Bab El Oued is a neighbourhood in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, along the coast north of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

. As of 2008, the population of the commune of Bab El Oued was 64,732.

History

During the existence of

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, Bab El Oued was established as the main neighbourhood of poor ''

pied-noir The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

s'', including many poor fishermen. Towards the end of the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, the neighbourhood became the stronghold of the

Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation armée secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Army Organisation") was a far-right dissident French paramilitary and terrorist organisation during the Algerian War, founded in 1961 by Raoul Salan, Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques S ...

, until OAS attacks on the French Army led them to assault and purge the neighbourhood, during the siege of Bab el Oued in March 1962. Soon after, Algeria became independent, and the '' pied noir'' population fled the country. The neighbourhood was then settled by Muslim Algerians. The neighbourhood again gained notoriety during the leadup to the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a 1992 Algerian coup d'état, coup negating an Islami ...

(which broke out in 1991) as a

stronghold A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front (; , FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representing its two bases of its support; Abbassi Madani appealed to pious small businessmen, and Ali Belhadj appealed to the a ...

, or FIS. Its population in 1998 was 102,200.

Shrine

Located beyond the Bab al-Oued, on a hillside, is the tomb of

'Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi Abdul-Rahman al-Tha'alibi () (1384 CE/785 Hijri year, AH – 15 March 1479 CE/875 Hijri year, AH) was an Algerian Islamic scholar, Imam and Sufism, Sufi wali. Born near the town of Issers, Isser (86 km south east of Algiers), he was raised ...

(1383-1470), a revered scholar and mystic known as the patron saint of Algiers.

Notable people

Sofia Boutella Sofia Boutella (; born 3 April 1982) is an Algerian actress, dancer and model. Born in Algiers, she emigrated to Paris at the age of 10. Shortly thereafter, she started rhythmic gymnastics, joining the French national team at the age of 18. She b ...

Dida Diafat Dida Diafat (born 24 April 1970) is an Algerian-French Muay Thai kickboxer who became a world champion in Thai kickboxing or Muay Thai at age 21. A fictionalised version of his life is depicted in the 2005 movie ''Chok-Dee'', in which he plays ...

Djamel Keddou Djamel Keddou (January 30, 1952 – November 16, 2011) was an Algerian football player and manager. He spent his entire playing career with USM Alger and had 25 caps for the Algeria national football team, winning a gold medal at the 1975 Mediterr ...

Baya Rahouli Baya Rahouli (, born July 27, 1979, in Bab El Oued, Algiers) is an Algerian athlete who competes in the triple jump. She is a former African record holder in this event, and has two African championship titles, beating Françoise Mbango Etone a ...

Abdul Abdullah Yahia Air France Flight 8969 (Operation Rock Climber) was an Air France flight that was Aircraft hijacking, hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria, Algiers. The militant ...

Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi Abdul-Rahman al-Tha'alibi () (1384 CE/785 Hijri year, AH – 15 March 1479 CE/875 Hijri year, AH) was an Algerian Islamic scholar, Imam and Sufism, Sufi wali. Born near the town of Issers, Isser (86 km south east of Algiers), he was raised ...

is buried here *

Souad Massi Souad Massi (; born August 23, 1972) is an Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist. She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threats. In 1999, Massi ...

File:Bab el Oued 114.jpg, File:Bab El Oued Alger.jpg,

References

{{Authority control Communes of Algiers Province Neighbourhoods in Algeria