Bab El Oued is a neighbourhood in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

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

, along the coast north of the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

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

History

During the existence of

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

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

pied-noir The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French people, French and other White Africans of European ancestry, European descent who were born in Algeria during the French Algeria, period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the v ...

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

, the neighbourhood became the stronghold of the

Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation Armée Secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Armed Organisation") was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an att ...

, 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 The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the vast majority of whom departed for mainland France as soon as Alg ...

'' 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 ( ar, rtl=yes, الْحَرْبُ الْأَهْلِيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, al-Ḥarb al-ʾAhlīyah al-Jazāʾirīyah) was a civil war in Algeria fought between the Algerian government and various Is ...

(which broke out in 1991) as a

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

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

Notable people

Sofia Boutella Sofia Boutella ( ar, صوفيا بوتلة; born 3 April 1982) is an Algerian actress, model, and dancer. Early life Boutella was born in the Bab El Oued district of Algiers, Algeria, to an architect mother and a jazz musician father, Safy Boute ...

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

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 Mediter ...

Baya Rahouli Baya Rahouli ( ar, باية رحولي, 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 Fra ...

Abdul Abdullah Yahia Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was either to ...

Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi Abdul-Rahman al-Tha'alibi ( ar, أبو زيد عـبـد الـرحـمـن بن مـخـلـوف الـثـعـالـبـي, Abū Zayd ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Makhlūf ath-Tha‘ālibī) (1384 CE/785 Hijri year, AH – 1479 CE/875 Hijri year, ...

is buried here File:Bab el Oued 114.jpg, File:Bab El Oued Alger.jpg,

References

{{Authority control Communes of Algiers Province Neighbourhoods in Algeria