pinsapo (Abies Pinsapo), is found on the heights round Bougie. The forests suffer great damage from fires, occasioned in part by the custom of burning up the grass every autumn, and in part by incendiarism. In 1902 alone, according to the British consular report, “at a moderate estimate the number of trees damaged or destroyed might be put down at 6,000,000.” Forestry is a state-protected industry, the government owning over 500,000 acres of forest. The chief tree which has commercial value is the cork, and the stripping of the bark is under official supervision. The first cork harvest was gathered in 1890, when 1474 cwt. were sold for £1361. Since that date the yield has been very great. Another tree of great commercial value is the soap tree (Sapindus utilis), introduced into the country in 1845 and grown extensively in low-lying lands near the coast.
Inhabitants.—Algeria had in 1906 a population of 5,231,850, consisting of a medley of European, Eastern and African races. The census showed that in addition to French settlers and their descendants (278,976) there were 117,475 Spaniards (most of whom are found in the department of Oran), 33,153 Italians (chiefly in the department of Constantine), 64,645 Jews, 6217 Maltese, and smaller communities of British, Germans, Levantines and Greeks. There were, moreover, 170,444 naturalized French citizens, mainly of Spanish and Italian origin. (These figures are exclusive of 73,799 persons counted apart, as not enjoying municipal rights. In the 73,799 the troops, French and native, are included). The total European population, in which category are reckoned the Jews, other than those of Mzab, was 680, 263. Compared with the census of 1901 the figures of 1906 showed a decrease of 14,000 French, 36,000 Spaniards and 5000 Italians, but an increase of nearly 100,000 in the foreigners naturalized. Of other races: (1) The Berbers (q.v.) constitute 75% of the entire population. The Kabyles (q.v.), a division of the Berbers, occupy chiefly the more mountainous parts of the Tell, but some live in the plains and valleys. (2) Arabs, a numerous class, are found principally in the south. (3) The so-called “Moors,”generally of mixed blood, inhabit the towns and villages near the sea-coast. (4) Negroes, originally brought from the interior and sold as slaves, are now found chiefly in the towns, where they serve as labourers and domestic servants. (5) Mzabites (q.v.) or Beni-Mzab, a distinct branch of the Berber race, are for the most part engaged in petty trade, and are distinguished by their sleeveless coats of many colours. (6) A few Tuareg (q.v.), another division of the Berbers, are among the nomads found in the Algerian Sahara. The Kabyles, Mzabites, Tuareg, Arabs and Moors all profess Mahommedanism, though it is only among the Arabs that its tenets are held in any purity. The census of 1906 gave the number of the native population at 4,447,149. There were also 28,639 non-European foreigners in the country.
The Turks, though for a considerable period the dominant race, were never very numerous in Algeria. The majority of them were repatriated by the French. The Kuluglis, descendants of Turks by native women—once a distinct race noted for their energy, bravery and pride—have almost ceased to exist as a separate people, being merged in the Moors. Jews have long been settled in Algeria. Some are supposed to have fled thither when expelled from Cyrenaica in the reign of the emperor Hadrian, and others on their banishment from Italy in 1342. The purely “African” Jew is now found only in the oases in the extreme south of the country. In the towns the “native” Jews have intermarried with later arrivals from Europe. A remarkable feast is kept annually by the Algerian Jews to commemorate the defeat by the Turks of the emperor Charles V.’s attempt to capture Algiers (1541). The Jews, who enjoyed religious freedom under the Mahommedans, believed that the success of the Spaniards would but lead to their own persecution.
Chief Towns.—The chief towns are Algiers, the capital and principal seaport, with a population (1906), including Mustapha and other suburbs, of 154,049; Oran (100,499),[1] a western seaport and capital of the department of the same name, and Constantine (46,806), an inland town, capital of the department of Constantine. Besides Algiers and Oran the principal seaports are Bona (36,004), Mostaganem (19,528), Philippeville (16,539), Bougie (10,419), Cherchel (4733) and La Calle (2774). Inland, besides Constantine, are the important towns of Tlemcen (24,060), Sidi-bel-Abbes (24,494), Mascara (18,989) and Blida (16,866). In the Sahara are Biskra (4218), El Wad (7586), Tuggurt (2073) and Wargla (3579). All these places are separately noticed.
Nemours (1229) is a seaport near the Moroccan frontier, which formerly bore an Arabic name pregnant with its history—Jamaa-el-Ghazuat (“rendezvous of the pirates”). The surrounding country is rich in mineral wealth. Arzeu (3085) occupies a site on the western side of the gulf of the same name. It has a good harbour, is the outlet for the produce of several fertile valleys, and the starting-point of a railway which penetrates into the Sahara. This railway passes Saida (6256), 106 m. south of Arzeu, one of the capitals of Abd-el-Kader, and serves to bring down from the high plateaus their rich crops of esparto grass. Four miles S.E. of Arzeu is a Berber village, where are interesting ruins of a Roman settlement, identified by some authorities as the Portus Magnus of Pliny; other authorities claim Oran as occupying the site of Portus Magnus. In the vicinity are the famous quarries of Numidian marbles. Tenes (3176) is a seaport situated about 100 m. east of Arzeu on the site of the Phoenician town, afterwards the Roman colony, of Cartenna. Outside the town to the west is a public garden in which are several Roman tombs with inscriptions. Between Tenes and Algiers are Tipasa (q.v.) and Castiglione (1634), formerly called Bu-Ismail, both pleasant watering-places. Five miles inland west of Castiglione is Kolea (2932), a town dating from 1550 and originally peopled by Moslem refugees from Spain. It was destroyed by earthquake in 1825 and has been rebuilt largely in European style. It contains the kubba of a celebrated marabout, Sidi Embarek, who lived in the 17th century. Dellys (3275), 50 m. by sea E. of Algiers, has a small harbour sheltered from the W. and N.W. winds only. It is a walled town regularly laid out, built by the French on the site of the Roman Ruscurium, the western ramparts of which may still be seen. Jijelli (4878), on the eastern side of the Gulf of Bougie, occupies the site of the Roman colony of Igilgilis. The old town, built on a rocky peninsula, was completely destroyed by earthquake in 1856. A new town arose eastward of the former site, which is now restored as a citadel. Twenty miles by sea west of Philippeville is Collo (2258), a city of considerable importance during the Roman occupation. It was the Kollops Magnus of Ptolemy.
Twenty-three miles S.W. by rail from Algiers is Bufarik (the “hanging well”); pop. 5980. A thoroughly French town, it dates from 1835, when General Drouet d’Erlon established there an entrenched camp on a hillock in the midst of a pestilential swamp. Soon afterwards Marshal Clausel began to build a regular city, which was at first called Medina Clausel in his honour. The draining of the site and neighbourhood was a costly undertaking, and was only accomplished by the sacrifice of many lives. The town, surrounded by vast orchards and farms, is now one of the most flourishing in the country; and the most important market in the colony for the sale of cattle and agricultural produce is held there. Sixty-three miles S.W. of Algiers is Medea (4030)—supposed to stand on the site of a Roman town—finely situated on a plateau 3000 ft. above the sea. It is surrounded by a wall pierced by five gates. An ancient aqueduct is built into the eastern side of the wall. The town, which was chosen by the Turks as capital of the beylik of Titeri, is now French in character. Miliana (3991), which occupies the site of the Roman Milliana, lies about midway between Blida and Orleansville, is 2400 ft. above the sea, and is built on a plateau of the Zakkar mountains, commanding magnificent views of the valley of the Shelif. It possesses few remains of antiquity. An old Moorish minaret has been turned into a clock tower. The town, which is walled, has been rebuilt by the French. The chief streets are bordered by trees and have streams of water
- ↑ The figures given are not those of the communes, but of the towns proper, certain classes of persons (such as troops, lunatics, convicts) excluded from the municipal franchise not being counted.
