Sétif ( ar, سطيف, ber, Sṭif) is the capital of the
Sétif Province
Sétif Province ( ar, ولاية سطيف, kab, Agezdu n Sṭif) is a province (''wilaya'') in north-eastern Algeria. Its capital and largest city is Sétif; the next largest city is El Eulma. There is also the World Heritage Site of Djémila ...
in Algeria. It is one of the most important cities of eastern
and the country as a whole, since it is considered the trade capital of the country. It is an inner city, situated in the eastern side of Algeria, at 270 kilometers east of
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 ...
, at 131 km west of
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 ...
, in the
Hautes Plaines
The Hautes Plaines ("High Plains", ar, الهضاب العليا), also known as Hauts Plateaux, is a steppe-like natural region located in the Atlas Mountains in northern Algeria. It stretches more than in an east northeast – west southwes ...
Jijel
Jijel ( ar, جيجل), the classical Igilgili, is the capital of Jijel Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne and had a population of 131,513 in 2008.
Jijel is the administra ...
. The city is at 1,100 meters of altitude.
The city was part of Phoenician Empire then it became part of the ancient Berber kingdom of
Numidia
Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...
, the capital of
Mauretania Sitifensis
Mauretania Sitifensis was a Roman province in Northwest Africa. The capital was Setifis.
History
In the later division of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian, the eastern part of Mauretania Caesariensis, from Saldae to the river Ampsa ...
under the rule of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. It became a city of the Islamic World after becoming Muslim during the
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( ar, الْفَتْحُ الإسلَامِيُّ لِلْمَغرِب) continued the century of rapid Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of ...
.
It is considered as the starting point of the 8 May 1945 protests and massacre, which was a crucial factor to the start 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 ...
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
rule. The name of Sétif is not drawn from Latin, but it is a Berber word "Zdif" or Canaanite word "Sadif", i, which means "black lands" according Lissan El Arab, referring to the fertility of its lands. Occupying a strategic position (western gateway to the highlands of
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 ...
) and a major water point thanks to its water table, located at the foot of the mountains on the threshold of a vast plain, Sétif, with all its advantages, was a point of strategic crossing between the eastern part and the western part of Algeria. Sétif was part of the messasylian kingdom, and in the year 225 BC, it was the capital of a Berber kingdom, a title it lost when Juba preferred
Cherchel
Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the k ...
. It was near Sétif that Jugurtha fought a great battle at Caius Marius.
Geography
Sétif is the capital of
Sétif Province
Sétif Province ( ar, ولاية سطيف, kab, Agezdu n Sṭif) is a province (''wilaya'') in north-eastern Algeria. Its capital and largest city is Sétif; the next largest city is El Eulma. There is also the World Heritage Site of Djémila ...
, and it has a population of 288,461 inhabitants as of the 2008 census. It is located 270 kilometers east of
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 ...
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 ...
in the
Hautes Plaines
The Hautes Plaines ("High Plains", ar, الهضاب العليا), also known as Hauts Plateaux, is a steppe-like natural region located in the Atlas Mountains in northern Algeria. It stretches more than in an east northeast – west southwes ...
region south of Béjaia and Jijel, the city is located above sea level, making it the second highest capital of a province in
Numidia
Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...
n kingdom of Massaesyles. It was near Sétif that
Jugurtha
Jugurtha or Jugurthen (Libyco-Berber ''Yugurten'' or '' Yugarten'', c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adh ...
campaigned and lost against Marius in 105 BC. Overcome by Marius, he was taken to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
where was executed in the prison of Tullianum. No remains of this period have been found. The city was small under the Numidian kings.
Roman Era
Setifis
Sétifis (Arabic: سطيف; Berber: Sṭif), was a Romano town located in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman province called ''Mauretania Sitifensis'', and it is today Setif in the Sétif Province (Algeria).
History
Sitifis w ...
(or Sitifis) was founded by the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, during the reign of
Nerva
Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...
(AD 96 to 98), as a colony for veterans. Although no buildings of this period are known, a cemetery excavated in the 1960s seems to have contained tombs from the early colony.
The
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
built a circus at Sitifis, which aerial photographs show survived substantially intact until the 20th century; today only a small part of the curved end continues visible; the remainder has been destroyed or built over. As the town grew, around 297 AD, the province of
Mauretania Sitifensis
Mauretania Sitifensis was a Roman province in Northwest Africa. The capital was Setifis.
History
In the later division of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian, the eastern part of Mauretania Caesariensis, from Saldae to the river Ampsa ...
was established, with Sitifis as its capital.
When
Mauretania Sitifensis
Mauretania Sitifensis was a Roman province in Northwest Africa. The capital was Setifis.
History
In the later division of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian, the eastern part of Mauretania Caesariensis, from Saldae to the river Ampsa ...
was created, at the close of the 3rd century, Sitifis became its capital. In the newly prosperous town a bath building was built, decorated with fine mosaics: its restoration in the fifth century had a cold room (''frigidarium'') paved with a large mosaic showing the birth of Venus. On the northwest edge of the town two great Christian
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
s were built at the end of the fourth century, decorated, again, with splendid
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s, and a
Bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
was founded at this time.
There was a Jewish community in the area. In the 5th century it suffered from a violent earthquake.
Although we do not know what happened under
Vandal
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
rule, the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
conquest brought with it a major fort, of which parts are still standing.
Under the Vandals it was the chief town of a district called Zaba. It was still the capital of a province under Byzantine rule and was then a place of strategic importance. The area came under
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
control for a short period which saw the introduction of
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
doctrines to the mainly Donatist and Catholic town.
Byzantine Era
In 531, the king of 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 ...
,
Hilderic
Hilderic (460s – 533) was the penultimate king of the Vandals and Alans in North Africa in Late Antiquity (523–530). Although dead by the time the Vandal Kingdom was overthrown in 534, he nevertheless played a key role in that event.
Biog ...
, was overthrown by the usurper
Gelimer
Gelimer (original form possibly Geilamir, 480–553), King of the Vandals and Alans (530–534), was the last Germanic ruler of the North African Kingdom of the Vandals. He became ruler on 15 June 530 after deposing his first cousin twice rem ...
, giving the Roman emperor of the East
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, anxious to restore the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, a pretext for intervention. After his departure from
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
(Constantinople / Istanbul), General
Belisarius
Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...
took advantage of uprisings in
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
and the
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
, which enabled him to take
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
(533) and then Gelimer himself (534). The Byzantines found in Sitifis, a small population, because of the vandal predations. In 539, Sitifis again became the capital of a Byzantine "Roman" province: Mauritania Sitifensis. At that time, Solomon built the Byzantine fortress walls, whose west and south walls are still visible.
Bishopric
The city was the base of a
Bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
.
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...
, who had frequent relations with Sitifis, tells us that in his day the Bishopric had a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
and an episcopal school. Several Christian inscriptions have been found there, one of 452 mentioning the relics of
Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. "Laurel wreath, laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, perse ...
, another naming two
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s of Sitifis, Justus and Decurius.
;Known Bishops
*Servus, mentioned in a letter of St. Augustine in 409
*Novatus present at the Council of Carthage (484), and exiled by Huneric
*Optatus, at the Council of Carthage (525).
*Alexis Lemaître, M. Afr. (24 Feb 1911 Appointed – 28 July 1920
*
Joanny Thévenoud
Joanny Thévenoud (March 14, 1878 - September 16, 1949) was a French apostolic vicar of the White Fathers, best remembered for his missionary, ecclesiastical and public development work in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).
Biography
Born in Serri ...
, M. Afr. (8 Jul 1921 Appointed – 16 September 1949)
* André-Maurice Parenty (9 Mar 1950 Appointed – 23 November 1983)
*
Armando Xavier Ochoa
Armando Xavier Ochoa, D.D., (born April 9, 1943) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in California (2011 to 2019), bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas (1996 to 2011) and auxil ...
(23 Dec 1986 Appointed – 1 April 1996)
*
Manuel Felipe Díaz Sánchez
Manuel may refer to:
People
* Manuel (name)
* Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''
* Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies
* Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire
* Manu ...
(27 Feb 1997 Appointed – 4 April 2000)
*
John Choi Young-su
John Choi Young-su (; March 2, 1942 – August 31, 2009) was the South Korean Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Daegu from 2007 to 2009.
Young-su was ordained a Catholic priest on November 6, 1970, and was elevated to Auxiliary bis ...
(22 Dec 2000 Appointed – 3 February 2006)
*
Broderick Soncuaco Pabillo
Broderick Soncuaco Pabillo (; born March 11, 1955) is a Filipino prelate who has been the Vicar Apostolic of Taytay in Palawan since 2021. He was appointed by Pope Francis to that post on June 29, 2021, and was installed on August 19 by Socr ...
(24 May 2006 Appointed – )
Islamic Era
In 647 AD (the year 27 of the Hijrah), the first
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
expedition to Africa took place. By 700 AD, the area had been conquered and converted to the
Islamic faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people oft ...
. We know little of the early Islamic town, but by the tenth century the area outside of the fortress was once more filled with houses: on the site of the Roman baths over twelve of these were excavated, with large courtyards surrounded by long, thin, rooms.
In 903, following the death of the
Aghlabid
The Aghlabids ( ar, الأغالبة) were an Arab dynasty of emirs from the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, Sicily, and possibly Sardinia, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a cen ...
emir
Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim II ibn Ahmad () (27 June 850 – 23 October 902) was the Emir of Ifriqiya. He ruled from 875 until his abdication in 902. After the demise of his brother, Ibrahim was endorsed as emir where he took steps to improve safety in his ...
, Sétif briefly served as the headquarters of his son
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. Muhammad intended to lead a military campaign against the
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
leader
Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i
Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, better known as Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i ( ar, ابو عبد الله الشيعي, Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shi'ī), was an Isma'ili missionary ('' dāʿī'') active in Yemen and North Africa, mainly amon ...
, who had gained a following among the
Kutama
The Kutama ( Berber: ''Ikutamen''; ar, كتامة) was a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form ''Koidamousii'' by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. ...
Berbers, but he aborted it before any battles were fought because his brother Abdallah had been murdered. Intending to seize the throne, Muhammad left Sétif for the capital of
, but he was arrested in Baghaya and then executed by the new emir,
Ziyadat Allah III
Abu Mudhar Ziyadat Allah III ( ar, أبو مضر زيادة الله الثالث) (died 911–916) was the eleventh and last Emir of the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya (903–909).
He came to power after the murder of his father Abdallah II on 27 Ju ...
, alongside all of Ziyadat Allah's brothers and uncles, in August 903.
This internal power struggle enabled Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i to go on the offensive and capture Sétif from the Aghlabids. He had already tried to besiege the strongly fortified city twice, but to no avail. However, in probably October or November of 904, after the city's Arab ruler died, a Berber from the Lahisa tribe surrendered the city to Abu Abdallah, who then demolished part of the fortifications to prevent them from being used against him and his Kutama allies. Then, possibly encouraged by Abu Abdallah's military success, the Isma'ili imam Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah (who would later found the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
) left Egypt to go to the Maghreb.
After conquering
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, the
Fatimids
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
abandoned
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
Zirids
The Zirid dynasty ( ar, الزيريون, translit=az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri ( ar, بنو زيري, translit=banū zīrī), or the Zirid state ( ar, الدولة الزيرية, translit=ad-dawla az-zīriyya) was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from ...
(972–1148). The invasion of
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
by the
Banu Hilal
The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa in the 11th century. Masters of the vast plateaux of th ...
, a warlike
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
tribes encouraged by the Fatimids of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
to seize North Africa.
Colonization
In the mid-eleventh century this development stopped abruptly, and a defensive wall was built around the city. Nothing more is known of Sétif until the ruins of the town were used by the French army, who built their own fortress on the site in 1848, using the line of the medieval city wall and the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
fortress.
On 8 May 1945, the day of the formal end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in Europe, an
uprising
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
against the occupying French forces in Sétif and the nearby towns
Guelma
Guelma ( ar, قالمة ''Qālima''; arq, ڨالمة; Algerian pronunciation: ) is the capital of Guelma Province and Guelma District, located in north-eastern Algeria, about 65 kilometers from the Mediterranean coast. Its location correspon ...
and Kherrata resulted in the deaths of 104''Setif & Djemila'', ''
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, Algeria &
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
'',
Geoff Crowther
Geoff Crowther (15 March 1944 – 13 April 2021) was a British travel writer who wrote for BIT and Lonely Planet.
Life Early life
Crowther was born on 15 March 1944 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. His parents worked in a cotton mill.
He attended ...
& Hugh Findlay, editors,
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...
, April 1992, 2nd Edition, p. 296.
pieds-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 Alger ...
s. The uprising was suppressed through what is now known as the Sétif massacre. Estimates of Algerian casualties vary widely from 2,000 to 40,000 (see
Sétif and Guelma massacre
The Sétif and Guelma massacre was a series of attacks by French colonial authorities and pied-noir settler militias on Algerian civilians in 1945 around the market town of Sétif, west of Constantine, in French Algeria. In response to French po ...
).
Economy
The local economy deals both with trade and industries. The trade is mainly in grain and livestock from the surrounding region. Locally produced wheat is processed by local factories to produce
semolina
Semolina is coarsely milled durum wheat mainly used in making couscous, and sweet puddings. The term semolina is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or corn) as well.
Etymo ...
,
couscous
Couscous ( '; ber, ⵙⴽⵙⵓ, translit=Seksu) – sometimes called kusksi or kseksu – is a Maghrebi dish of small steamed granules of rolled durum wheat semolina that is often served with a stew spooned on top. Pearl millet, sorghum, ...
and noodles. Other industries are woodworking, manufacture of carpets and metal handicrafts.
Zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
is extracted from nearby deposits and there are hydroelectric development to the north. It has become the commercial center of a region where textiles are made,
phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
s are mined and cereals grown.
Climate
Sétif has a
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''BSk''). Its summers are hot and dry, while its winters are cool with low-moderate rainfall.
Due to Sétif's location on the High Plateaus at an elevation of , it is one of the coldest regions during winter in Algeria. The
Wilayah
A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu and fa, ولایت, ''velâyat''; tr, vilayet) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as " governorate". The word comes f ...
frequently sees an annual snowfall of up to . Flash floods are rare but have recently occurred around the spring and fall seasons. The summer is fairly hot where extreme heat waves are common around the month of July where temperatures can sometimes even reach .
Football team
The
ES Sétif
Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...
Football Team is one of Algeria's most prestigious top division clubs.
Ali D
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 common era, CE) was the last of four Rashidun, Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was ...
Ain El Fouara Fountain
Ain El Fouara Fountain ( ar, نافورة عين الفوارة, lit=fountain spring gushing) is an emblematic and famous monument of Setif in Algeria. This fountain consists of a statue made in 1898 by the French sculptor Francis de Saint-Vidal ...
*
List of cities in Algeria
This is a list of Algerian cities and towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and towns and villages with more than 20,000 inhabitants. For a list of ''all'' the 1,541 municipalities (baladiyahs) of Algeria, see List of municipalities of Algeria, ...
References
Further reading
* Boucif Mekhaled, ''Chronique d'un massacre : 8 mai 1945, Sétif-Guelma-Kherrata'', éd. Syros, Paris, 1995
* Jean Louis Planche, ''Sétif 1945. Histoire d'un massacre annoncé'', éd. Perrin, 2006
* Roger Vétillard, ''Sétif. Mai 1945. Massacres en Algérie'', éd. de Paris, 2008
*
Eugène Vallet
Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Denise Morel, ''Sétif de ma jeunesse'', éd. Gandini, 2001