The capital city of Algeria and the most important
Mediterranean port of northwest Africa, Algiers has a population of over
3 million, making it the largest population centre in the country. Algiers
is located on the Mediterranean coast, set against forested mountains and
overlooking a bay. Once one of the most romantic cities in Africa, encompassed
by the legendary whitewashed Casbah, Algiers is now a major modernized
city with all the metropolitan trappings.
Algiers is the site of Icosium, a legendary city
founded by 20 companions of the mythical hero Hercules. Icosium remained
a small coastal trading post throughout the Phoenician and Carthaginian
eras. In 146BC Icosium became part of the Roman Empire, remaining so until
the 5th century AD when it was conquered by Vandals. The town became a
part of Byzantium before the Arab conquests in the 7th century.
The city, originally called Al-Jaza'ir, was established
by the Berber ruler Bologhine Ibn Ziri in about AD950 and soon became an
important trading centre. In ensuing centuries it fell under the influence
of successive conquerors and their dynasties, including the Hafsids in
the 13th and 15th centuries and the Merinids in the 14th century.
The Spanish seized Al-Jaza'ir in 1510 but in
1518, while still under Spanish rule, the city declared itself as part
of the Ottoman Empire. Citizens sought out the fabled pirate Barbarossa
to drive the Iberian Catholic interlopers out. After a 13-year battle he
finally wrested control of Al-Jaza'ir from them in 1529.
The battle-scarred city was re-fortified and
turned into Barbarossa's base of operations, remaining a Barbary pirate
enclave for three centuries despite repeated attempts by the British and
Spanish to drive them out. Finally, Captain Stephen Decatur of the United
States Navy attacked Al-Jaza'ir, forcing the city's governor to sign a
treaty guaranteeing the cessation of pirate attacks on all US ships. When
Barbary piracy continued to plague European shipping, a combined Anglo-Dutch
naval force attacked Al-Jaza'ir and destroyed the Algerian fleet.
It was only after 14 June 1830, when the French
conquered Al-Jaza'ir, which was by then known as Algiers, that the city
ceased being a naval base for Barbary piracy. What was initially intended
as a limited military occupation ended up lasting for 132 years until independence
in 1962. Throughout the French colonial period Algiers underwent dramatic
changes. The Casbah walls were torn down and wide European-style boulevards
replaced many of the city's winding streets and alleyways and the city
spilled beyond its original perimeters.
Algiers played a strategic role in World War
II as the headquarters of De Gaulle's Free French army, remaining an important
operations centre from 1943 until the conclusion of the war. Throughout
the world liberation movements emerged in the aftermath of the war and
by the beginning of 1957 Algiers was at the epicentre of the Algerian war
of liberation.
With the coming of independence in 1962 Algiers
became the capital of the new republic. Since independence Algeria has
played an important role within Opec, the non-Aligned movement, the Organization
of African Unity and the Arab League. The city has played host to important
regional and international conferences and summits during a period of dramatic
growth and change for the Arab world.
Algeria's revolutionary socialist credentials,
combined with its cosmopolitan heritage, have placed the country in a pivotal
role time and again in East-West and inter-Arab confrontations.
Modern Algiers
:
The modern city of Algiers is formed of two parts.
The lower part is the French-built new town with wide boulevards, and all
the cultural trappings of colonialism -- an opera house, cathedrals, theatres,
museums, galleries and cafes. The new town is also the site of the city's
educational institutions including the University of Algiers.
The Casbah or old city forms the upper part of
Algiers, replete with labyrinthine passageways and a 16th century walled
fortress.
With the growth of the population and emigration
from the countryside since World War II, suburbs have spread beyond the
perimeters of the city. Algiers forms the hub of Algeria's transport links:
the main international airport is there; all roads and railway systems
emanate from Algiers; and it continues to be a major Mediterranean shipping
centre.