Provinces of Algeria

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Algeria This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Algeria Constitution President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem Parliament Council of the Nation People's National Assembly Political parties Elections: 2007, ref. 2008 Provinces Communes Foreign relations Other countries · Atlas  Politics Portal view • talk • edit

Algeria is currently divided into 48 wilayas (provinces), 553 daïras (circles, or counties) and 1541 baladiyahs (municipalities, in French: commune). The capital city of a baladiyah, daïra, or province (which is also the largest city of those) always gives those entities their name, even Algiers, the capital of the country gave it its name (El Djazayar, the Arabic name for both the city and the country).

According to the Algerian constitution, a wilaya is a territorial collectivity enjoying economic and diplomatic freedom, the APW, or "Popular Provincial Parliament/Provincial Popular Parliament" (the Assemblé Populaire Wilayale, in French) is the political entity governing a province, directed by the "Wali" (Governor), who is chosen by the Algerian President to handle the APW's decisions, the APW has also a president, who is elected by the members of the APW, which is elected by Algerians.

Map of the provinces of Algeria numbered according to the official order.

The province numbers are the first 31 provinces (see the second section) in Arabic alphabetical order, after the adding pf 17 other provinces in 1974, the old numbering was kept and the 17 new provinces have been assigned codes from 17-48, in Arabic alphabetical order. There are 48 provinces (since 1983) in Algeria, they are:

[edit] 1974-1983

The 15 départments were reorganized to form 31 provinces:

1 Adrar
2 Chlef
3 Laghouat
4 Oum el-Bouaghi
5 Batna
6 Béjaïa
7 Biskra
8 Béchar
9 Blida
10 Bouira
11 Tamanghasset
12 Tébessa
13 Tlemcen
14 Tiaret
15 Tizi Ouzou
16 Algiers
17 Djelfa
18 Jijel
19 Sétif
20 Saida
21 Skikda
22 Sidi Bel Abbes
23 Annaba
24 Guelma
25 Constantine
26 Médéa
27 Mostaganem
28 M'Sila
29 Mascara
30 Ouargla

[edit] 1957-1974

Immediately after independence, Algeria retained its 15 former French départements, which were renamed wilayas (provinces) in 1968, for the most part, with some name changes:

• 9A-Alger (Algiers)
• 9C-Annaba (Formerly Bône, English: Bona)
• 9B-Batna
• 9D-Constantine
• 9H-Orélansville (Then El Asnam, now Chlef)
• 8A-El Wahat (Currently Ouargla, formerly Oasis)
• 9E-Médéa
• 9F-Mostaganem
• 9G-Oran
• 9R-Saïda
• 8B-Saoura (Currently Béchar)
• 9J-Sétif
• 9K-Tiaret
• 9L-Tizi-Ouzou
• 9M-Tlemcen

[edit] 1954-1962

During the Algerian War of Independence, the FLN adopted an organizational system divided by 6 numbered wilayas:

1. Aurès
2. Constantine
3. Kabylie
4. Algiers
5. Oran
6. Sahara

with France sometimes described as a "wilaya 7".

[edit] See also

• Municipalities of Algeria
• List of Algerian Provinces by population
• List of Algerian Provinces by area

v • d • e Provinces of Algeria Adrar • Aïn Defla • Aïn Témouchent • Algiers • Annaba • Batna • Béchar • Béjaïa • Biskra • Blida • Bordj Bou Arréridj • Bouira • Boumerdès • Chlef • Constantine • Djelfa • El Bayadh • El Oued • El Taref • Ghardaïa • Guelma • Illizi • Jijel • Khenchela • Laghouat • Mascara • Médéa • Mila • Mostaganem • M'Sila • Naâma • Oran • Ouargla • Oum El Bouaghi • Relizane • Saida • Sétif • Sidi Bel Abbes • Skikda • Souk Ahras • Tamanrasset • Tébessa • Tiaret • Tindouf • Tipaza • Tissemsilt • Tizi Ouzou • Tlemcen