Jijel ( ar, جيجل), the classical

Igilgili Igilgili was a Berber town and a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman colony in located in present-day Jijel, Algeria. History Igilgili was initially a small Carthaginian colony and trading port ( xpu, 𐤀𐤉𐤂𐤋𐤂𐤋 , , or , ). This ...

, is the capital of

Jijel Province Jijel ( ar, ولاية جيجل) is a province (''wilaya'') in Algeria, on the eastern Mediterranean coast. The capital is Jijel (Phoenician name : ''Igilgili''). Taza National Park is located in this province. History The province was create ...

in north-eastern

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

. It is flanked by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

in the region of

Corniche Jijelienne Corniche Jjilienne ( ar, كورنيش جيجل) is a natural region of northern Algeria characterised by rocky forested massifs rising above the coastal plain.Berardo Cori and Enrica Lemmi. 2002 The forested areas provide some of the last extant h ...

and had a population of 131,513 in 2008. Jijel is the administrative and trade center for a region specialising in

cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

processing,

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

and

steelmaking Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and carbon/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and all ...

. Local

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponic ...

s include

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

. Fishing is also of great importance. Tourists (mainly Algerians) are attracted to Jijel for its landscapes and fine sand beaches. Being a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

, there are many hotels and restaurants. There are Phoenician tombs nearby.

Geography and ecology

Jijel is situated 30 km from

Taza National Park The Taza National Park (Arabic:الحظيرة الوطنية تازة) is one of the smaller national parks of Algeria. It is located in Jijel Province in the region of the Tell Atlas, and is named after the nearby city of Taza. Its total area is ...

; this

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

and other vicinity features support a variety of flora and fauna. It is an important

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

for the endangered Barbary macaque, ''Macaca sylvanus''.C. Michael Hogan. 2008

History

originally Phoenician, the city passed to the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

and

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

, the Byzantines, the

Umayyads Umayyads may refer to: *Umayyad dynasty, a Muslim ruling family of the Caliphate (661–750) and in Spain (756–1031) *Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) :*Emirate of Córdoba (756–929) :*Caliphate of Córdoba The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خ ...

, the

Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine ar ...

, and the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. It was conquered for the last in the 16th century by

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an Ot ...

. In July 1664, the French took the city. Resistance was organised under the direction of

Shaban Aga Shaʽban ( ar, شَعْبَان, ') is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called as the month of "separation", as the word means "to disperse" or "to separate" because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water. The fiftee ...

and the French were driven out in October of the same year. Jijel remained a corsair stronghold until recaptured by the French in 1839. Strong local resistance, finally subdued in 1851, resulted in the construction of three forts along its southern fringe as well as minimal colonisation. The original town was devastated by an earthquake in 1856.

Communications

Due to the rugged landscape, Jijel is slightly isolated. However, it is connected by road to large cities like Bejaïa (90 km west), Setif (135 km southwest) and

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

(150 km southeast). The city also has its own airport

Jijel Ferhat Abbas Airport Jijel Ferhat Abbas Airport , also known as Ferhat Abbas Airport, is an airport near Jijel, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capi ...

Infrastructure

Jijel is built along modern patterns with wide streets framed by trees. The surroundings consist largely of dense cork-oak forest. A

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

lies right out from the coast and there is a

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

to the north. There is a hospital, previously a Catholic church (which was demolished), mosques and University of Jijel.

Port

A relatively new port has been built at Djen Djen,Enterprise Portuaire de Djen Djen. 2009 approximately 7 miles east of Jijel, which can handle large bulk carriers having a draft up to 18.2m. Presently, the port is mainly used by car carriers and break bulk vessels.

Sources

* C. Michael Hogan. 2008
''Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg
* Encyclopædia Britannica. 2002. Edition 15, v. 6 , * Enterprise Portuaire de Djen Djen. 2009

References

{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q106097461 Communes of Jijel Province Mediterranean port cities and towns in Algeria Cities in Algeria Province seats of Algeria Lighthouses in Algeria

Geography and ecology

History

Communications

Infrastructure

Port

See also

Sources

References