Béjaïa
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Béjaïa
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|---|---|
.jpg) | |
 Location of Béjaïa, Algeria within Béjaïa Province | |
  Béjaïa Location in Algeria | |
| Coordinates: 36°45′04″N 05°03′51″E / 36.75111°N 5.06417°E | |
| Country |  Algeria |
| Province | Béjaïa Province |
| District | Béjaïa District |
| Area | |
| • Total | 120.22 km2 (46.42 sq mi) |
| Population (2008 census) | |
| • Total | 177,988 |
| • Density | 1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| Postal code | 06000 |
| Climate | Csa |
Béjaïa (/bɪˈdʒaɪə/; Arabic: بجاية, romanized: Bijāya, [bid͡ʒaːja]) formerly Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean port city and commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province.
Geography
[edit]
Location
[edit]Béjaïa owes its existence to its port, which also makes it prosperous. It is located in a sickle-shaped bay protected from the swell of offshore winds (northwest facing) by the advance of Cape Carbon (to the west of the city). The city is backed by Mount Gouraya located in a northwest position. This port site, in one of the most beautiful bays of the Maghreb and Mediterranean coast, is dominated in the background by the Babors mountain range. Another advantage is that the city is the outlet of the Soummam valley, a geographical corridor facing southwest. However, since the time when the city was a capital, there has been a divorce between the city and the region (Kabylia) linked to the difficulty of securing a hinterland. On a macro-regional scale, the city has its back to the region: its position at the end of the Soummam places it at the interface between Grande and Petite Kabylie. But these two groups are closed in on themselves and seek inland capitals (Tizi Ouzou, Akbou, Kherrata, etc.) by turning away from the coast. The city has, in a way, weak local roots; the rural proximity of the city is limited to four or five communes[1]. On a micro-regional scale, Béjaïa is the outlet of a central Algeria, going from Algiers to Skikda, the spillway of the Highlands and a supply port for two million people. But the connection is complex: to the south-east, trade with Sétif is only possible through the steep gorges of Kherrata; another route takes the Soummam, then to the east the Iron Gates and the climb towards Bordj Bou Arreridj, it is this route that is taken by the national road and the railway. These topographical constraints mean that, despite its strong dynamism, the city sees part of the trade escape it in its eastern and western areas of influence[1].T
he town is overlooked by the mountain Yemma Gouraya. Other nearby scenic spots include the Aiguades beach and the Pic des Singes (Peak of the Monkeys); the latter site is a habitat for the endangered Barbary macaque, which prehistorically had a much broader distribution than at present.[2] All three of these geographic features are located in the Gouraya National Park.
The urban area covers an area of 12,022 hectares. Béjaïa is located 220 km east of the capital Algiers, 93 km east of Tizi Ouzou, 81.5 km northeast of Bordj Bou Arreridj, 70 km northwest of Sétif and 61 km west of Jijel[3][Note 1]. The geographic coordinates of the commune at the central point of its capital are 36° 45′ 00″ North and 5° 04′ 00″ East, respectively.
Places adjacent to Béjaïa | |
|---|---|
Toponymy
[edit]Béjaïa is transliteration from an Arabic toponym derived from the Berber toponym (Kabyle variant) Bgayet, notably by transliteration (see Transcription and transliteration) of the sound ǧ in dj (ج). This Berber name — which would have originally been Tabgayet, but whose initial t marking the feminine gender would have fallen into disuse — would come from the words tabegga, tabeɣayt, meaning "wild brambles and blackberries"[4].
The name Béjaïa would thus originally have the same Berber root as other names of cities in the Maghreb, such as Dougga (Thouga) and Béja (Vaga) in Tunisia or Ksar Baghaï (Bagaï) in the Aurès[5].
In medieval Romance languages, Bugaya (from Arabic Bugāya; in Spanish Bujía and in Italian Bugía[6] is the name given to the city that supplied a large quantity of beeswax for the manufacture of candles[7]. Bougie will be the French form of this transcription of the Arabic name. Gradually it will be applied to the designation of the wax that was imported in the Middle Ages for the manufacture of candles in Europe; they are from then on commonly designated in French by the word "bougie".[6]
Climate and hydrography
[edit]The city is part of the Soummam's drainage basin. Béjaïa and the lower Soummam Valley enjoy a Mediterranean climate. It is generally humid with a slight seasonal temperature change.[8] Average temperatures are generally mild and varies from 11.1 °C in winter to 24.5 °C in summer.
In addition to the Soummam River, which sufficiently meets agricultural needs in the surroundings of the city, Béjaïa is located in the maritime Kabylie and benefits from a fairly favorable rainfall compared to the rest of the country. The rainfall in the region can range from 800 mm to 1,200 mm, but some local sources tend to be depleted due to increased demand.[9] The city also draws its water resources from the mountainous hinterland and from various springs, such as that of Toudja, which was connected in ancient times by an aqueduct to the ancient city (Saldae).[10]
| Climate data for Béjaïa | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 27.7 (81.9) |
32.0 (89.6) |
37.2 (99.0) |
35.4 (95.7) |
42.7 (108.9) |
42.8 (109.0) |
44.8 (112.6) |
47.6 (117.7) |
42.5 (108.5) |
40.0 (104.0) |
37.4 (99.3) |
33.0 (91.4) |
47.6 (117.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 16.4 (61.5) |
16.8 (62.2) |
17.7 (63.9) |
19.3 (66.7) |
22.0 (71.6) |
25.3 (77.5) |
28.7 (83.7) |
29.3 (84.7) |
27.8 (82.0) |
24.3 (75.7) |
20.3 (68.5) |
16.9 (62.4) |
22.1 (71.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.1 (53.8) |
12.3 (54.1) |
13.1 (55.6) |
14.7 (58.5) |
17.6 (63.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
24.0 (75.2) |
24.8 (76.6) |
23.2 (73.8) |
19.7 (67.5) |
15.8 (60.4) |
12.7 (54.9) |
17.6 (63.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.7 (45.9) |
7.6 (45.7) |
8.5 (47.3) |
10.1 (50.2) |
13.1 (55.6) |
16.6 (61.9) |
19.3 (66.7) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
15.0 (59.0) |
11.2 (52.2) |
8.4 (47.1) |
13.0 (55.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.4 (29.5) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
2.0 (35.6) |
5.8 (42.4) |
7.8 (46.0) |
13.0 (55.4) |
11.0 (51.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
8.0 (46.4) |
1.6 (34.9) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 115.9 (4.56) |
94.0 (3.70) |
80.6 (3.17) |
64.4 (2.54) |
41.3 (1.63) |
13.6 (0.54) |
6.1 (0.24) |
12.1 (0.48) |
55.9 (2.20) |
70.0 (2.76) |
99.3 (3.91) |
117.8 (4.64) |
771 (30.37) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 9.8 | 9.3 | 7.9 | 7 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 8.5 | 9.2 | 74 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 78.5 | 77.6 | 77.9 | 77.9 | 79.9 | 76.9 | 75.0 | 74.6 | 76.4 | 76.3 | 75.3 | 76.0 | 76.9 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 164.7 | 168.4 | 206.4 | 227.5 | 269.7 | 308.3 | 331.5 | 304.6 | 233.6 | 213.7 | 167.5 | — | — |
| Source 1: NOAA (precipitation-sun 1991-2020)[11](mean temperatures 1968-1990)[12] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: climatebase.ru (extremes, humidity)[13] | |||||||||||||
History
[edit]Historical affiliations
Mauretania (27 BC–44 AD)
Roman Empire (44–395)
Western Roman Empire (395–430s)
Vandal Kingdom (430s–534)
Byzantine Empire (534–674)
Umayyad Caliphate (674–685)
Byzantine Empire (685–698)
Umayyad Caliphate (698–700)
Jarawa (700–702)
Umayyad Caliphate (702–741)
Berbers (741–771)
Abbasid Caliphate (771–790s)
Aghlabids (790s–909)
Fatimid Caliphate (909–977)
Zirid dynasty (977–1014)
Hammadid dynasty (1014–1152)
Almohad Caliphate (1152–1232)
Hafsid dynasty (1232–1285)
Emirate of Béjaïa (1285–1510)
Hispanic Monarchy (1510–1555)
Ottoman Empire, regency of Algiers (1555–1833)
France, french Algeria (1833-1962)
Algeria (1962–present)
Antiquity and Byzantine era
[edit]
According to Al-Bakri, the bay was first inhabited by Andalusians.[14]
Béjaïa stands on the site of the ancient city of Saldae, a minor port in Carthaginian and Roman times, in an area at first inhabited by Numidian Berbers and founded as a colony for old soldiers by Emperor Augustus. It was an important town and a bishopric in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis, and later Sitifensis.
In the fifth century, Saldae became the capital of the short-lived Vandal Kingdom of the Germanic Vandals, which lasted for almost a century until 533 with the Byzantine conquest, which established an African prefecture and later the Exarchate of Carthage. The surviving Vandals then assimilated into the native Berber population.[15][page needed]
Muslim and feudal rulers
[edit]After the 7th-century Muslim conquest, it was refounded as "Béjaïa"; the Hammadid dynasty made it their capital, and it became an important port and centre of culture.
The Casbah of Béjaïa[16] or in French Casbah de Béjaïa [fr] was built by the Almohad Caliphate under the reign of governor Abd al-Mu'min in the middle of the 12th century (around 1154), then rebuilt by the Spaniards when the city was taken in 1510. It was then modified by the Ottomans and the French. The Casbah of Béjaïa played a role in the transmission of knowledge in the Middle Ages, the more or less long stays of scientific and literary personalities, versed in all fields of knowledge. No
According to Muhammad al-Idrisi, the port was, in the 11th century, a market place between Mediterranean merchant ships and caravans coming from the Sahara desert. Christian merchants settled funduqs (or khans) in Bejaïa. The Italian city of Pisa was closely tied to Béjaïa, where it built one of its two permanent consulates in the African continent.[14]
The son of a Pisan merchant (and probably consul), posthumously known as Fibonacci (c. 1170 – c. 1250), there learned about mathematics (which he called "Modus Indorum") and Hindu-Arabic numerals. He introduced modern mathematics into medieval Europe.[17] A mathematical-historical analysis of Fibonacci's context and proximity to Béjaïa, an important exporter of wax in his time, has suggested that it was actually the bee-keepers of Béjaïa and the knowledge of the bee ancestries that truly inspired the Fibonacci sequence rather than the rabbit reproduction model as presented in his famous book Liber Abaci.[18]
In 1315, Ramon Llull was stoned at Béjaïa,[19][20] where, a few years before, Peter Armengaudius (Peter Armengol) is reputed to have been hanged.[20][21]
The city was taken by Spain in the Capture of Béjaïa (1510), who held it for over 40 years against local attempts at recapture, until they finally lost it to the Ottoman Empire in the Capture of Béjaïa in 1555. For nearly three centuries, Béjaïa was a stronghold of the Barbary pirates. The city consisted of Arabic-speaking Moors, Moriscos and Jews increased by Jewish refugees from Spain. Berber peoples lived not in the city but the surrounding villages and travelled to the city occasionally for markets.
City landmarks include a 16th-century mosque and a fortress built by the Spanish in 1545.
A picture of the Orientalist painter Maurice Boitel, who painted in the city for a while, can be found in the museum of Béjaïa.
French colonial rule
[edit]It was captured by the French in 1833 and became a part of colonial Algeria. Most of the time it was the seat ('sous-préfecture') of an arrondissement (mid 20th century, 513,000 inhabitants, of whom 20,000 'Bougiates' in the city itself) in the Département of Constantine, until Bougie was promoted to département itself in 1957.
Battle of Béjaïa
[edit]During World War II, Operation Torch landed forces in North Africa, including a battalion of the British Royal West Kent Regiment at Béjaïa on 11 November 1942.
That same day, at 4:40 PM, a German Luftwaffe air raid struck Béjaïa with thirty Ju 88 bombers and torpedo planes. The transports Awatea and Cathay were sunk and the monitor HMS Roberts was damaged. The following day, the anti-aircraft ship SS Tynwald was torpedoed and sank, while the transport Karanja was bombed and destroyed.[22]
Algerian republic
[edit]After Algerian independence, it became the eponymous capital of Béjaïa Province, covering part of the eastern Berber region Kabylia.
Ecclesiastical history
[edit]With the spread of Christianity, Saldae became a bishopric. Its bishop Paschasius was one of the Catholic bishops whom the Arian Vandal king Huneric summoned to Carthage in 484 and then exiled.
Christianity survived the Islamic conquest, the disappearance of the old city of Saldae, and the founding of the new city of Béjaïa. A letter from Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085) exists, addressed to clero et populo Buzee (the clergy and people of Béjaïa), in which he writes of the consecration of a bishop named Servandus for Christian North Africa.[19][20][23]
No longer a residential bishopric, Saldae (v.) is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[24] and still has incumbents by that title (mostly of the lowest (episcopal) rank, some of the intermediary archiepiscopal rank).
Titular see of Bugia
[edit]This titular see was for a long time, alternatively and concurrently with the city's authentic Roman Latin name Saldae (v.), called Bugia, the Italian language form (used in the Roman Curia) of Béjaïa.
The 'modern' form and title, Bugia, seems out of use, after having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank:
- Miguel Morro (1510 – ?), as Auxiliary Bishop of Mallorca (Balearic Spain) (1510 – ?)
- Fernando de Vera y Zuñiga, Augustinians (O.E.S.A.) (1614.02.17 – 1628.11.13), as Auxiliary Bishop of Badajoz (Spain) (1614.02.17 – 1628.11.13); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Santo Domingo, finally Archbishop-Bishop of Cusco (Peru) (1629.07.16 – death 1638.11.09)
- François Perez (1687.02.05 – death 1728.09.20), as Apostolic Vicar of Cochin (Vietnam) (1687.02.05 – 1728.09.20)
- Antonio Mauricio Ribeiro (1824.09.27 – death ?), as Auxiliary Bishop of Évora (Portugal) (1824.09.27 – ?)
- George Hilary Brown (5 June 1840 until 22 April 1842), as first and only Apostolic Vicar of Lancashire District (England) (1840.06.05 – 1850.09.29), later Titular Bishop of Tlous (1842.04.22 – 1850.09.29), promoted first bishop of successor see Liverpool (1850.09.29 – 1856.01.25)
Demography
[edit] Cap Carbon Lighthouse in 2013 | |
 | |
| Location | Carbon Cape, Béjaïa, Algeria, France |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°46′31″N 5°06′11″E / 36.77514°N 5.10306°E |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1906  |
| Construction | stone (tower) |
| Height | 14.6 m (48 ft) |
| Shape | cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern rising from the keeper's house[25][26][27] |
| Markings | white (tower), black (roof) |
| Operator | National Maritime Signaling Office |
| Light | |
| Focal height | 224.1 m (735 ft) |
| Range | 28 nmi (52 km; 32 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl(3) W 20s |
The population of the city in 2008 in the latest census was 177,988.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1901 | 14,600 |
| 1906 | 17,500 |
| 1911 | 10,000 |
| 1921 | 19,400 |
| 1926 | 15,900 |
| 1931 | 25,300 |
| 1936 | 30,700 |
| 1948 | 28,500 |
| 1954 | 43,900 |
| 1960 | 63,000 |
| 1966 | 49,900 |
| 1974 | 104,000 |
| 1977 | 74,000 |
| 1987 | 114,500 |
| 1998 | 144,400 |
| 2008 | 177,988 |
Economy
[edit]
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.[citation needed]
The Béni Mansour-Bejaïa line railroad terminates in Béjaïa. The airport of the city is Abane Ramdane Airport.
Cevital has its head office in the city.[29]
Sports
[edit]The city is home to JSM Béjaïa and MO Béjaïa, two rival football clubs who won one Algerian Cup each and have represented the city in African club competitions. Both of them play at the Maghrebi Unity Stadium.
Twin towns – sister cities
[edit]Béjaïa has an official friendly relationship with:
Glasgow, Scotland, since 1995- Brest
Bad Homburg
Villages
[edit]Notable people
[edit]- Zaki Hannache (born 1987), human rights activist
- Nihad Hihat (born 1994), volleyball player
- Rebiha Khebtani (1926–2006), politician
- Nassim Oussalah (born 1981), footballer
- Fares Arfa (born 1994), fencer
See also
[edit]
- European enclaves in North Africa before 1830
- List of lighthouses in Algeria
- Saldae, for Roman history and concurrent Catholic titular see
- Great Mosque of Béjaïa
- Related people
Notes
[edit]- ^ Distances orthodromiques, dites aussi à vol d'oiseau.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Cote 1991, p. 4-5.
- ^ Taub, David Milton (3 June 1978). "The Barbary Macaque in North Africa" (PDF). Oryx. 14 (3): 245–253. doi:10.1017/S0030605300015581. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "L'Historique de la Commune". apcbejaia.org (in French). Retrieved 27 June 2017., reprenant les données d'un extrait du « Répertoire Partiel des Biens Culturels Immobiliers de la Wilaya de Béjaïa » édité par la direction de la culture de la wilaya de Béjaïa.
- ^ Haddadou 2012, p. 193-194.
- ^ Haddadou 2012, p. 193-194.
- ^ a b "Bougie : Définition de Bougie". cnrtl.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 February 2017..
- ^ "BOUGIE, subst. fém". Trésor de la langue française informatisé (in French). Retrieved 26 July 2017..
- ^ Zouggaghe, Mouni & Taffer 2014, pp. 21–33
- ^ Kheladi 1993, p. 109
- ^ Annales 1966, p. 54
- ^ "Climate Normals for Béjaïa Airport for 1991-2020" (CSV). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Climate Normals for Béjaïa". Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Béjaïa, Algeria". Climatebase.ru. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ a b "Bejaia - Algeria". Muslim Heritage. October 2004. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018.
- ^ Merrills, A. H., ed. (2016). Vandals, Romans and Berbers: New perspectives on late antique North Africa. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-23512-7. OCLC 975225182.
- ^ "Kasbah of Bejaia | Archiqoo". Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- ^ Stephen Ramsay, Reading Machines: Toward an Algorithmic Criticism, (University of Illinois Press, 2011), 64.
- ^ Scott, T.C.; Marketos, P. (March 2014), On the Origin of the Fibonacci Sequence (PDF), MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews, archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2019, retrieved 25 May 2014
- ^ a b Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, Brescia 1816, p. 269
- ^ a b c H. Jaubert, Anciens évêchés et ruines chrétiennes de la Numidie et de la Sitifienne Archived 29 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine, in Recueil des Notices et Mémoires de la Société archéologique de Constantine, vol. 46, 1913, pp. 127-129
- ^ "J. Frank Henderson, "Moslems and the Roman Catholic Liturgical Calendar. Documentation" (2003), p. 18" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ Atkinson 2013.
- ^ J. Mesnage, L'Afrique chrétienne Archived 9 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Paris 1912, pp. 8 e 268-269
- ^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 963
- ^ "Cap Carbon". Office Nationale de Signalisation Maritime. Ministere des Travaux Publics. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ List of Lights, Pub. 113: The West Coasts of Europe and Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Azovskoye More (Sea of Azov) (PDF). List of Lights. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2015.
- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Eastern Algeria". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ populstat.info Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Cevital & vous Archived 12 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Cevital. Retrieved on 26 August 2011. "Adresse : Nouveau Qaui Port de -Béjaïa - Algérie"
Sources
[edit]- Annales algériennes de géographie (in French). Institut de géographie de l'Université d'Alger. 1966.
- Atkinson, Rick (2013). An Army At Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-4055-2727-9.
- Cote, M. (1 April 1991). Encyclopédie berbère (in French). Aix-en-Provence: Éditions Peeters. ISBN 2-85744-509-1. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
- Haddadou, Mohand Akli (2012). Dictionnaire toponymique et historique de l'Algérie: comportant les principales localités, ainsi qu'un glossaire des mots arabes et berbères entrant dans la composition des noms de lieux (in French). Tizi Ouzou: Achab. ISBN 9789947972250.
- Kheladi, Mokhtar (1 January 1993). Urbanisme et systèmes sociaux: la planification urbaine en Algérie (in French). Office des publications universitaires.
- Zouggaghe; Mouni; Taffer (March 2014). "Qualité biologique du réseau hydrographique du bassin versant de la Soummam. (Nord de l'Algérie)" (PDF). Larhyss Journal (17): 21–33. ISSN 1112-3680.
External links
[edit]
- (in French) Bgayet.Net
- (in French) History of Béjaïa
- GigaCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links
- Google map of Béjaïa
.svg)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
| Carbon Cape Lighthouse | |