Azazga, or ‘Azazqah (), is a town in the

Tizi Ouzou Province Tizi Ouzou ( Kabyle: Tawilayt n Tizi Wezzu, ar, ولاية تيزي وزو) is a province (''wilayah'') of Algeria in the Kabylia region. Its capital is Tizi Ouzou. History In 1984, Boumerdès Province was carved out of its territory. Adminis ...

in northern

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

. It is the third largest Kabyle city, after

Béjaïa Béjaïa (; ; ar, بجاية‎, Latn, ar, Bijāya, ; kab, Bgayet, Vgayet), 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, Kabylia. Béjaïa is ...

and

Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou or Thizi Wezzu (, Kabyle: Tizi Wezzu) is a city in north central Algeria. It is among the largest cities in Algeria. It is the second most populous city in the Kabylie region after Bejaia. History Etymology The name ''Tizi Ouzou' ...

. It is the district seat of the so-named

Daïra A daïra or daerah ( ''circle''; plural ''dawaïr'') is an administrative division in Algeria and Western Sahara in West Africa, as well as Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. It is commonly translated in English as "district". West ...

. The population in 2008 was 34,683.

History

Azazga is a rich locality by its culture and its history. It was created under the French occupation in 1882. It was the chief town of the canton of the commune of Haut-Sébaou. In Kabyle, its name means "the deaf persons", a name which would have been given to the inhabitants of the village by the French at the time of colonization. It is said that one day, the inhabitants refused to hear French troops passing near the village and who asked them to locate rebels; from this came the name of the village. The inhabitants of Azazga are very attached to their freedom. They played a very important role at the time of the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

, of which Chekini Mohand Said of the village of Rabta was a leader on November 1, 1954, and in 1963 during the revolts against the

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

of that time. Later he became a prefect until his retirement. In the same way during the riots of the Black Spring in 2001 where nearly 126 died and more than 5000 wounded and led to closing and the destruction of barracks of Gendarmerie after one year of quarantine. Azazga was built on a marshy ground named "ilmathen" (''ilmaten'' meaning swamp), which was the source of drained water, and until 1962 many fountains were built in the city. The inhabitants of this commune knew many waves of emigration towards the Middle East. For this reason many Kabyles hearths today are found in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, the countries situated near Syria,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Sport

The football team of Azazga, Jeunesse Sportive Azazga or JSA, is one of the oldest clubs of Algeria. Founded in 1946, this club did not play in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for a long time. The other team of the area is OC Azazga, which was created in 1998 in Cheurfa, and is now better classified than the JSA. In June 2008, Ighil Bouzel created a new club, Union Sportive Azazga (USA). It began in the 2008/2009 season with its Brazilian behavior (blue and yellow). Jeunesse Sportive Azazga is also made up of several sections of boxing, volleyball, athletics, karate.

References

{{Tizi Ouzou Province Kabylie Communes of Tizi Ouzou Province