Editing Algiers (section)

==Name origin==
{{anchor|Etymology|Toponymy|Name}}<!--linked name-->

The present name of the city is the Arabic name {{Transliteration|ar|al-Jazāʾir}} ({{lang|ar|الجزائر}}), meaning "The Islands", this name's origin is related to the 4 main islands off the western [[Cape (geography)]] where people settled, looking on a map we can notice that the islands were eventually connected to the mainland in 1525 AD via  a pier now named ''Kheireddine pier''. This name is a truncated form of the name that was used first by [[Buluggin ibn Ziri]] when he established the modern city in 972 AD which was {{Transliteration|ar|Jazaʾir Banī Mazghanna}} ({{lang|ar|جزائر بني مزغانة}}), meaning "islands of {{Transliteration|ar|[[Banu (Arabic)|Banu]]|italic=no}} Mazghanna", this term was used by the [[Hammadid dynasty]] as well as early medieval geographers such as [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] and [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]]. Before that, from  French and [[Catalan language|Catalan]] {{lang|ca|Alger}}<ref name=leschi>''Origins of Algiers'' by [[Louis Leschi]], speech delivered June 16, 1941, published in ''El Djezair Sheets'', July 1941 [http://alger-roi.fr/Alger/alger_son_histoire/textes/3_origines_alger_1941_feuillets.htm History of Algeria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116134513/http://alger-roi.fr/Alger/alger_son_histoire/textes/3_origines_alger_1941_feuillets.htm |date=2013-01-16 }} {{in lang|fr}}.</ref> from the Arabic name . {{Transliteration|ar|Al-Jazāʾir}} is , used by . The name was given by [[Buluggin ibn Ziri]] after he established the city on the ruins of the [[Phoenicia]]n city of [[Icosium]] in 950.<ref>{{Cite web |title=les origines d'alger, conference faite le 16 juin 1941, comite du vieil alger;venis |url=http://alger-roi.fr/Alger/alger_son_histoire/textes/3_origines_alger_1941_feuillets.htm |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=alger-roi.fr |archive-date=2017-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714191131/http://www.alger-roi.fr/Alger/alger_son_histoire/textes/3_origines_alger_1941_feuillets.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> During [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule, the name of the capital, ''al-Jazā'ir'', was extended over the entire country, giving it the English name Algeria derived from the French name Algérie.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-17 |title=الجزائر... تُلقب تاريخياً بأرض الإسلام ومنها انطلقت الفتوحات الإسلامية نحو الأندلس وأفريقيا |url=https://www.alraimedia.com/article/324914/%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%88%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%84%D8%B3-%D9%88%D8%A3%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7 |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=الجزائر... تُلقب تاريخياً بأرض الإسلام ومنها انطلقت الفتوحات الإسلامية نحو الأندلس وأفريقيا |archive-date=2023-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427121250/https://www.alraimedia.com/article/324914/%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%88%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%84%D8%B3-%D9%88%D8%A3%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[classical antiquity]], the [[list of Graeco-Roman geographers|ancient Greeks]] knew the town as {{Lang|grc-latn|Ikósion}} ({{langx|grc|Ἰκόσιον}}), which was [[latinization of names|Latinized]] as [[Icosium]] under [[Roman Republic|Roman rule]]. The Greeks [[folk etymology|explained the name]] as coming from their word for "twenty" ({{lang|grc|εἴκοσι}}, {{Lang|grc-latn|eíkosi}}), supposedly because it had been founded by 20 companions of [[Hercules]] when he visited the [[Atlas Mountains]] during [[Labors of Hercules|his labors]].<ref name=backtalk>{{cite book | author = Edward Lipiński | date = 2004 | title = Itineraria Phoenicia | publisher = Peeters Publishers | page = 403 | isbn = 978-90-429-1344-8 | oclc = 1026236463 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA403 | access-date = 2018-12-04 | archive-date = 2019-12-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191223031423/https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA403 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Algiers is also known as {{Transliteration|ar|el-Behdja}} ({{lang|ar|البهجة}}, "The Joyous") {{Transliteration|ar|El Mahrussa}} ("the good-guarded"), or "Algiers the White" ({{langx|fr|Alger la Blanche|links=no}}) for its whitewashed buildings.<ref>{{cite book|access-date=2016-07-29 |date=1996-01-01 |first1=Ali |last1=Silem |page=11 |publisher=Centre d'études et de recherches en planification linguistique |title=Alger plurilingue |url={{Google Books URL|Uv1hAAAAMAAJ}}}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator -->.</ref><ref group="note">The city possesses many surnames ''al-ʿāṣima'' signifies « the capital », ''al bahdja'' : « the joyous », ''al bidha'' : « the white ».</ref><ref>Hocine Mezali, ''Alger, 32 siècles d'histoire'', ENAG/Synergie Éd., Alger, 2000.</ref>