Bab Ezzouar (; ar, باب الزوار, link=no) is a suburb of the city of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

in northern

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

. It is one of Algiers fastest growing municipalities and has seen many hotels and commercial malls being raised in the area. Bab Ezzouar is also the location of the University of Science and Technology of Houari Boumediene (USTHB), which is one of the most prominent technological universities in Algeria.

Geography

Bab Ezzouar is located some east by south-east of

city just south of Bordj El Kiffan. Access to the commune is by the N11 highway from Algiers which passes through the north of the commune and continues east to join the A1 highway just east of the commune. Many other local roads connect the commune to the surrounding districts. The commune is fully urban in nature.Google Maps
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Transport

The commune is served by the

Algiers tramway The Algiers Tramway ( ar, ترامواي الجزائر العاصمة, ''Tramwāy al-Jazā'ir al-`Āṣimah'', "Algiers Capital Tramway") is a tram system which commenced service on 8 May 2011 in the Algerian capital, Algiers. By June 2012, the o ...

which runs from the town to

Bordj el Kiffan Bordj El Kiffan (Arabic 'برج الكيفان') is a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , c ...

, including: * Yahia Boushaki tram stop

Neighbouring communes and villages

Urbanism

Bab Ezzouar is a city made up of

Commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

s built successively since the late 1970s on an ancient marshy plain with unplanned subdivisions emerging since the 1990s. It has no real downtown although it hosts several administrations. The commune consists of 8 different cities which are: *The ''Cité Ismail Yefsah'' (2068 dwellings) located in the centre *The ''Cité Soummam'' located in the centre and the north-east. *The ''Cité du 8 Mai 1945'' (Sorécal) located to the north of the Algiers northern bypass road (the N11) *The ''Cité du 5 Juillet 1962'' to the south *The ''Cité Tahar Rabia'' *The ''Cité Kourifa Rachid'' *The ''Cité El Djorf'' to the west *The ''Cité des 498 logements'' *The ''Cité EPLF'' (1080 dwellings) *The ''Cité 1200 logements'' *The ''Cité de la concorde civile'' (AADL 1) *The ''Cité AADL 2'' Also several Housing Estates: *''Boushaki'' Housing Estates 1 to 5 *''Douzi'' Housing Estates 1 to 4

History

The area was known as ''Retour de la Chasse'' (Return from Hunting) during French colonial times. At that time there were two hamlets: one French, along the old national road to Algiers airport, and another named ''Sid M'hamed'' off the motorway behind the current ''Cité du 8 Mai 1945''. The commune results from the administrative division of 1984. Beginning in 2001, the state has constructed several neighborhoods consisting of 22-story residential buildings.

Amenities

At the heart of the commune is the

University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene The University of Science and Technology – Houari Boumediene (french: Université des sciences et de la technologie Houari-Boumediene, USTHB, ar, جامعة العلوم والتكنولوجيا هواري بومدين) is a university locate ...

(USTHB) Algiers that has 27,000 students, as well as the National Veterinary College (ENSV), and three other university campuses. The commune has three schools: *The Lebdjaoui Mohamed School *The El Djorf School *The Mostapha Lachraf School A new business district is in the process of construction in the south-east of the commune. It includes an Hotel Mercure and

Ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...

and has offices for Mobilis,

Algérie Poste Algérie Poste ("Algerian Post"; ar, بريد الجزائر) is the state-owned company responsible for postal service in Algeria. It is headquartered in Bab Ezzouar, Algiers.CMA CGM CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...

, and Air Algerie in the shopping centre. A shopping centre of which extends over three floors plus two office towers of .

Notable people

*Ismail Yafsah lived in the commune and was assassinated in the city that bears his name: Ismail Yafsah. * Zaho, singer, was born and raised in the commune - specifically in ''Cité Tahar Rabia'' building No. 13. *

Rafik Saifi Rafik is the given name of: *Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon *Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National *Rafik Deg ...

, footballer, was born and raised in the commune - specifically in the ''Cité du 8 Mai 1945'' building No. 5.