost of living list London is close behind Mercerhr com Archived from the original on 1 July 2010 Retrieved 2010 06 27 The report 2008 Algeria Oxford Business Group 2008 ISBN 978 1 902339 09 2 HP Office locations Welcome hp com Archived from the original on 2009 09 28 Retrieved 2010 06 27 Kobori Iwao Conseiller aupres del Universite des Nations Unies L Algerie et moi Archived 2015 01 16 at the Wayback Machine Japan Algeria Center Retrieved on 16 January 2015 過去に指定 認定していた在外教育施設 Archived 2015 01 15 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technology Retrieved on January 15 2015 Sherlock banque d information de la Ville de Montreal 1 ville montreal qc ca Archived from the original on 2009 02 23 Retrieved 2010 06 27 Gradina Alzhir Sofiya opoznai bg in Bulgarian Opoznai bg 2015 06 19 Retrieved 2021 05 19 Lisboa Geminacoes de Cidades e Vilas Lisbon Twinning of Cities and Towns Associacao Nacional de Municipios Portugueses National Association of Portuguese Municipalities in Portuguese Archived from the original on 2015 02 01 Retrieved 2013 08 23 Acordos de Geminacao de Cooperacao e ou Amizade da Cidade de Lisboa Lisbon Twinning Agreements Cooperation and Friendship Camara Municipal de Lisboa in Portuguese Archived from the original on 2013 10 31 Retrieved 2013 08 23 Friendship and cooperation agreements Paris Marie de Paris Archived from the original on 2016 07 01 Retrieved 2016 09 10 Bibliography Edit See also Bibliography of the history of Algiers This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Algiers Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 1 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 653 655 Carroll David Albert Camus the Algerian Columbia University Press 2007 Emerson Charles 1913 In Search of the World Before the Great War 2013 compares Algiers to 20 major world cities pp 267 79 Benseddik Nacera 2004 Chronique d une Cite Antique Alger Lumieres sur la Ville Actes du Colloque de l EPAU 4 6 May 2001 Algiers pp 29 34 in French Ghaki Mansour 2015 Toponymie et Onomastique Libyques L Apport de l Ecriture Punique Neopunique PDF La Lingua nella Vita e la Vita della Lingua Itinerari e Percorsi degli Studi Berberi Studi Africanistici Quaderni di Studi Berberi e Libico Berberi vol No 4 Naples Unior pp 65 71 ISBN 978 88 6719 125 3 ISSN 2283 5636 archived PDF from the original on 2022 10 09 in French Lipinski Edward 2004 Itineraria Phoenicia Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta No 127 Studia Phoenicia Vol XVIII Leuven Uitgeverij Peeters ISBN 9789042913448 Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Algiers Wikimedia Commons has media related to Algiers Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Algiers amp oldid 1134067162, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.