Provinces of Algeria

Politics of Algeria

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Algeria, since December 18, 2019, is divided into 58 wilayas (provinces). Prior to December 18, 2019, there were 48 provinces. The 58 provinces are divided into 1,541 baladiyahs (municipalities). The name of a province is always that of its capital city.

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 Assemblée 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 Algerians elect.

List

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By 1984 the number of Algerian provinces was fixed at 48 and established the list of municipalities or "communes" attached to each province. In 2019, 10 new provinces were added.[1][2]

The province numbers are the first 31 provinces (see the second section) in Arabic alphabetical order, after the adding of 17 more provinces in 1983 and 10 more in 2019, the old numbering was kept and the 27 provinces created since 1984 have been assigned codes from 32 to 58, in Arabic alphabetical order.

The following table presents the list of provinces, showing for each its numerical code, its name (which is at all times the same as the name of the capital city of the province), the number of districts ("dairas"), the number of municipalities, its area, and its population.

Map Code Province Arabic name Number of
districts 		Number of
municipalities 		Area Population
(2008[3]) 		Density (2008)
km2 sq mi per km2 per sq mi
01 Adrar أدرار 6 16 254,471 98,252 261,258 1.03 2.7
02 Chlef الشلف 13 35 4,795 1,851 1,002,088 209 540
03 Laghouat الأغواط 10 24 25,057 9,675 455,602 18 47
04 Oum El Bouaghi أم البواقي 12 29 6,783 2,619 621,612 81 210
05 Batna باتنة 21 61 12,192 4,707 1,119,791 92 240
06 Béjaïa بجاية 19 52 3,268 1,262 912,577 279 720
07 Biskra بسكرة 10 27 9,576 3,697 547,137 57 150
08 Béchar بشار 6 11 60,850 23,490 219,898 3.61 9.3
09 Blida البليدة 10 25 1,575 608 1,002,937 591 1,530
10 Bouïra البويرة 12 45 4,439 1,714 695,583 157 410
11 Tamanrasset تمنراست 3 5 336,839 130,054 115,043 0.34 0.88
12 Tébessa تبسة 12 28 14,227 5,493 648,703 46 120
13 Tlemcen تلمسان 20 54 9,061 3,498 949,135 105 270
14 Tiaret تيارت 14 42 20,673 7,982 846,823 41 110
15 Tizi Ouzou تيزي وزو 21 67 2,956 1,141 1,127,608 316 820
16 Algiers الجزائر 13 57 1,190 460 2,988,145 2,511 6,500
17 Djelfa الجلفة 12 36 66,415 25,643 1,092,184 46 120
18 Jijel جيجل 11 28 2,577 995 636,948 247 640
19 Sétif سطيف 20 60 6,504 2,511 1,489,979 229 590
20 Saïda سعيدة 6 16 6,764 2,612 330,641 49 130
21 Skikda سكيكدة 13 38 4,026 1,554 898,680 223 580
22 Sidi Bel Abbès سيدي بلعباس 15 52 9,096 3,512 604,744 66 170
23 Annaba عنابة 6 12 1,439 556 609,499 424 1,100
24 Guelma قالمة 10 34 4,101 1,583 482,430 118 310
25 Constantine قسنطينة 6 12 2,187 844 938,475 427 1,110
26 Médéa المدية 19 64 8,866 3,423 819,932 92 240
27 Mostaganem مستغانم 10 32 2,175 840 737,118 325 840
28 M'Sila المسيلة 15 47 18,718 7,227 990,591 53 140
29 Mascara معسكر 16 47 5,941 2,294 784,073 132 340
30 Ouargla ورقلة 6 10 194,552 75,117 311,337 1.6 4.1
31 Oran وهران 9 26 2,121 819 1,584,607 688 1,780
32 El Bayadh البيض 8 22 78,870 30,450 228,624 3.2 8.3
33 Illizi اليزي 2 4 198,815 76,763 34,715 0.17 0.44
34 Bordj Bou Arréridj برج بوعريريج 10 34 4,115 1,589 628,475 160 410
35 Boumerdès بومرداس 9 32 1,356 524 802,083 504 1,310
36 El Tarf الطارف 7 24 3,339 1,289 408,414 122 320
37 Tindouf تندوف 1 2 159,000 61,000 49,149 0.31 0.80
38 Tissemsilt تسمسيلت 8 22 3,152 1,217 294,476 93 240
39 El Oued الوادي 10 22 45,738 17,660 647,548 10.61 27.5
40 Khenchela خنشلة 8 21 9,811 3,788 386,683 40 100
41 Souk Ahras سوق أهراس 10 26 4,541 1,753 438,127 95 250
42 Tipaza تيبازة 10 28 1,605 620 591,010 273 710
43 Mila ميلة 13 32 3,407 1,315 766,886 220 570
44 Aïn Defla عين الدفلى 14 36 4,891 1,888 766,013 156 400
45 Naâma النعامة 7 12 29,950 11,560 192,891 6.5 17
46 Aïn Témouchent عين تموشنت 8 28 2,379 919 371,239 156 400
47 Ghardaïa غرداية 7 9 23,890 9,220 306,322 12.82 33.2
48 Relizane غليزان 13 38 4,870 1,880 726,180 152 390
49 Timimoun تيميمون 4 10 65,203 25,175 122,019 1.9 4.9
50 Bordj Badji Mokhtar برج باجي مختار 1 2 120,026 46,342 16,437 0.14 0.36
51 Ouled Djellal أولاد جلال 2 6 11,410 4,410 174,219 15 39
52 Béni Abbès بني عباس 6 10 101,350 39,130 50,163 0.49 1.3
53 Ain Salah عين صالح 2 3 131,220 50,660 50,392 0.38 0.98
54 Ain Guezzam عين قزّام 2 2 88,126 34,026 11,202 0.13 0.34
55 Touggourt تقرت 4 11 17,428 6,729 247,221 14 36
56 Djanet جانت 1 2 86,185 33,276 17,618 0.2 0.52
57 El M'Ghair المغير 2 8 8,835 3,411 162,267 0.94 2.4
58 El Menia المنيعة 2 4 62,215 24,021 57,276 0.92 2.4
Total 547 1541 2,381,741 919,595 34,080,030 14 36

Since 2019

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On 26 November 2019, the Cabinet of Algeria passed a bill to add 10 more provinces, by splitting some of the larger provinces in the south of Algeria into smaller ones.[4] Thus, the following provinces have been added on December 18, 2019:

1984–2019

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

In 1984 17 new provinces were added. These provinces included:

  1. El Bayadh
  2. Illizi
  3. Bordj Bou Arréridj
  4. Boumerdès
  5. El Taref
  6. Tindouf
  7. Tissemsilt
  8. El Oued
  9. Khenchela
  10. Souk Ahras
  11. Tipaza
  12. Mila
  13. Aïn Defla
  14. Naâma
  15. Aïn Témouchent
  16. Ghardaïa
  17. Relizane

1974–1983

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The 15 departments 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. Saïda
  21. Skikda
  22. Sidi Bel Abbes
  23. Annaba
  24. Guelma
  25. Constantine
  26. Médéa
  27. Mostaganem
  28. M'sila
  29. Mascara
  30. Ouargla
  31. Oran

1957–1974

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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:

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

1954–1962

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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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Journal Officiel Algérie - F2019078.pdf" (PDF). www.joradp.dz. December 18, 2019. pp. 12–15. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 17, 2020.
  2. ^ CHAFAI, Mohamed (27 November 2019). "Ten administrative districts promoted into provinces with full prerogatives". www.aps.dz. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019.
  3. ^ Office National des Statistiques, Population par sexe, âge et Wilaya Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. Consulted on 02/02/2016.
  4. ^ "10 New Wilayas - El Khabar" (in Arabic). No. 26 November 2019. El Khabar. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.

[1]

[edit]
  1. ^ "Journal Officiel Algérie - F2021022.pdf" (PDF). www.joradp.dz. March 25, 2021. pp. 07–08. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 28, 2022.
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