Algiers

Algiers (Arabic, Al-Jazair; French, Alger), capital and largest city of Algeria, the principal Mediterranean port of north-west Africa. It is located in northern Algeria, on the Bay of Algiers. Population 3,060,000 (2003 estimate).

Algiers has a major international airport and is the hub of a network of railways and roads. Its strategic position and fine harbour combine to make it a major shipping centre and an important Mediterranean refuelling station.

The city is divided into two sections. The lower part is the modern city, built by the French, with wide boulevards, theatres, cathedrals, museums, an opera house, and many educational institutions, including a university and several Muslim schools. The upper part is the old city, with narrow, twisting streets dominated by the Casbah (Kasbah), a 16th-century fortress built by the Turks, which lends its name to the entire quarter and in 1992 was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With the post-World War II population increase, and the crowding in the native quarter, the suburbs have spread over a wide area.

By 1200 bc the Phoenicians had colonized this site on the Bay of Algiers and set up a coastal trading post. Following the Punic Wars, Algiers became (146 bc) part of the Roman Empire and was called Icosium. It remained Roman until the middle of the 5th century, when it was overrun by the Vandals. Next, it was ruled by the Byzantines, who were in turn ousted in 650 by Arabs. The present city was founded about 950 by Berbers. During the next five centuries control of the city was gained and lost by various European, Arabian, and Berber warlords. In 1510 Spain captured and fortified the islet in front of the harbour, known as the Peñón. In 1518 Algiers proclaimed itself part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Spanish were driven out. Whilst under Ottoman rule, it became the capital of the infamous Barbary Coast. For 300 years Barbary pirates preyed upon shipping from all over the world. In 1816 the combined Dutch and British navies almost completely destroyed the Algerian fleet, but Algiers remained a pirate port until 1830, when France, retaliating against attacks on its vessels, captured first the city and, in time, the entire country. They retained control until 1962, when Algeria won independence. During World War II, Algiers served (1942-1944) as the headquarters of Allied forces in North Africa and of the Free French government of General de Gaulle.