Béjaïa

{{redirect|Bougie}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox settlement | official_name = Béjaïa | native_name = {{unbulleted list | {{native name|ar|بجاية}} | {{native name|kab|ⴱⴳⴰⵢⴻⵜ}}<ref>{{cite web |title=bgayet |url=https://www.aps.dz/tamazight-tif/algerie/developpement/mhkc8ffg |publisher=Algérie Presse Service |language=Tamazight |access-date=2026-04-13}}</ref> }} | settlement_type = City and commune | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 280 | image_style = border:1; | perrow = 1/2/1/2/1 | image1 = Béjaïa brise de mer.jpg | alt1 = Brise de Mer seafront promenade in Bejaia | caption1 = Brise de Mer | image2 = Pic des Singes.jpg | alt2 = View of Monkey's Peak in Bejaia | caption2 = Pic des Singes | image3 = Cap Carbon - Béjaia.jpg | alt3 = | caption3 = Cap Carbon | image4 = Fort au dessus du port à Béjaïa 2.jpg | alt4 = Walls of the Casbah of Béjaïa | caption4 = Casbah of Béjaïa | image5 = Bab el bounoud bjaya.png | alt5 = Historic gate in Bejaia/Bab el Bounoud | caption5 = Bab El Fouka | image6 = Bordj Moussa bejaia.png | alt6 = Bordj Moussa Museum and Fort | caption6 = Bordj Moussa | image7 = Gouraya National Park.jpg | alt7 = | caption7 = Gouraya National Park }} | image_map = DZ 06 Bejaia.svg | mapsize = 180 | map_caption = Location of Béjaïa within Béjaïa Province | pushpin_map = Algeria | pushpin_mapsize = 280px | pushpin_map_caption= Location in Algeria | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{DZA}} | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Béjaïa Province | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Béjaïa District | leader_title = Mayor | area_total_km2 = 120.22 | population_as_of = 2008 census | population_total = 177,988 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | coordinates = {{coord|36|45|04|N|05|03|51|E|region:DZ_type:city|display=inline,title}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 06000 | blank_name = Climate | blank_info = Csa }} '''Béjaïa''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɪ|ˈ|d|ʒ|aɪ|ə}} {{respell|bi|CHAI|ə}}; {{langx|ar|بجاية|Bijāya}}, {{IPA|ar|biˈdʒaːja|pron}}, {{IPA|arq|ˈb(d)ʒæːjə|label=locally}}), formerly known as '''Bougie''' and '''Bugia''', is a Mediterranean port city and commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province.

== Geography == [[File:Béjaia - le pic des singes بجاية - قمة القردة 06.jpg|left|thumb|Monkey Peak (''Pic des Singes'')]]

=== Location === Béjaïa owes its existence to its port, which also makes it prosperous. It is located in a sickle-shaped bay protected from the swell of offshore winds (northwest facing) by the advance of Cape Carbon (to the west of the city). The city is backed by Mount Gouraya located in a northwest position. This port site, in one of the most beautiful bays of the Maghreb and Mediterranean coast, is dominated in the background by the Babors mountain range. Another advantage is that the city is the outlet of the Soummam valley, a geographical corridor facing southwest. However, since the time when the city was a capital, there has been a divorce between the city and the region (Kabylia) linked to the difficulty of securing a hinterland. On a macro-regional scale, the city has its back to the region: its position at the end of the Soummam places it at the interface between Grande and Petite Kabylie. But these two groups are closed in on themselves and seek inland capitals (Tizi Ouzou, Akbou, Kherrata, etc.) by turning away from the coast. The city has, in a way, weak local roots; the rural proximity of the city is limited to four or five communes.<ref name="a">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|pp=4–5}}</ref> On a micro-regional scale, Béjaïa is the outlet of a central Algeria, going from Algiers to Skikda, the spillway of the Highlands and a supply port for two million people. But the connection is complex: to the south-east, trade with Sétif is only possible through the steep gorges of Kherrata; another route takes the Soummam, then to the east the Iron Gates and the climb towards Bordj Bou Arreridj, it is this route that is taken by the national road and the railway. These topographical constraints mean that, despite its strong dynamism, the city sees part of the trade escape it in its eastern and western areas of influence.<ref name="a" />

The town is overlooked by the mountain ''{{Interlanguage link|Yemma Gouraya|fr}}''. Other nearby scenic spots include the ''Aiguades'' beach and the ''Pic des Singes'' (Peak of the Monkeys); the latter site is a habitat for the endangered Barbary macaque, which prehistorically had a much broader distribution than at present.<ref>{{cite journal| last1 = Taub| first1 = David Milton| date = 3 June 1978 | title = The Barbary Macaque in North Africa| url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/F79AB3DD50D2FC8FE82CA5E4F41D1166/S0030605300015581a.pdf/the-barbary-macaque-in-north-africa.pdf| journal = Oryx| volume = 14| issue = 3| pages = 245–253| doi = 10.1017/S0030605300015581 | access-date = 19 July 2024 }}</ref> All three of these geographic features are located in the Gouraya National Park.

The urban area covers an area of 12,022 hectares. Béjaïa is located 220 km east of the capital Algiers, 93 km east of Tizi Ouzou, 81.5 km northeast of Bordj Bou Arreridj, 70 km northwest of Sétif and 61 km west of Jijel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'Historique de la Commune |url=http://www.apcbejaia.org/index.php/fr/features-4/portfolio/grid-three-column-2 |access-date=2017-06-27 |website=apcbejaia.org |language=fr-fr}}, reprenant les données d'un extrait du « Répertoire Partiel des Biens Culturels Immobiliers de la Wilaya de Béjaïa » édité par la direction de la culture de la wilaya de Béjaïa.</ref><ref group="Note">Distances orthodromiques, dites aussi ''à vol d'oiseau''</ref> The geographic coordinates of the commune at the central point of its capital are 36° 45′ 00″ North and 5° 04′ 00″ East, respectively.{{NeighbouringCommunities|width=30|Centre=Béjaïa (* Mediterranean Sea)|NORTHWEST=Toudja|WEST=Toudja|SOUTHWEST=Toudja Oued Ghir|SOUTHEAST=Boukhelifa Tala Hamza|S=Oued Ghir|N=*|NORTHEAST=*|EAST=*}}

=== Toponymy === Béjaïa is transliteration from an Arabic toponym derived from the Berber toponym (Kabyle variant) {{Lang|ber|Bgayet}}, notably by transliteration (see Transcription and transliteration) of the sound ǧ in dj (ج). This Berber name — which would have originally been {{Lang|ber|Tabgayet}}, but whose initial t marking the feminine gender would have fallen into disuse — would come from the words tabegga, tabeɣayt, meaning "wild brambles and blackberries".<ref name="MAH2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Haddadou|2012|pp=193–194}}</ref> In Tifinagh script, the name of the city is {{langx|ber|ⴱⴳⴰⵢⴻⵜ||label=none}} ({{langx|ber|Bgayet||label=none}}).<ref>{{Cite web |website=Algerian Press Service |title=ⵜⴰⴼⴰⵙⴽⴰ ⵏ ⵜⴰⵣⴰⵔⵜ ⴷⴻⴳ ⴱⴳⴰⵢⴻⵜ, ⴷ ⵜⴰⴷⵢⴰⵏⵜ ⵜⴰⵅⴰⵜⴰⵔⵜ ⵉ ⵓⵙⵙⵓⵜⴻⴳ ⵏ ⵓⴼⴰⵔⵉⵙ ⴰⴽⴻⵔⵔⴰⵣⴰⵏ ⴰⴷⵉⴳⴰⵏ |url=https://www.aps.dz/tamazight-tif/algerie/developpement/mg3izdru-%E2%B5%9C%E2%B4%B0%E2%B4%BC%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%99%E2%B4%BD%E2%B4%B0-%E2%B5%8F-%E2%B5%9C%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%A3%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%94%E2%B5%9C-%E2%B4%B7%E2%B4%BB%E2%B4%B3-%E2%B4%B1%E2%B4%B3%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%A2%E2%B4%BB%E2%B5%9C-%E2%B4%B7-%E2%B5%9C%E2%B4%B0%E2%B4%B7%E2%B5%A2%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%8F%E2%B5%9C-%E2%B5%9C%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%85%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%9C%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%94%E2%B5%9C-%E2%B5%89-%E2%B5%93%E2%B5%99%E2%B5%99%E2%B5%93%E2%B5%9C%E2%B4%BB%E2%B4%B3-%E2%B5%8F-%E2%B5%93%E2%B4%BC%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%94%E2%B5%89%E2%B5%99-%E2%B4%B0%E2%B4%BD%E2%B4%BB%E2%B5%94%E2%B5%94%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%A3%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%8F-%E2%B4%B0%E2%B4%B7%E2%B5%89%E2%B4%B3%E2%B4%B0%E2%B5%8F |language=ber}}</ref>{{·}}<ref>{{Cite web |website=Algerian Press Service |title=Tafaska n Tazart deg Bgayet, d tadyant taxatart i ussuteg n ufaris akerrazan adigan |url=https://www.aps.dz/tamazight-tal/algerie/developpement/mg3hs24k-tafaska-n-tazart-deg-bgayet-d-tadyant-taxatart-i-ussuteg-n-ufaris-akerrazan-adigan}}</ref>

The name Béjaïa would thus originally have the same Berber root as other names of cities in the Maghreb, such as Dougga ({{Lang|ber|Thouga}}) and Béja ({{Lang|ber|Vaga}}) in Tunisia or Ksar Baghaï ({{Lang|ber|Bagaï}}) in the Aurès.<ref name="MAH2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Haddadou|2012|pp=193–194}}</ref>

In medieval Romance languages, {{Lang|la|Bugaya}} (from Arabic {{Lang|la|Bugāya}}; in Spanish {{Lang|es|Bujía}} and in Italian {{Lang|it|Bugía}}<ref name="CNRTL">{{Cite web |title=Bougie: Définition de Bougie |url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/bougie |access-date=2017-02-12 |website=cnrtl.fr |language=fr}}.</ref> is the name given to the city, which supplied a large quantity of beeswax for the manufacture of candles.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=BOUGIE, subst. fém. |url=http://stella.atilf.fr/Dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/visusel.exe?11;s=4194639330;r=1;nat=;sol=0; |access-date=26 July 2017 |website=Trésor de la langue française informatisé |language=fr}}</ref> {{lang|fr|Bougie}} became the French form of this transcription of the Arabic name. Gradually it came to refer to the wax that was imported in the Middle Ages for the manufacture of candles in Europe; they are from then on commonly designated in French by the word "bougie".<ref name="CNRTL" /> This in turn is carried over to the word Bugia, meaning a long-handled candlestick used by Catholic bishops and high-ranking priests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary : BUGIA |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32252 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref>

=== Climate and hydrography ===

The city is part of the Soummam's drainage basin. Béjaïa and the lower Soummam Valley enjoy a Mediterranean climate. It is generally humid with a slight seasonal temperature change.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Zouggaghe|Mouni|Taffer|2014|pp=21–33}}</ref> Average temperatures are generally mild and vary from 11.1 °C in winter to 24.5 °C in summer.

In addition to the Soummam River, which sufficiently meets agricultural needs in the surroundings of the city, Béjaïa is located in the maritime Kabylie and benefits from a fairly favorable rainfall compared to the rest of the country. The rainfall in the region can range from 800 mm to 1,200 mm, but some local sources tend to be depleted due to increased demand.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kheladi|1993|p=109}}</ref> The city also draws its water resources from the mountainous hinterland and from various springs, such as that of Toudja, which was connected in ancient times by an aqueduct to the ancient city (Saldae).<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Annales|1966|p=54}}</ref>

{{Weather box |location = Béjaïa |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan record high C = 27.7 |Feb record high C = 32.0 |Mar record high C = 37.2 |Apr record high C = 35.4 |May record high C = 42.7 |Jun record high C = 42.8 |Jul record high C = 44.8 |Aug record high C = 47.6 |Sep record high C = 42.5 |Oct record high C = 40.0 |Nov record high C = 37.4 |Dec record high C = 33.0 |Jan high C = 16.4 |Feb high C = 16.8 |Mar high C = 17.7 |Apr high C = 19.3 |May high C = 22.0 |Jun high C = 25.3 |Jul high C = 28.7 |Aug high C = 29.3 |Sep high C = 27.8 |Oct high C = 24.3 |Nov high C = 20.3 |Dec high C = 16.9 |Jan mean C = 12.1 |Feb mean C = 12.3 |Mar mean C = 13.1 |Apr mean C = 14.7 |May mean C = 17.6 |Jun mean C = 21.0 |Jul mean C = 24.0 |Aug mean C = 24.8 |Sep mean C = 23.2 |Oct mean C = 19.7 |Nov mean C = 15.8 |Dec mean C = 12.7 |Jan low C = 7.7 |Feb low C = 7.6 |Mar low C = 8.5 |Apr low C = 10.1 |May low C = 13.1 |Jun low C = 16.6 |Jul low C = 19.3 |Aug low C = 20.2 |Sep low C = 18.5 |Oct low C = 15.0 |Nov low C = 11.2 |Dec low C = 8.4 |Jan record low C = -1.4 |Feb record low C = -4.0 |Mar record low C = -0.1 |Apr record low C = 2.0 |May record low C = 5.8 |Jun record low C = 7.8 |Jul record low C = 13.0 |Aug record low C = 11.0 |Sep record low C = 11.0 |Oct record low C = 8.0 |Nov record low C = 1.6 |Dec record low C = -2.4 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 115.9 |Feb precipitation mm = 94.0 |Mar precipitation mm = 80.6 |Apr precipitation mm = 64.4 |May precipitation mm = 41.3 |Jun precipitation mm = 13.6 |Jul precipitation mm = 6.1 |Aug precipitation mm = 12.1 |Sep precipitation mm = 55.9 |Oct precipitation mm = 70.0 |Nov precipitation mm = 99.3 |Dec precipitation mm = 117.8 | unit precipitation days = 1 mm | Jan precipitation days =9.8 | Feb precipitation days =9.3 | Mar precipitation days =7.9 | Apr precipitation days =7 | May precipitation days =5.2 | Jun precipitation days =2.2 | Jul precipitation days =0.8 | Aug precipitation days =2.1 | Sep precipitation days =5.4 | Oct precipitation days =6.6 | Nov precipitation days =8.5 | Dec precipitation days =9.2 | year precipitation days = |Jan humidity = 78.5 |Feb humidity = 77.6 |Mar humidity = 77.9 |Apr humidity = 77.9 |May humidity = 79.9 |Jun humidity = 76.9 |Jul humidity = 75.0 |Aug humidity = 74.6 |Sep humidity = 76.4 |Oct humidity = 76.3 |Nov humidity = 75.3 |Dec humidity = 76.0 | Jan sun =164.7 | Feb sun =168.4 | Mar sun =206.4 | Apr sun =227.5 | May sun =269.7 | Jun sun =308.3 | Jul sun =331.5 | Aug sun =304.6 | Sep sun =233.6 | Oct sun =213.7 | Nov sun =167.5 | Dec sun = | year sun = |source 1 = NOAA (precipitation-sun 1991-2020),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/archive/arc0216/0253808/4.4/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Algeria/CSV/BejaiaAeroport_60402.csv |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=Climate Normals for Béjaïa Airport for 1991-2020 |access-date=28 August 2024 |format=CSV}}</ref> (mean temperatures 1968-1990)<ref>{{cite web |url=ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-I/AL/60402.TXT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521150446/ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-I/AL/60402.TXT |archive-date=2024-05-21 |url-status=dead |title=Climate Normals for Béjaïa |access-date=11 February 2013 }}</ref> |source 2 = climatebase.ru (extremes, humidity)<ref name="climatebase">{{cite web |url=http://climatebase.ru/station/60402/?lang=en |title=Béjaïa, Algeria |publisher=Climatebase.ru |access-date=11 February 2013 |archive-date=20 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520235222/http://climatebase.ru/station/60402/?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> |date=February 2013}}

=== Roadside and rail communications === thumb|The relief of Béjaïa and its road and rail communication routes. The city of Béjaïa is linked to Algiers, Tizi Ouzou, Bouira, Sétif, Jijel and several Kabyle localities by an important road network. It has a bus station. Bus lines connect it to the cities of the Algerian south, including Hassi Messaoud, Ouargla, Ghardaïa, Laghouat, Djelfa and Bou Saâda.

The commune of Béjaïa is served by several national roads. Some of them run through valleys and gorges that constitute natural passage areas:<ref group="Note">For major natural crossing points, see {{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|pp=4–5}}.</ref> national road 9 (Sétif road), which passes along the coast then the Kherrata gorges to Sétif, and national road 24 (Béjaïa road), which crosses the Soummam valley, Bouira, then Algiers to the west, or Bordj Bou Arreridj to the east. Others run through steeper terrain: national road 12 (Tizi Ouzou road), passing through the Yakouren forest and its mountains then Azazga, Tizi-Ouzou to Boumerdès, and national road 75 (Batna road), passing through Barbacha and the mountains of Petite Kabylie to reach Sétif and join the Highlands to Batna. A highway construction project is underway to ease congestion on the Béjaïa road, the main axis between the capital and the east of the country, and to connect the city and its port, one of the most important in Algeria, to the Algerian East–west highway.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Pénétrante De Béjaia 1 |url=http://ana.org.dz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=100 |access-date=2017-01-21 |website=ana.org.dz |language=fr-fr}}</ref>

Béjaïa has a railway station, the terminus of the Beni Mansour-Bejaia line, created in 1889 and on which a railcar runs linking the stations in the region: Beni Mansour, Tazmalt, Allaghan, Akbou, Lazib Ben Cherif, Ighzer Amokrane, Takriets, Sidi Aich, Ilmaten and El Kseur,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Béjaia: un nouvel autorail en attendant les trains marchandises – Radio Gouraya |url=http://www.radiogouraya.com/bejaia-un-nouvel-autorail-en-attendant-les-trains-marchandises |access-date=2017-07-04 |website=radiogouraya.com |language=fr}}</ref> The interconnection, at Beni Mansour, with the Algiers–Skikda railway, allows access to the entire Algerian railway network by direct links to the Algerian capital, to the west, and to Sétif, to the south-east. A regional train specifically linking Béjaïa to its outskirts is also in service; it was designed to open up the east of the region. The line would benefit from about fifteen daily round trips and should serve the stations of the Beni Mansour-Bejaia line.<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |date=13 June 2009 |title=Un nouveau train Béjaïa-Beni Mansour |url=https://www.depechedekabylie.com/national/71921-un-nouveau-train-bejaia-beni-mansour.html |journal=La Dépêche de Kabylie |language=fr-FR |page= |access-date=2017-07-04}}</ref> Bejaia has an international airport located 5 km south of the city. It was first called "Bejaia - Soummam Airport" between 1982 and 1999, named after the Soummam River which flows into the Mediterranean near Bejaia. It was inaugurated in 1982 for domestic flights and in 1993 for international flights. It was renamed "Bejaia - Soummam - Abane Ramdane Airport" in 1999, in homage to the Algerian politician who played a key role in the history of the Algerian War of Independence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammouche |date=8 December 2009 |title=De nouveaux investissements pour l'aéroport de Béjaïa |url=http://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/de-nouveaux-investissements-pour-laeroport-de-bejaia-72629/print/1 |journal=Liberté Algérie |page=}}</ref>

== History == {{Quote box | width = 25em | align = right | title_bg = #B0C4DE | title = Timeline of Béjaïa Historical affiliations | fontsize = 80% | quote = {{Noflag|Numidia}} (202 BC-25 BC ) {{Noflag|Mauretania}} (27 BC–44 AD) {{Noflag|Roman Empire}} (44–395) {{Noflag|Western Roman Empire}} (395–430s) {{Noflag|Vandal Kingdom}} (430s–534) {{Noflag|Byzantine Empire}} (534–674) {{Noflag|Umayyad Caliphate}} (674–685) {{Noflag|Byzantine Empire}} (685–698) {{Noflag|Umayyad Caliphate}} (698–700) {{Noflag|Jarawa}} (700–702) {{Noflag|Umayyad Caliphate}} (702–741) {{Noflag|Berbers}} (741–771) {{Noflag|Abbasid Caliphate}} (771–790s) {{Noflag|Aghlabids}} (790s–909) {{Noflag|Fatimid Caliphate}} (909–977) {{Noflag|Zirid dynasty}} (977–1014) {{Noflag|Hammadid dynasty}} (1014–1152) {{Noflag|Almohad Caliphate}} (1152–1232) {{Noflag|Hafsid dynasty}} (1232–1285) {{flagicon image|Flag of Béjaïa (14th century).svg}} Emirate of Béjaïa (1285–1510) {{flagicon image|Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg}} Hispanic Monarchy (1510–1555) {{flagicon image|Flag of Regency of Algiers.svg}} Ottoman Empire, regency of Algiers (1555–1833) {{flagicon image|Flag of France.svg}} France, french Algeria (1833-1962) {{flag|Algeria}} (1962–present) }}

=== Prehistory ===

The presence of man is attested in various urban and peri-urban sites. The Ali Bacha cave station would represent the oldest settlement site around 40,000 to 20,000 BC. On the Aiguades site, the equipment and furniture found evoke a period around 10,000 BC and therefore Neolithic.<ref name="gehimab2002">{{Cite journal |publisher=Gehimab - Laboratoire de Recherche Lamos Université de Béjaia |date=June 2002 |title=Béjaïa Ville d'Histoire et de savoir |url=https://www.gehimab.org/depliants/depliants/Depliant%20Bejaia%20Ville%20d%27Histoire%20et%20de%20Savoir.pdf |journal=Publication de l'association Gehimab - Circonscription archéologique de Béjaïa |language=fr }}</ref> The region is also rich in archaeological deposits such as the Afalou caves where some of the oldest burials of modern men, known as Mechta-Afalou men,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chamla |first1=M.-C. |last2=Dastugue |first2=J. |last3=Hachi |first3=S. |date=1985-11-01 |title=Afalou-Bou-Rhummel |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/880 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=2 |pages=182–192 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.880 |issn=1015-7344 |access-date=2024-10-15}}</ref> have been found, which testifies to a culture focused on compassion with the burial of individuals in cave-sanctuary-necropolises and the use of clay pottery dated from 18,000 to 11,000 BC.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Roubet |first1=C. |last2=Hachi |first2=S. |date=2010-12-30 |title=Mechta el-Arbi (Préhistoire) |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/542 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=31 |pages=4811–4814 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.542 |issn=1015-7344 |access-date=2024-10-15}}</ref> These deposits are typical of the so-called Iberomaurusian archaeological culture.<ref name=":8" />

=== Antiquity and Byzantine era === {{see also|Saldae}} The city contains remains from the Bronze Age.<ref name="gehimab2002">{{Cite journal |publisher=Gehimab - Laboratoire de Recherche Lamos Université de Béjaia |date=June 2002 |title=Béjaïa Ville d'Histoire et de savoir |url=https://www.gehimab.org/depliants/depliants/Depliant%20Bejaia%20Ville%20d%27Histoire%20et%20de%20Savoir.pdf |journal=Publication de l'association Gehimab - Circonscription archéologique de Béjaïa |language=fr }}</ref> The oldest known remains are a "hanout" which is a form of Libyc tomb. Long attributed to the Punic culture, it is in fact much older, its dating is interdetermined.<ref name=":92">{{Cite journal |last=Laporte |first=Jean-Pierre |date=2005 |title=Histoire et patrimoine antiques de Saldae (Vgayet, Bejaia, Bougie). |url=https://www.academia.edu/30387621 |format=pdf |journal=Haut Commissariat à l'Amazighité, Actes du colloque: "Le patrimoine culturel immatériel amazigh: Le processus d'inventaire" |language=fr |access-date=2024-10-15}}</ref>

The advantageous site, sheltered from the winds by Cape Carbon, was surely occupied very early. The first trace of historical mention appears in the 5th century BC in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax. The region was part of the kingdom of Numidia. In addition, the Punic influence is present: the Carthaginians traveled the North African coasts to trade and establish trading posts called {{Lang|la|emporioe}}.<ref name="z2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=35–36}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=1408}}.</ref>

Jugurtha's defeat by the Romans changed the latter's alliance into a suzerainty; Augustus divided the territory into provinces constituting Caesarean Mauretania, and, according to Pliny the Elder, Saldae (the ancient name of the city) was a Roman colony founded with the first annexations in 33 BC. Eight years later, he returned the province of the city to the Numidian king Juba II in compensation for his hereditary states. The city acquired a predominantly Latin culture and was Christianized.<ref name="z2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=35–36}}.</ref> The Romans set up various hydraulic networks that would be reused centuries later in the Hammadid era. The Toudja aqueduct dates from the reign of Antoninus Pius. But the city did not know the importance of the development of Hippo (Annaba), which flourished more under the Romans.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=39–40}}.</ref>

[[File:western-mediterranean-rome-hadrian.jpg|thumb|right|400px|The Western Roman empire in the second century AD during the reign of Hadrian. Saldae can be seen on the south coast of the Mediterranean.]] Augustus also founded Tubusuptus, the current ruins of Tiklat, a few kilometres away on the banks of the Nasava (Soummam). From the 1st century, the revolt of Tacfarinas involved all the Numidian populations of the region; he invested the Soummam valley, took Tiklat and reached Saldae. He was finally pushed back by the proconsul Publius Cornelius Dolabella.<ref name="e">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=36–37}}.</ref> In the 4th century, in the mountains near Saldae, Firmus gathered the "Quinquegentians" (current Kabyle tribes of Djurdjura) and led them against the Romans. Count Theodosius arrived with troops from Europe to put down the revolt; he had difficulty overcoming the insurgents.<ref name="e" />

The Vandals in turn entered North Africa from Spain in 429. Led by Genseric, they carried iron to all the coastal towns. They made Saldae the capital of their new state until the capture of Carthage in 439. The struggles between the supporters of Arianism and those of Catholicism weakened the entire region; the Byzantines then found there a pretext and an opportunity to intervene. The city then fell under Byzantine domination in the Vandalic War in 533. The heavy Byzantine oppression also soon gave rise to the population's desire for revolt until the Arab conquest of North Africa.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=38–39}}.</ref>

[[File:Hafsids Bougie Algeria 1249 1276 ornemental Kufic.JPG|thumb|Coin of the Hafsids, with ornamental Kufic script, from Béjaïa, 1249–1276]]

=== Muslim and feudal rulers ===

==== The Arab Conquest ==== Seen by the Umayyad Arab conquerors who came from Kairouan, the mountains around Béjaïa were nicknamed {{Transliteration|ar|el 'adua}} ("the enemy") to designate the stubborn resistance they were the seat of.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=44}}.</ref><ref name=":72">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Lalmi|2004|p=510}}.</ref> Information on this period is scattered, or contradictory; it seems that the city was conquered relatively late, around the year 708. An unlikely hypothesis would have it that the name Béjaïa comes from this period from the Arabic word {{Lang|ar|بقاية}} ({{Transliteration|ar|Baqâyâ}}, "the remains, the survivors") because it would have served as a fallback for the Christian and Jewish populations of Constantine and Sétif. According to Ibn Khaldun, the name Béjaïa would rather come from that of the tribe that inhabited the city: the "Bedjaïa".<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=45}}.</ref><ref name=":4">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Lalmi|2004|p=516}}.</ref>

The three centuries that followed the conquest are obscure due to the lack of accounts. The city was part of the Aghlabid territory, then that of the Fatimids, under whose rule it experienced a certain effervescence. It seems that when the Hammadid sovereign Nasir founded his capital al-Nasirya there, in 1067, the monuments of ancient Saldae were in ruins. Several hypotheses supported by local traditions explain this state: the city would have experienced 7 earthquakes or a similar number of enemy attacks.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=48}}.</ref> It seems established that in the 10th century, the city was in the hands of the Sanhaja Berbers, from whom came the Zirid and Hammadid dynasties which reigned over the Central Maghreb. It is then a town essentially populated by Andalusis, in accordance with the description given by the Andalusi geographer al-Bakri, before the policy of the Hammadids gave a decisive boost to the city.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=49}}.</ref><ref name="Cote6">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=6}}.</ref>

==== Berber dynasties: the glory of a medieval capital ==== [[File:Algiers and Bejaia by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|200px|Historic map of Algiers and Béjaïa by Piri Reis]] In the 10th century, the city was only a small fishing port. In 1067, the Berber sovereign of the Hammadid dynasty, Nasir ibn Alnas (1062–1088), ruling over the Central Maghreb, developed the city and made it his capital. Indeed, his first capital, the Qal'a of Banu Hammad, in the Highlands, was under threat from raids by the Hilalian Arab nomads who, hailing from the Middle East, had launched a second wave of Arab invasions into the Maghreb.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=47}}.</ref> He gave the city the name '''al-Nasiriya''', which it would struggle to keep in the face of its toponym Béjaïa, which was already well established in usage. As Ibn Khaldun reports, this is due to the fact that the toponym Bejaïa is linked to the name of the Berber tribe populating this place.<ref name=":92">{{Cite journal |last=Laporte |first=Jean-Pierre |date=2005 |title=Histoire et patrimoine antiques de Saldae (Vgayet, Bejaia, Bougie). |url=https://www.academia.edu/30387621 |format=pdf |journal=Haut Commissariat à l'Amazighité, Actes du colloque: "Le patrimoine culturel immatériel amazigh: Le processus d'inventaire" |language=fr |access-date=2024-10-15}}</ref>

Before acquiring its status as capital, the city experienced remarkable dynamism, particularly on the cultural level; it was in fact the port at the crossroads of the Qal'a of Banu Hammad, and al-Andalus. Scholars and traders passed through it and it was the outlet of the triq sultan, the royal road from the High Plateaus to the Mediterranean and even an outlet for trans-Saharan trade.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Julien|1966|p=104}}.</ref> The Kalbid emirs of Sicily were inspired by the palaces of Bejaïa to establish those of Palermo. The city, more than a recognized or appreciated place, was a place of obligatory passage; It is a real crossroads on the road from al-Andalus to the East (especially for pilgrims going to Mecca) but also from Europe to Africa. It is a place of meetings and exchanges of knowledge between local communities, from Europe and the East.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Ferréol|Berretima|2015|p=258}}.</ref> thumb|Port of Béjaia The establishment of the Hammadid sovereigns will make it the capital of the Central Maghreb and the Algerian ''madinat at tarikh'' (the city of history). An original political fact on the scale of the ancient Maghreb, it is a coastal capital. It becomes one of the main cultural and scientific centers of the western Mediterranean and an important commercial center for Europe. If the precise state of the Bougiotte merchant fleet is unknown, it occupies a significant place in the Mediterranean without however being preponderant compared to the European merchant fleets. It is frequented by Latin merchants, Pisans and Genoese, Andalusis and later Catalans.<ref name="Valérian 247-6102">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Valérian|2006|pp=247–290; 607–610}}.</ref> These traders from the south of Europe gave it various names in Romance languages: Bugia, Buzia, Bugea, Buzana. It was at this time that the city's wax, exported to Europe for the making of candles, gave the word "bougie" to French and the word "basane" to designate skins; lexical borrowing of the transcribed names of the city (respectively Bougie and Buzana).<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=46}}.</ref><ref name="DG4C8Y2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Valérian|Aissani|2003|pp=10–15}}.</ref> The city exported beeswax and skins in quantity, tannic barks for working leather (the iscorzia di Bugiea was famous in the 14th century), alum, cereals, raisins, wool and cotton from Biskra and M'sila, metals and pottery.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=75}}.</ref> The city also imported various goods such as metals, fabric, dyes and medicinal herbs. It was also a naval base for the Hammadids, and the starting point for naval expeditions to the "country of Rum" (from which Sicily was three days' sailing).<ref name="r2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=9}}.</ref> The Hammadid fleet played an important role in the western Mediterranean; it slowed down European advances, particularly those of the Normans of Sicily in the 12th century. The Hammadids attracted scholars from all backgrounds and practiced an open policy, particularly towards Europe. Jews and Christians benefited from favorable conditions; the Emir Nasir maintained regular correspondence with Pope Gregory VII<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=51}}.</ref> and asked him to appoint a bishop for his city.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kaddache|2011|p=232}}.</ref> The arrival of scholars made Béjaïa a leading city in the field of science; its influence extended beyond the Mediterranean and reached Europe. An Andalusian culture mixed with traditional oriental inspiration, secular sciences developed as did sacred sciences. Unlike the Qal'a in the hinterland, it is considered a cultural and "modern" city for its time; A "Berber city living in the oriental style",<ref name="r2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=9}}.</ref> many illustrious scholars came from it or settled there throughout its medieval period: Al Madani (10th century), Ibn Hammad, Yahia Zwawi, Leonardo Fibonacci (12th century), Ramon Llull and Ibn Khaldun (13th century).

Scholars came to complete their training in the city as they did in Cairo, Tunis or Tlemcen. Hundreds of students, some of European origin, crowded into the schools and mosques where theologians, jurists, philosophers and scholars taught. The main places of medieval knowledge were the Great Mosque, ''Madinat al-`Ilm'' (the City of Sciences), the Khizana Sultaniya and the Sidi Touati Institute. The jurist Al Ghobrini (1246-1314), qadi of the city, described the scholars of Béjaïa as "princes of science", among whom were Abu Madyan, Abd al-Haq al-Isbili, al-Qurashi and Abu Tamim Ben Gebara. These scholars met in audiences where they consulted on various subjects.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=56–61}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Aïssani|Djehiche|2011|p=35}}.</ref>

thumb|Roman mosaic depicting the Greek god Ocean on display at Bejaia City Hall. There is a rivalry and intellectual exchanges between Tlemcen, the Zeneta and Béjaïa, the Sanhaja.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Aïssani|Djehiche|2011|p=5}}.</ref> This tolerance of the city is nuanced by one of the versions of the story of the death of Ramon Llull. Indeed, according to one version, he was stoned by the Bougiotes who had accused him of wanting to convert them to Christianity<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=69}}.</ref> when other versions affirm that he was simply shipwrecked on his return to Mallorca from Tunis.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kaddache|2011|p=235}}.</ref>

In 1202, Leonardo Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician, brought back the "Arabic numerals" and the algebraic notation. According to the versions, the inspiration for the Fibonacci sequence would be due to the observation of beekeepers and the reproduction of bees in the region or to a local mathematical problem concerning the reproduction of rabbits that he describes in his work Liber abaci.<ref name="DG4C8Y2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Valérian|Aissani|2003|pp=10–15}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Scott|Marketos|2014|pp=9–15}}.</ref>

At that time the city had developed so much that, according to Leo Africanus, it was populated by several tens of thousands of people from all over the Maghreb, the Levant, Europe and Asia. The indigenous population of the city was mainly composed of Berbers from the Kabyle hinterland and the large community of Andalusian refugees. The population estimate at that time is put at 100,000 inhabitants by Al Idrissi. Mohammad Ibn Tumart met Abd al-Mu'min, the one who would become the caliph of his movement and of a new state (the Almohads), near Béjaïa around 1118.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=59}}.</ref>

Mohammad Ibn Tumart preached a return to the sources of Islam from Mellala, a town located 10 km from Béjaïa. Years before, the Almohad guide was said to have been driven out by the people of Bejaia, whom he had strongly criticized for their morals.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=60}}.</ref> The political movement he founded was the basis of the Almohad Empire, which seized Bejaia in 1152 and deposed the Hammadids. The city retained its strategic importance under the Almohads; it became a provincial capital.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=61}}.</ref> The caliph Abd el Mumin appointed a member of his own family as governor of the city,<ref name="Féraud p63">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=63}}.</ref> a testament to its strategic importance. The city's port housed the caliph's fleet and that of the Hammadids, which he had seized.<ref name="Valérian Ch1">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Valérian|2006|pp=35–101}}.</ref> In 1183, for a brief period, the Banu Ghaniya (remnants of the Almoravid dynasty) seized Bejaia before the Almohads regained control of it.<ref name="Féraud p63" />

After the breakup of the Almohad Empire, Béjaïa returned to the orbit of the Hafsid Berbers of Tunis who became independent in June 1228.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=64}}.</ref> But in reality, due to the fragmentation and succession disputes, the emir or sultan of Béjaïa became independent from that of Tunis at the head of a real dissident kingdom over various periods, the last of which before the Spanish conquest extended over the entire 15th century, at which time it was called the "kingdom de Bougie ". Trade remained active with the Christian states and the city was one of the main reception points for Andalusian refugees fleeing the Reconquista.<ref name="Valérian 247-6102">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Valérian|2006|pp=247–290; 607–610}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Valérian|2006|p=674}}.</ref>

=== The centuries of decadence of Bejaia === Like the tragic fate suffered at the turn of the 15th century by many caravanserais and several medieval cities of the Sahara and the Maghreb coast, sometimes radically, those characterized by an economy significantly linked to trans-Saharan-Mediterranean trade as well as by a lack of substitutes inherently or de facto (such as Mahdia in Tunisia, Honaïne in Algeria, radically Sijilmasa in Morocco, etc.), Bejaia thus begins its decline in this context of a combination of circumstances of reconfiguration of world trade in favor of new maritime routes dominated at first by the Portuguese and the Dutch to the detriment of the previous caravan routes and what was related to them.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1972-06-01 |title=. « Routes de commerce et échanges en Afrique occidentale en relation avec la Méditerranée. Un essai sur le commerce africain médiéval du XIe au XVIe siècle » par Jean Dévisse -- [numérisation de livre/revue spécialisée/article : article du Journal de la Société des Africanistes (1972), via www.persee.fr] |work=Journal des Africanistes |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=271–272 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jafr_0037-9166_1973_num_43_2_1716_t1_0271_0000_2 |access-date=2019-06-26 |last1=Mauny |first1=Raymond }}.</ref>

=== A coveted city === The Spanish, in the wake of the Reconquista, carried out raids on the ports of North Africa. The city was taken by the Spaniard Pedro Navarro in 1510 from Sultan Abdelaziz. The Spanish put an end to the "kingdom of Bougie" in the central Maghreb. They made the city one of their trading posts which was maintained thanks to relations with Pisa and Genoa. But their harshness caused the flight of the local population, and conflicts with the surrounding Berbers. The city could no longer serve as a relay for trade with the hinterland and Abu Bakr, Abdelaziz's brother and sultan, tried to retake the city in 1512 from his new capital, Constantine (using the Zianid siege system of the 14th century).<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=99–101}}.</ref>

The Spanish were content to control a perimeter forming a sort of triangle between Bordj Abdelkader, the Casbah and Bordj Moussa. The city outside these limits was not defendable by the weak Spanish garrison and was ruined. The spirit of the Inquisition influenced local Spanish politics, the Jews were driven out of the city and the urban elites, including the scholars, fled. The scholarly tradition then moved massively to the zaouïas of the Kabyle hinterland, the manuscripts were also moved and dispersed. The population of the city was in free fall, and even the Spanish garrison was increasingly reduced; it numbered 500 men in 1555.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=102}}.</ref>

The former possessions of Béjaïa were fragmented, which hindered the reconquest of the city. In Kabylie, El Abbès, the son of the Sultan of Béjaïa, founded his principality around the Kalâa of Ait Abbès, taking part of the city's elites; on the west bank of the Soummam he was in competition with Belkadi, descendant of the Bougiote jurist Al Ghobrini who founded the Sultanate of Kuku. In Constantine it was Abou Bakr, brother of the former sultan, who proclaimed himself sultan over all of eastern Algeria. These various protagonists, rivals among themselves, each hoped to reconquer the city and unify its former dependencies.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kaddache|2011|p=240}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=98}}.</ref> thumb|Hotel de l’Etoile, on Place du 1er Novembre (Place Gueydon) It was at this time, when the old states were in decline, that the Barbarossa brothers, Greek corsairs converted to Islam, appeared and settled in the neighboring city of Jijel. They joined the various attempts to retake the city from the Spanish thanks to their expertise in navigation. They eventually founded their own state around Algiers, based partly on corsair activity, and rapidly extended their influence over northern Algeria by gradually entering the Ottoman orbit and presenting themselves in the eyes of the population as direct competitors of the Spanish. Béjaïa quickly became a strategic objective; the Barbarossa gradually ousted the Hafsids from Constantine and Annaba. Charles V used the city as a fallback after the disastrous 1541 expedition against Algiers.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=102–108}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kaddache|2011|pp=310–312}}.</ref>

=== A marginalized city === The Barbarossa would never achieve their goal of retaking Béjaïa during their lifetime. It was one of their successors, the beylerbey Salah Raïs, who finally entered the city after the Battle of Béjaïa (1555) with the help of the Kabyles of Koukou.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=108}}.</ref> The city was integrated into the Regency of Algiers and depended on the Beylik of Constantine until 1830. The territorial division into three beyliks placed the city in a marginal position. The political dream of the Barbarossa to establish their capital in Béjaïa was abandoned; the regency was already established in Algiers, which was a fortified port and in which many developments had been carried out.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=3}}.</ref> The only major institution maintained during this period was that of the dar senâa, the shipyards or arsenals of the city which supplied ships to the regency.<ref name="Féraud1172">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=117}}.</ref> thumb|Sidi Soufi mosque The city, with a Turkish caïd, was seen above all as a city that could potentially compete with Algiers and is surrounded by hostile mountains.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=115}}.</ref> The rise of its corsair fleets was closely monitored for fear of competition with that of Algiers; the Algiers fleet came to its coves, where it was naturally sheltered, during the winter. The city therefore saw its decline accelerate after the departure of the Spanish. The inhabitants maintained a small merchant fleet of about twenty feluccas which traded with Algiers, Oran, Bouna and Tunis to export the region's produce during favorable weather. In winter, this fleet was stationed on the beach of Dar senâa under the Casbah and not refloated until spring.<ref name="Féraud1172">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=117}}.</ref> The goods exported included oil, wax, dried figs, and leather; fabrics and cereals are imported. These ships could transport wood for the karasta: the exploitation of wood for the shipbuilding of Algiers.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=118}}.</ref> Corsair activity continued during this period, particularly with that of Jijel. In 1671, the city was targeted by the English led by Edward Spragge who bombarded it to stop the corsair attacks on their ships. During this entire period, the city was not maintained, and the descriptions of various travelers reflect the deterioration of the buildings and the lack of repair. Sidi M'hamed Amokrane, a marabout, son of the Sultan of Aït Abbas, Sidi Naceur Amokrane (or Mokrani), settled near Béjaïa around 1630, before going to Jijel. He moved his zaouïa from the village of Ama'dan to the city where the Turks charged him with running the karasta.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=119}}.</ref> At the time of Al Warthilani (1713 – 1779), the city was in the hands of three important figures: the cadi, the caid and the descendant of the marabout Mokrani.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=125}}.</ref>

The caids asked the marabouts to pass under the laânaya (protection) of the troops of Béjaïa until Algiers. Indeed, the city located in the heart of Kabylie, independent of the executive power of Algiers, was often besieged during insurrectional conflicts between the various confederations of the region. During the great revolt of 1806, led by the sheriff Ben el Harche, the city was besieged without success.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|p=128}}.</ref> In 1823, the tribes of Bibans and Soummam seized the caid of the city. In 1825, the agha Yahia, commander of the troops from Algiers, invaded the city and launched operations of repression against the tribes of Soummam.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kaddache|2011|p=490}}.</ref>

=== The fall of the regency and the colonial period === In 1830, the French launched the conquest of Algeria. At first, the expedition was directed against Algiers. But very soon, the invaders sought to occupy the entire country, in particular Kabylie against which several expeditions were directed. Béjaïa, which had come under the control of the Mezzaïa tribe after the fall of the dey of Algiers, was involved in several incidents with French and British ships. In 1831, two expeditions aimed at imposing as its caïd a man named Mourad, then a certain Bou Setta, were thwarted. A new expedition resulted in the capture of the city in 1833, after fierce resistance from its inhabitants. However, the French failed to conquer the surrounding area.<ref name="Féraud144-1453">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=140–145}}.</ref>

thumb|upright| Bordj MoussaThe city and its region put up fierce resistance to the French colonial presence; moreover, like the Spanish in the 16th century, the French were content with a limited occupation until 1846. Various defensive works were built around the square, particularly on the heights.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Habsbourg|2000|p=43}}.</ref><ref name="Féraud144-1453">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=140–145}}.</ref>

The city took part in several uprisings and insurrections, such as that of the sheriff Boubaghla, and especially the great revolt of Sheikh El Mokrani and Sheikh Aheddad in 1871. At the time of the French conquest, the city was no more than a very modest town of around 2,000 inhabitants.<ref name="Féraud144-1453">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Féraud|2001|pp=140–145}}.</ref> The city was made a fully-fledged commune by decree of 17 June 1854.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Recherche géographique: Bougie (Algérie) |url=http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/geo.php?ir=&lieu=Bougie+(Alg%C3%A9rie) |access-date=2017-07-25 |website=anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr |language=fr}}.</ref> The French partially filled in the bay and developed the city's port and outer harbor. Urban planning work (development of the seafront and major roads) left its mark on its urban fabric. It gradually regains its role as an outlet for Kabylia, and as an export port for local agricultural products. Algerian inhabitants still maintain their coastal shipping activity. In 1906, the Cape Carbon lighthouse was built, it is the highest in the world due to its natural location (altitude 220 meters) and it has a range of 33 miles.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Ministère de l'information|1970|p=106}}.</ref>

During World War II, Operation Torch landed forces in North Africa, including a battalion of the British Army's Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment at Béjaïa on 11 November 1942. That same day, at 4:40 PM, a German Luftwaffe air raid struck Béjaïa with thirty Ju 88 bombers and torpedo planes. The transports {{HMT|Awatea||2}} and ''Cathay'' were sunk and the monitor HMS ''Roberts'' was damaged. The following day, the anti-aircraft ship SS ''Tynwald'' was torpedoed and sank, while the transport ''Karanja'' was bombed and destroyed.{{sfn|Atkinson|2013}}

On May 8, 1945, the repression led by the French colonial forces in Kherrata, where the navy was used for a naval bombardment of the coasts of the Béjaïa region, caused thousands of victims.<ref name="Zirem2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Zirem|2013|p=84}}.</ref>

During the Algerian War of Independence, the organization of the FLN and the ALN created for the first time a Kabyle administrative territory, the wilaya III; Béjaïa is part of this group.<ref name=":72">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Lalmi|2004|p=510}}.</ref> The Soummam congress, which is the political meeting of the FLN which sets the political-military line of the Algerian national movement in the war, takes place in Ouzellaguen, in the Bougiote hinterland.<ref name="Zirem2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Zirem|2013|p=84}}.</ref>

=== The modern agglomeration === On the eve of the Algerian War in 1954, it had 30,000 inhabitants, including 6,200 Europeans. One of the last decisions of the colonial administration was to build an oil pipeline from Hassi Messaoud, with the city as a terminal depot and oil port. In 1959, Béjaïa was the most important oil port in Algeria, which was a source of income.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=4}}.</ref> In 1962, it was integrated into the wilaya of Sétif, before becoming the seat of its own wilaya in 1974. The city experienced a demographic boom, and an urbanization of the Lekhmis plain, following the influx of rural people, particularly from Kabylie.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kheladi|1993|pp=109–110}}.</ref>

Béjaïa, like other cities in Soummam, was one of the centers of Berber identity claims during the Berber Spring of 1980; and in 2001, during the Black Spring. If it struggles to establish itself as the economic capital of Little Kabylia, it is undeniably the cultural capital of Kabylia, in competition with Tizi-Ouzou. The opening of the political field has allowed the emergence of groups, associations, artistic and cultural events of all types. The University Center, by its presence, supports the movement; a Tamazight language institute is planned to be installed in Béjaïa.<ref name=":52">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=7}}.</ref>

This rapid expansion of the city is also a challenge in terms of urban planning; the city is indeed struggling to ensure a hinterland due to the relief. On the other hand, heritage and culture are also an issue because they are threatened in the long term. The exceptional site also raises the environmental question and that of pollution linked to domestic and industrial activities. In the early 1990s, the increase in population combined with the lack of planning and the inadequacy of public policies degraded the living environment of the city, despite certain assets for its future.<ref name=":52">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Cote|1991|p=7}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Kheladi|1993|p=112}}.</ref>

== Urban planning ==

=== Downtown === The downtown of Béjaïa comprises the colonial quarter and the old town, the medina, itself largely reshaped by urban planning during the Spanish Empire and later by French Algeria. The old town is nestled against the Gouraya massif; it was marked by the Spanish presence, during which it lost numerous medieval buildings (such as the Hammadid Palace of the Star), and then by French developments. This area, however, is not lacking in ancient (particularly archaeological) or medieval buildings and remains; the Acherchour, Karamane, and Bab El Louz districts still boast Moorish houses. But due to a lack of maintenance, public awareness, and preservation, the introduction of inauthentic materials (concrete, brick, etc.) threatens this heritage.<ref name=":3">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Benazzouz Boukhalfa|2013|pp=156–158}}.</ref> The city's defensive structures are still present in various locations within the old town (Bab el Bounoud, the Hammadid wall near the port, the Casbah, etc.).<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Ministère de l'information|1970|p=25}}.</ref> The colonial part of the city is particularly notable for the seafront district, which encroaches upon part of the old town and the port. Inspired by Haussmannian architecture, it also includes the famous Place du 1er Novembre, still known as Place Geydon.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Ministère de l'information|1970|p=27}}.</ref>

== Demographics == {{Update section|date=April 2026|reason=newer census is available}}{{Infobox lighthouse | qid = Q22683650 | shape = cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern rising from the keeper's house<ref name=capcarbon>{{cite web|url=http://www.onsm-dz.com/?p=detailphares&equipement_id=23|title=Cap Carbon|website=Office Nationale de Signalisation Maritime|publisher=Ministere des Travaux Publics|access-date=28 April 2017|archive-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922013556/http://www.onsm-dz.com/?p=detailphares&equipement_id=23|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=listoflights113>{{cite ngall|113|2015|}}</ref><ref>{{Cite rowlett|dzae|access-date=27 April 2017}}</ref> }} The population of the city was 177,988 as of the 2008 census.

{| class="wikitable" |+ Historical populations<ref>[http://www.populstat.info/Africa/algeriat.htm populstat.info] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175036/http://www.populstat.info/Africa/algeriat.htm |date=3 March 2016 }}</ref> ! Year !! Population !Year !Population !Year !Population !Year !Population |- | 1901 || 14,600 |1926 |15,900 |1954 |43,900 |1977 |74,000 |- | 1906 || 17,500 |1931 |25,300 |1960 |63,000 |1987 |114,500 |- | 1911 || 10,000 |1936 |30,700 |1966 |49,900 |1998 |144,400 |- | 1921 || 19,400 |1948 |28,500 |1974 |104,000 |2008 |177,988 |}

== Economy == thumb|270px|Maritime front of Béjaïa: a view of its industrial facilities and the airport. The northern terminus of the Hassi Messaoud oil pipeline from the Sahara, Béjaïa is an oil exporting port. Other exports include iron ore, phosphates, and wine. The city also has a cork industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bejaïa {{!}} Mediterranean Coast, Berber Culture, Roman Ruins {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bejaia |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Cevital, the largest private conglomerate in Algeria, is headquartered in the city.<ref>"[http://www.cevital.com/index.swf Cevital & vous] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912034856/http://www.cevital.com/index.swf |date=12 September 2011 }}." Cevital. Retrieved on 26 August 2011. "Adresse: Nouveau Qaui Port de -Béjaïa - Algérie"</ref>

==Sports== {{Unreferenced section|date=August 2025}} The city is home to football clubs JSM Béjaïa and MO Béjaïa.

== Twin towns – sister cities== Béjaïa has an official friendly relationship with:

*{{flagicon|UK}} Glasgow, Scotland, since 1995 *{{flagicon|FRA}} Brest *{{flagicon|GER}} Bad Homburg

== Villages ==   *Ilougane

== Notable people ==   *Zaki Hannache (born 1987), human rights activist *Nihad Hihat (born 1994), volleyball player *Rebiha Khebtani (1926–2006), politician *Nassim Oussalah (born 1981), footballer *Fares Arfa (born 1994), fencer

== See also == {{Portal|Algeria}} * European enclaves in North Africa before 1830 * List of lighthouses in Algeria * Saldae, for Roman history and concurrent Catholic titular see * Great Mosque of Béjaïa

; Related people * Abu al-Salt * Fibonacci

== Notes == {{reflist|group=Note}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== Sources == {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |language=fr |title=Annales algériennes de géographie |publisher=Institut de géographie de l'Université d'Alger |date=1966 |isbn= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpBGAAAAMAAJ |ref={{sfnref|Annales|1966}} }} * {{cite book |first1=Djamil |last1=Aïssani |first2=Mohammed |last2=Djehiche |language=fr |title=Les échanges intellectuels Béjaia-Tlemcen |publisher=Tlemcen, capitale de la culture islamique |date=2011 |isbn=978-9961-9-9818-2}} * {{cite book|last=Atkinson|first=Rick|title=An Army At Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cEEpZPDnV7EC|year=2013|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1-4055-2727-9}} * {{cite book |language=fr |first=M. |last=Cote |title=Encyclopédie berbère |publisher=Éditions Peeters |location=Aix-en-Provence |date=1991-04-01 |isbn=2-85744-509-1 |url=https://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1507 |access-date=2017-01-21}} * {{cite book |language=French |first=Laurent-Charles |last=Féraud |title=Histoire de Bougie |publisher=Éditions Bouchène |date=1 January 2001 |isbn=978-2-912946-28-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nK5yAAAAMAAJ&q=f%C3%A9raud+histoire+bougie |access-date=25 January 2017 }} * {{cite book |language=fr |editor1-first=Gilles |editor1-last=Ferréol |editor2-first=Abdel-Halim |editor2-last=Berretima |title=La ville méditerranéenne : défis et mutations : Actes de colloque international (28-29/11/13, Béjaïa) |publisher=EME éditions |date=16 November 2015 |isbn=978-2-8066-3534-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKDtCgAAQBAJ}} * {{cite book |language=fr |first=Louis Salvator de |last=Habsbourg |title=Bougie: La perle de l'Afrique du Nord |publisher=L’Harmattan |location=Paris/Montréal |date=2000 |orig-date=1899 |isbn=2-7384-8455-7}} * {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kiwnQEACAAJ|title=Dictionnaire toponymique et historique de l'Algérie: comportant les principales localités, ainsi qu'un glossaire des mots arabes et berbères entrant dans la composition des noms de lieux|last=Haddadou|first=Mohand Akli |date=2012 |publisher=Achab |isbn=978-9947-972-25-0 |location=Tizi Ouzou |language=fr}} * {{cite book |first=Charles-André |last=Julien |language=fr |title=Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord; des origines à 1830 |publisher=Payot |location=Paris |date=1966 |orig-date=1951}} * {{cite book |first=Mahfoud |last=Kaddache |language=fr |title=L'Algérie des Algériens |publisher=Société nationale d'édition et de diffusion |location=Alger |date=2011 |orig-date=1982 |isbn=978-9961-9-6621-1}} * {{cite book |language=fr |first=Mokhtar |last=Kheladi |title=Urbanisme et systèmes sociaux: la planification urbaine en Algérie |publisher=Office des publications universitaires |date=1993-01-01 |isbn= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGbaAAAAMAAJ}} * {{cite journal |first=Nedjma Abdelfettah |last=Lalmi |language=French |title=On the Myth of the Kabyle Cultural Island |journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines |number=175 |year=2004 |volume=44 |pages=507–531 |doi=10.4000/etudesafricaines.4710 |url=http://etudesafricaines.revues.org/4710#text }} * {{cite book |language=fr |author=Ministère de l'information |title=Bejaïa |publisher=Ministère de l'information; diffusion : SNED |date=1970 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85IvAAAAMAAJ }} * {{cite journal |language=en |last1=Scott |first1=T.C. |last2=Marketos |first2=P. |title=On the Origin of the Fibonacci Sequence |journal=MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews |date=23 March 2014 |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Publications/fibonacci.pdf}} * {{cite journal |first1=Dominique |last1=Valérian |first2=Djamil |last2=Aissani |language=fr |title=Mathématiques, commerce et société à Béjaïa (Bugia) au moment de séjour de Leonardo Fibonacci (XII-XIII) |journal=Bollettino di Storia delle Scienze Matematiche |volume=XXIII |number=2 |date=2003 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3640311 |pages=9–31}} * {{cite book |first=Dominique |last=Valérian |language=fr |title=Bougie, port maghrébin, 1067-1510 |publisher=Publications de l’École française de Rome |location=Rome |date=2006 |isbn=978-2-7283-0748-7|url=https://books.openedition.org/efr/194?lang=fr}} * {{cite book |language=fr |first=Youcef |last=Zirem |title=Histoire de Kabylie: Le point de vue kabyle |publisher=Yoran Embanner |location=Fouesnant |date=2013 |isbn=978-2-914855-98-3}} * {{cite journal |last1=Zouggaghe |last2=Mouni |last3=Taffer |title=Qualité biologique du réseau hydrographique du bassin versant de la Soummam. (Nord de l'Algérie). |journal=Larhyss Journal |number=17 |date=March 2014 |issn=1112-3680 |url=http://lab.univ-biskra.dz/Larhyss/images/pdf/JOURNALN%C2%B017/2.Zouggaghe-et-al_French.pdf |pages=21–33}} {{refend}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Béjaïa}} * {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20071023063045/http://www.bgayet.net/ Bgayet.Net] ** {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011213826/http://bgayet.net/histoire/Introduction-historique.html History of Béjaïa] * [https://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t3401.htm GigaCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links] * [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=bejaia+algeria&sll=48.392887,-4.479418&sspn=0.050724,0.123596&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=36.74026,5.07122&spn=0.061215,0.173035&t=k&om=1 Google map of Béjaïa]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bejaia}} Category:Communes of Béjaïa Province Category:Former Spanish colonies Category:Kabylia Category:Coastal cities in Algeria Category:Province seats of Algeria Category:Lighthouses in Algeria Category:Berber populated places