Stidia is a small town and commune in Hassi Mamèche District,

Mostaganem Province Mostaganem ( ar, ولاية مستغانم) is a province (''wilaya'') of Algeria. Its capital is Mostaganem. Geography The land relief in Mostaganem Province can be divided into four regions: the Dahra Range to the east, the Mostaganem Plateau ...

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. In 1998 the commune had a total population of 10,688.

Situation

Stidia is located from

Mostaganem Mostaganem ( ber, Mustɣanem; ar, مستغانم) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of O ...

, the

wilaya 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 fr ...

(province) capital, and from Oran, the country's second largest city. A four-lane highway links both cities, via Stidia. The city is located on the Greenwich meridian.

Name

The name of Stidia derives from an old fountain named ''Aïn Stidia''. The town was first named ''La Stidia'', before being renamed ''

Georges Clémenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

'' by the French, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. According to Salim Ammar who was born in the territory of Stidia, this town was named in the 15th century by the Moors Istija (إستجة) in honor of their lost city in Andalucia, the current

Écija Écija () is a city and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is in the countryside, 85 km east of the city of Seville. According to the 2008 census, Écija had a total populat ...

. The German settlers later in the 19th century mispronounced the Arabic name and it became Stidia or Stidya.

History

Before the foundation of the European settlement down the hill, the Moors who were expelled from Spain after 1492, founded the original Stidia on the hill and it is called now "Douar" Stidia to differentiate it from " Village" Stidia which is the part built during the French occupation. The moorish influence is obvious in the territory of Stidia and Fornaka. The ethnic groups living in the territory keep the remembrance of the epic History of the fighting against the Spanish crusades. Although the fountain ''Aïn Stidia'' existed for some time, the town was founded in 1846, by German settlers who tried to emigrate to South America, but were directed to Algeria, after being abandoned in Dunkerque,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

by a dishonest conveyor. The settlement was first helped by French soldiers who left in 1948. Although Algeria was a French colony at the time, the inhabitants continued to speak German until about the first World War. At the independence of Algeria (1962), the town was renamed ''Stidia'' (from ''Georges Clémenceau'').

Demographics

* 1866 : 486 * 1958 : 1.301 * 2002 : 11.500

Attractions

Beaches

The beaches in the Stidia region attract many tourists (mainly Algerians from Mostaganem and surroundings) during the summer. Although not the best ones of the western Algerian coast, they still offer good recreation opportunities. There is often a guarded parking (for a small fee) in front of the beach. The nearest accommodation is in Mostaganem (15 km), or, to a greater extent, in Oran (65 km). There are no hotels in Stidia.

Greenwich meridian

A plate indicates the crossing of the Greenwich meridian, on the Mostaganem-Oran highway.

References

{{Authority control Communes of Mostaganem Province