Khenchela (; ; anciently Mascula) is the capital city of the administrative

Khenchela Province Khenchela Province () is a provinces of Algeria, province (''wilaya'') in the Aures, Aurès region in Algeria. History The province was created from parts of Oum el Bouaghi Province and Tébessa Province in 1984. Administrative division The pro ...

(''

Wilaya A wilayah ( or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu, Pashto and ; ) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic root "''w-l-y''", "to govern": a ''wāli''—"g ...

''), in the north east of

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 ...

. Situated in the Aures Mountains, 1200 m above sea level. The city is mainly populated by

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Chaoui The Chaoui people or ''Shawyia'' (, ) are a Berbers, Berber ethnic group native to the Aurès region in northeastern Algeria. They call themselves ''Išawiyen''/''Icawiyen'' (pronounced ) and speak the Shawiya language. They are the second larg ...

History

Queen Kahina led a decades long war against the Islamic conquest in the 7th century and built a castle here. During the

Barbary The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

period there were many inter-town conflicts over water resources. The French army reached Khenchela in 1850 after heavy fighting and strenuous resistance and set up a military administration. Organization of work on the city was undertaken. The first French settlers were allowed from 1878. Farms and plantations were built. In the process, farmers cleared a path for vegetation at the valley of Wadi Boughegal which in turn gave birth to natural grasslands, allowing cattle breeding and feeding the population with fresh dairy products. In October 1905, the inauguration of the meter-gauge railway line from Aïn Beïda to Khenchela provided daily service with the north of the country. Military administration lasted until 1912. In 1982, a mass grave containing more than 1200 corpses from the war of Algeria was discovered. It would be the largest ever discovered in Algeria. The authorities and the Algerian press attributed it to the French army, while others disputed this and suggested the victims may have been French

harki ''Harki'' (adjective from the Algerian Arabic "''ḥarka''", standard Arabic "''ḥaraka''" �ركة "war party" or "movement", i.e., a group of volunteer militia) is the generic term for native Muslim Algerians who served as auxiliaries alongs ...

s.A propos de l’énigme de Khenchela (1982-....) (2009) [archive], Guy Pervillé, guy.perville.free.fr, 2 février 2009

Geography

Climate

Located in the

Aurès Mountains The Aures Mountains (, known in antiquity as ) are a subrange of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria. The mountain range gives its name to the mountainous natural and historical region of the Aurès. Geography The Aures mountains are the ...

(part of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

), at above sea level, Khenchela has

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Csb''), with an average annual precipitation of . Summers are warm and dry and winters are chilly and wetter, with the possibility of snowfall. This is one of the coldest cities in Algeria. Khenchela-2

Demographics

Since the 20th century, Khenchela's population has grown particularly fast: 12 000 inhabitants in 1954, 28,000 in 1962, 70,000 in 1987 and 87,196 in 2002. This increase is partly explained by population displacement during the war in Algeria, the area being a refuge for resistance fighters. This has posed and continues to pose planning problems (housing,

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

, sewer,

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

Sports

USM Khenchela is the most well-known sports club from the city. It currently plays in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

, the first tier of the Algerian football pyramid, and hosts its games in Amar Hamam Stadium.

Education

* Abbes Laghrour University

References

{{Authority control Chaoui people Communes of Khenchela Province Cities in Algeria Province seats of Algeria Khenchela Province