Everything about Bejaia totally explained
Béjaïa or
Bougie (
Kabyle Bgayet or
Tifinagh:, pronounced /β'gajəθ) in
Algerian Arabic) is a
Mediterranean port on the Gulf of Béjaïa, capital of
Béjaïa Province, northern
Algeria. Under
French rule, it was formerly known under various European names, such as
Budschaja in German,
Bugia in Italian, and
Bougie /bu'ʒi/ (both of which are words for 'candle'). Béjaïa is the largest city in
Kabylia after
Tizi Ouzou, and one of the largest principally
Kabylophone city.
Demography
The population of the city in
2005 was 187,076, while the population of the whole
wilaya (province) was 905,000.
Economy
The northern terminus of the
Hassi Messaoud oil pipeline from the Sahara, Béjaïa is the principal
oil port of the Western Mediterranean. Exports, aside from crude petroleum, include
iron,
phosphates,
wines, dried
figs, and
plums. The city also has
textile and
cork industries.
History
A minor port in
Carthaginian and
Roman times, Béjaïa was the Roman
Saldae, a veteran colony founded by emperor
Vespasian of great importance in the province of
Mauretania Caesariensis, later in the fraction
Sitifensis.
In the second or third century AD, Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus, a
decurion (town councillor) from Saldae was a
tribunus (military commander) of the auxiliary garrison at
Alauna Carvetiorum in northern Britain. An altar dedicated to him was discovered shortly before 1587 in the north-west corner of the fort, where it had probably been re-used in a late-Roman building (
source
).
It became the capital of the short-lived African kingdom of the Germanic
Vandals (founded in 429-430), which was wiped out circa 533 by the Byzantines who established the African prefecture and later the
Exarchate of Carthage. It had disappeared but was refounded by the
Berber Hammadid dynasty (whose capital it became) in the
11th century, and became an important port and cultural center. The son of a Pisan merchant (and probably consul), posthumously known as
Fibonacci, there learned under the
Almohad dynasty about
Arabic numerals, and introduced them and modern mathematics into feudal Europe. After a
Spanish occupation (
1510–
55), the city was taken by the
Ottoman Turks. Until it was captured by the
French in
1833, Bejaïa was a stronghold of the Barbary pirates (see
Barbary States).
It was Christianized in the 5th century, became officially
Arian under the
Vandals, and then Muslim under the Berbers.
City landmarks include a 16th-century mosque and a
casbah (fortress) built by the Spanish in
1545.
In the museum of Bejaïa can be seen a picture of Orientalist painter
Maurice Boitel, who painted in the city for a while.
The town is overlooked by the mountain
Yemma Gouraya, whose profile is said to resemble a sleeping woman; other nearby scenic spots include the
Pic des Singes (Monkey Peak) and the
Aiguades beach. All three are contained in the
Gouraya National Park. The
Soummam river runs past the town.
Friendly relationship
Béjaïa has an official friendly relationship (
protocole d'amitié) with:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bejaia'.
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