The Chenouis or Chenoua (in Berber: Icenwiyen) are a Berber-speaking population native to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

. They are concentrated in the west-central mountains. The traditional area goes from Fouka (

Tipaza Tipaza (formerly ''Tefessedt'', Chenoua-Berber: Bazar, ⴱⴰⵣⴰⵔ, ar, تيپازة) is the capital of the Tipaza Province, Algeria. When it was part of the Roman Empire, it was called '' Tipasa''. The modern town was founded in 1857, and i ...

province) until

Ténès Ténès ( ar, تنس; from Berber TNS 'camping') is a town in Algeria located around 200 kilometers west of the capital Algiers. , it has a population of 65,000 people. History Ténès was founded as a Phoenician port in or before the 8th ce ...

(

Chlef Chlef ( ar, الشلف, Berber: Clef) is the capital of Chlef Province, Algeria. Located in the north of Algeria, west of the capital, Algiers, it was founded in 1843, as Orléansville, on the ruins of Roman ''Castellum Tingitanum''. In 1962, ...

province).

Population

The Chenoui speaking population is traditionally composed of several tribes: Cenwa (

), Guraya (Tipaza), Ayt Mnaser (Beni Menacer) (

Cherchell Cherchell ( Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of t ...

), Ayt Farah, Arib, Zuzug (

Ain Defla Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...

), Ayt Hawa (

) and the Bissa mounts (

Berber language

The Chenoui language which is a

Northern Berber language The Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum spoken across the Maghreb, constituting a subgroup of the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. Their continuity has been broken by the spread of Arabic, and to a lesser extent by the Zena ...

is closely related to the

Shawiya language Shawiya, or Shawiya Berber, also spelt Chaouïa (native form: ''Tacawit'' ), is a Zenati Berber language spoken in Algeria by the Shawiya people. The language's primary speech area is the Awras Mountains in Eastern Algeria and the surrounding a ...

and Zenata varieties spoken by Berbers of the Aures mountains in Eastern Algeria and the Rif region.

Geographical distribution

The Chenoui traditional territory includes the province of

, parts of the

Chlef province Chlef ( ar, ولاية الشلف) is a province ('' wilaya'') in Algeria formerly known as El Asnam, and has about 1 million inhabitants. Its capital is Chlef. Another locality is Ténès, on the Mediterranean Sea. History The province was or ...

and the north of the province of

, and thus are called in reference to the Mount Chenoua which dominates the city of

, 70 km west of Algiers. The region is part of the greater

Dahra Dahra (also Dahra Djoloff or Dara) is a town of commune status located in the Louga Region of Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') official ...

region, a long mountainous region along the Meditternean coasts, separated from the

Ouarsenis The Ouarsenis or Ouanchariss (Berber language: ⵡⴰⵔⵙⵏⵉⵙ, ''Warsnis'' (meaning "nothing higher") ''Adrar en Warsnis'', ar, الونشريس) is a mountain range and inhabited region in northwestern Algeria. Geography The range is loca ...

range by the

Chelif Chelif River ( ar, وادي الشلف) (also spelled Chéliff, or Sheliff) is a river in Algeria, the longest in the country. It rises in the Saharan Atlas near the city of Aflou, flows through the Tell Atlas and empties into the Mediterranean ...

river and its valley. It expands from 8 km north of

Mostaganem Mostaganem ( ber, Mustɣanem; ar, مستغانم) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of O ...

until the Algiers Sahel with its highest point being Mount Zaccar (

Miliana Miliana ( ar, مليانة) is a commune in Aïn Defla Province in northwestern Algeria. It is the administrative center of the daïra, or district, of the same name. It is approximately southwest of the Algerian capital, Algiers., which cov ...

). The Chenoua Mount region, highest point of the Algiers Sahel, is the most eastern part of the Chenoui speaking region going from Fouka (42 km west of Algiers) until Tenès (200 km west of Algiers) or even heading further west till Ouled Boughalem in the past. Some people call them the Chelhas of the Tell or even Kabyles of the west. Berber peoples and tribes Berbers in Algeria Ethnic groups in Algeria Indigenous peoples of North Africa {{Africa-ethno-group-stub