Editing Algiers (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

{{Quote box |width=25em |align=right |title_bg=#B0C4DE
|title=Timeline of Algiers ([[Icosium]])<br><small>Historical affiliations</small>
|fontsize=80% |quote={{Noflag|[[Phoenicia]] and [[Punic people|Punicia]]}} pre 202 BC<br>
{{Noflag|[[Numidia]]}} 202 BC–104 BC<br>
{{Noflag|[[Mauretania]]}} 104 BC-42 AD<br>
{{Noflag|[[Roman Empire]]}} 42-435<br>
{{Noflag|[[Vandal Kingdom]]}} 435–534<br>
{{Noflag|[[Byzantine Empire]]}} 534-700s<br>
{{Noflag|[[Umayyad Caliphate]]}} 700s–750<br>
{{Noflag|[[Abbasid Caliphate]]}} 750 AD-800<br>
{{noflag|[[Aghlabids]]}} (As a [[vassal state]] of the [[Abbasids]]) 800 AD–909<br>
{{Noflag|[[Fatimid Caliphate]]}} 909–972<br>
{{Noflag|[[Zirid dynasty]]}} (As a [[vassal state]] of the [[Fatimid Caliphate]]) 972–1014<br>
{{Noflag|[[Hammadid dynasty]]}} 1014–1082<br>
{{Noflag|[[Almoravid Empire]]}} 1082–1151<br>
{{Noflag|[[Almohad Caliphate]]}} 1151–1235<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Kingdom of Tlemcen (1388-1488).svg}} [[Thaaliba]], ([[Tributary state|tributary]] of the [[Kingdom of Tlemcen|Tlemcen]]) 1235–1516<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Regency of Algiers.svg}} [[Regency of Algiers]], ([[Tributary state|tributary]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]]) 1516–1830<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of France.svg}} France, ([[French Algeria]]) 1830–1962<br>
{{flag|Algeria}} 1962–present
}}

===Early history===
{{main|Icosium}}
The city's history is believed to date back to 1200 BC, but it was a small settlement without any significance until around the 3rd century BC when "Ikosim" became a small port town in [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] where [[Phoenicians]] were trading with other Mediterranean ports. After the [[Battle of Cirta]], [[Numidia]] got a hold of the town along with its neighboring regions at around 202 BC, after which the [[Punic Wars]] started weakening the [[Berbers|Berber]] nation. On 104 BC, following the capturing of [[Jughurta]] and executing him in Rome, the western half of his nation was given to  [[Mauretania]] under the rule of [[Bocchus I]]. At around 42 AD, [[Claudius]] divided  Mauretania into two provinces, [[Mauretania Caesariensis]] that included [[Icosium]] as one of its towns; the second province was [[Mauretania Tingitana]] and were deemed as Roman [[Municipium]]s, additionally they were given [[Latin rights]] by the emperor [[Vespasian]]. In 371-373 AD, Mauretania revolted with the help of [[Firmus (4th-century usurper)|Firmus]], in hopes of establishing an independent state. Icosium was raided and damaged. Some clues show the presence of [[bishop]]s in the region at this time.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=655}}

In 435 AD, the [[Vandal Kingdom]] took control of [[northern Africa]] along the coasts of today's [[Tunisia]] and [[Algeria]]. The [[Western Roman Empire]] that was ruling the area allowed the Vandals to settle when it became clear that they could not be defeated by Roman military forces. Though the city was damaged again due to the fighting between the two armies, the town was still slowly growing in population.

===Medieval history===
In 534 AD, the Vandal kingdom was subjugated by the general [[Belisarius]] of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], making Icosium a part of the empire. In the early 7th century, "Beni Mezghenna" who are a [[Berbers|Berber]] tribe belonging to the [[Sanhaja]] as cited by [[Ibn Khaldoun]], settled on the plains of [[Icosium]] and the surrounding areas.<ref>entre MIHOUB et TABLAT Histoire et des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique … De ʻAbd al-Raḥman b. Muḥammad Ibn Khaldûn, {{p.|8}} [https://books.google.fr/books?id=3dYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA5&dq=ibn+khaldoun+mezghanna&lr=#PPA6,M1 Lire en ligne]</ref> Shortly after, in the late 7th century, the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]] brought the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] into the region, but were faced with resistance from Berber forces led by [[Kahina]] and [[Kusaila]] in the 680s, who opposed the advancing Islamic armies. However, [[Hassan ibn al-Nu'man]] and [[Musa ibn Nusayr]] later defeated both Berber leaders, killing Kusaila at the [[Battle of Mamma]] (688) and killing Dihya at the [[Battle of Tabarka]] (702), leading to the subjugation of the Berber tribes, bringing Islamic rule into North Africa. The [[Abbasid Caliphate]] succeeded [[Umayyad Caliphate]] at around 750 AD. Independence movements across the [[Maghreb]] resulted in the breaking of two nations, the [[Idrisid dynasty]] and the [[Aghlabid Emirate]] but acted as agents of the [[Abbasids]] in [[Baghdad]]. Icosium fell into the hands of Aghlabids and abandoned the town. They were then overthrown by the [[Fatimids]] in 909 AD, who went on to control all of [[Ifriqiya]] by 969 AD.

The present city was re-founded in 972 AD by [[Buluggin ibn Ziri]], who was appointed by the Faṭimid caliph [[al-Muʿizz]] as governor of [[al-Qayrawān]] and any other territory his nation, the [[Zirid Dynasty]] might reclaim from its enemies, the [[Zenata]] tribesmen. His state accordingly expanded its boundaries westward. In approximately 1014 AD, under the reign of [[Badis ibn al-Mansur]], the dynasty was divided between the Zirids at al-Qayrawan in the east, and the [[Hammadid dynasty]] at [[Qal'at Bani Hammad]]; "Jazaʾir Banī Mazghanna", commonly known as "Algiers" as the new name of [[Icosium]] was absorbed into the [[Hammadid dynasty]]<ref name="Ruedy2005">{{cite book | author = John Ruedy | date = 12 August 2005 | title = Modern Algeria, Second Edition: The Origins and Development of a Nation | publisher = Indiana University Press | pages = 13– | isbn = 978-0-253-21782-0 | oclc = 1025661094 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WIRWgrbE_fEC&pg=PA13 | access-date = 6 November 2015 | archive-date = 21 May 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240521144644/https://books.google.com/books?id=WIRWgrbE_fEC&pg=PA13 | url-status = live }}</ref> who in 1067 AD relocated to [[Béjaïa]] and carried on a lively trade while most of North Africa was under a state of [[anarchy]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In 1079 AD, [[Ibn Tashfin]], a Sanhaja leader of the [[Almoravid Empire]] sent an army of 20,000 men from Marrakesh to push towards what is now [[Tlemcen]] to attack the "Banu Ya'la", the [[Zenata]] tribe occupying the area. Led by [[Mazdali ibn Tilankan]], the army defeated the Banu Ya'la in battle near the valley of the [[Moulouya River]] and executed their commander, the son of Tlemcen's ruler. However, [[Mazdali ibn Tilankan]] did not push to Tlemcen right away as the city of [[Oujda]] was too strong to capture. Instead, Ibn Tashfin himself returned with an army in 1081 AD that captured Oujda and then conquered Tlemcen, massacring the [[Maghrawa]] forces there and their leader; He pressed on and by 1082 AD he had captured "Jazaʾir Banī Mazghanna".

In 1151 AD, [[Abd al-Mu'min]] launched an expedition to the east, conquering [[Béjaïa]] in August 1152, the capital of the Hammadids; on their way, Beni Mezghanna did not succumb and was now under the [[Almohad Caliphate]]'s control. The caliphate suffered from states breaking out of its rule, most notably, the [[Kingdom of Tlemcen]] in 1235 AD. The town once again came under the dominion of the [[Ziyanid]] [[sultans]] of the Kingdom but experienced a large measure of independence under [[Thaaliba]] [[amirs]] who settled the [[Mitidja]] plain at around 1200 AD.

===Early modern history===
[[File:Algiers islets.svg|thumb|Illustration of the [[islet]]s off the coast of Algiers before Pier "Kheireddine" was built.]]
The [[Kingdom of Tlemcen]] was the target of the [[Spanish Empire]]'s and the [[Portuguese Empire]]'s campaigns and conquests against its coasts, beginning in 1501 AD. However, Algiers continued to be of comparatively little importance until after the [[Reconquista#Conversions and expulsions|expulsion of the Moors]] from Spain, many of whom sought asylum in the city, after which the Spanish led by [[Pedro Navarro]] established a fortified base and [[garrison]] on one of the [[islet]]s off the coast of Algiers, and named it "Peñón de Argel" or Peñón of Algiers, . By that time, Algiers had an [[emir]], Salim al-Thumi who had to "swear obedience and loyalty" to [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] who also imposed a levy intended to suppress the [[Barbary pirates]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=655}}<ref name="Çelik1997">{{cite book | author = Zeynep Çelik | date = 1997 | title = Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule | publisher = University of California Press | page = 13 | isbn = 978-0-520-20457-7 | oclc = 208879670 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hSSLQgAACAAJ | access-date = 2023-02-09 | archive-date = 2023-02-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230209020213/https://books.google.com/books?id=hSSLQgAACAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Ottoman rule===
[[File:Civitates orbis terrarum. De praecipuis totius universi urbibus. Liber secundus (page 128).jpg|thumb|Algiers by [[Antonio Salamanca]], circa 1540, published in [[Civitates Orbis Terrarum]]]]
[[File:Duquesne fait liberer des captifs chretiens apres le bombardement d Alger en 1683.jpg|thumb|[[Abraham Duquesne]] delivering Christian captives in Algiers after the bombing in 1683.]]
In 1516, the amir of Algiers, Selim b. Teumi, invited the corsair brothers [[Oruç Reis]] and [[Hayreddin Barbarossa]] to expel the [[Habsburg Spain|Spaniards]]. Oruç Reis came to Algiers, ordered the assassination of Selim, and seized the town and ousted the Spanish in the [[Capture of Algiers (1516)]]. Hayreddin, succeeding Oruç after the latter was killed in battle against the Spaniards in the [[Fall of Tlemcen (1518)|1518 fall of Tlemcen]], was the founder of the ''[[pashaluk]]'', which subsequently became the ''[[bey]]lik'', of Algeria. Barbarossa lost Algiers in 1524 but regained it with the [[Capture of Peñón of Algiers (1529)|1529 Capture of Peñón of Algiers]], and then formally invited the Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] to accept sovereignty over the territory and to annex Algiers to the [[Ottoman Empire]].

[[File:Algiers and Bejaia by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Historic map of Algiers by [[Piri Reis]]]]
{{Anchor|Algerine}}<!-- common name for inhabitants of the area at this time "Algerine" redirect here do not remove-->
Algiers from this time became the chief seat of the [[Barbary pirates]]. In October 1541 in the [[Algiers expedition (1541)|Algiers expedition]], the King of Spain and [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]] sought to capture the city, but a storm destroyed a great number of his ships, and his army of some 30,000, chiefly made up of Spaniards, was defeated by the Algerians under their [[pasha]], Hassan.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=655}}

[[File:Ottoman cannon end of 16th century length 385cm cal 178mm weight 2910 stone projectile founded 8 October 1581 Alger seized 1830.jpg|right|thumb|Ornate [[Ottoman weapons|Ottoman cannon]] found in Algiers on 8 October 1581 by Ca'fer el-Mu'allim. Length: 385&nbsp;cm, cal:178&nbsp;mm, weight: 2910&nbsp;kg, stone projectile. Seized by France during the [[invasion of Algiers in 1830]]. [[Army Museum (Paris)|Army Museum, Paris]].]]

Formally part of the Ottoman Empire but essentially free from Ottoman control, starting in the 16th century Algiers turned to piracy and ransoming. Due to its location on the periphery of both the Ottoman and European economic spheres, and depending for its existence on a Mediterranean that was increasingly controlled by European shipping, backed by European navies, piracy became the primary economic activity. Repeated attempts were made by various nations to subdue the pirates that disturbed shipping in the western Mediterranean and engaged in slave raids as far north as Iceland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heimaslod.is/index.php/Tyrkjar%C3%A1ni%C3%B0 |title=Tyrkjaránið – Heimaslóð |language=is |publisher=Heimaslod.is |access-date=2010-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527072348/http://www.heimaslod.is/index.php/Tyrkjar%C3%A1ni%C3%B0 |archive-date=2011-05-27 |url-status=live }}</ref> By the 17th century, up to 40% of the city's 100,000 inhabitants were enslaved Europeans.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4547299|title=From Amrum to Algiers and Back: The Reintegration of a Renegade in the Eighteenth Century|author=Martin Reinheimer|journal=Central European History|year=2003|volume=36|issue=2|pages=209–233|access-date=2021-06-23|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|doi=10.1163/156916103770866121|jstor=4547299|s2cid=143504775|archive-date=2022-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330122726/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4547299|url-status=live}}</ref> The United States fought two wars (the [[First Barbary War|First]] and [[Second Barbary War]]s) over Algiers' attacks on shipping.

Among the notable people held for ransom was the future Spanish novelist, [[Miguel de Cervantes]], who was held captive in Algiers for almost five years, and wrote two plays set in Algiers of the period. The primary source for knowledge of Algiers of this period, since there are no contemporary local sources, is the ''Topografía e historia general de Argel'' (1612, but written earlier), published by Diego de Haedo, but whose authorship is disputed.<ref>{{cite journal
|first=Daniel
|last=Eisenberg
|author-link=:es:Daniel Eisenberg
|title=Cervantes, autor de la ''Topografía e historia general de Argel'' publicada por Diego de Haedo
|journal=Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America
|volume=16
|number=1
|year=1996
|pages=32–53
|doi=10.3138/Cervantes.16.1.032
|s2cid=187065952
|url=http://www.h-net.org/~cervantes/csa/artics96/topograf.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318061159/http://www.h-net.org/~cervantes/csa/artics96/topograf.htm |archive-date=2015-03-18}} Others have disputed Eisenberg's attribution of the work to Cervantes.</ref><ref>{{cite book
|author-link=:es:Daniel Eisenberg
|first=Daniel
|last=Eisenberg
|contribution=¿Por qué volvió Cervantes de Argel?" ("Why Did Cervantes return from Algiers?)
|title=''Ingeniosa invención'': Essays on Golden Age Spanish Literature for Geoffrey L. Stagg in Honor of his Eighty-Fifth Birthday
|location=[[Newark, Delaware]]
|publisher=Juan de la Cuesta
|year=1999
|isbn=0936388838
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ingeniosainvenci0000unse/page/241 241–253]
|url=https://archive.org/details/ingeniosainvenci0000unse/page/241
}}</ref> This work describes in detail the city, the behavior of its inhabitants, and its military defenses, with the unsuccessful hope of facilitating an attack by Spain so as to end the piracy.

A significant number of renegades lived in Algiers at the time, Christians converted voluntarily to Islam, many fleeing the law or other problems at home. Once converted to Islam, they were safe in Algiers. Many occupied positions of authority, such as [[Samson Rowlie]], an Englishman who became Treasurer of Algiers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35843991|title=The First Muslims in England|publisher=BBC News|date=20 March 2016|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-03-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321043520/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35843991|archive-date=2016-03-21|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Atlas Van der Hagen-KW1049B13 058-The City of ALGIER.jpeg|thumb|The [[Casbah of Algiers]] under Ottoman rule in 1690.]]
The city under Ottoman control was enclosed by a wall on all sides, including along the seafront. In this wall, five gates allowed access to the city, with five roads from each gate dividing the city and meeting in front of the Ketchaoua Mosque. In 1556, a citadel, [[Palace of the Dey]] was constructed at the highest point in the wall. A major road running north to south divided the city in two: The upper city (al-Gabal, or 'the mountain') which consisted of about fifty small quarters of [[Andalusians|Andalusian]], [[Algerian Jews|Jewish]], [[Moors|Moorish]] and [[Kabyle people|Kabyle]] communities, and the lower city (al-Wata, or 'the plains') which was the administrative, military and commercial centre of the city, mostly inhabited by [[Kouloughlis|Ottoman Turkish dignitaries]] and other upper-class families.<ref>Celik, Zeynep, ''Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule'', University of California Press, 1997, pp. 13–14.</ref>
[[File:Sm Bombardment of Algiers, August 1816-Luny.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bombardment of Algiers (1816)|bombardment of Algiers]] under [[Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth|Viscount Exmouth]], August 1816, painted by [[Thomas Luny]]]]
On August 27, 1816, the [[Bombardment of Algiers (1816)|Bombardment of Algiers]] took place city by a British squadron under [[Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth|Lord Exmouth]] (a descendant of Thomas Pellew, taken in an Algerian slave raid in 1715<ref>{{Cite book|title=Africa (a-z).|last=Godfrey.|first=Mugoti|date=2009|publisher=Lulu Com|isbn=978-1435728905|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=946180025}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}), assisted by men-of-war from the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]], destroying the corsair fleet harboured in Algiers.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=655}}

[[File:Hussein dey portrait.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Hussein Dey]], the last [[Dey]] of the [[Deylik of Algiers]].]]
France and the [[Regency of Algiers]] had a commercial–political conflict called the [[Bakri-Busnach affair]] which has been bothering both nations in the 19th century.
On April 29, 1827, foreign consuls and diplomatic agents gathered in the [[Palace of the Dey]] for a conference with the [[Regency of Algiers]] ruler [[Hussein Dey]]. Tensions were high because of France's failure to pay outstanding debts. In a heated moment later referred to as "fly-whisk incident", the [[Dey]] struck the French consul in the face with the handle of a [[fly-whisk]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Raf |first1=Mohh |title=The Fly Whisk Incident |url=https://gloriousalgeria.dz/En/Post/show/92/The-Fly-Whisk-Incident |website=gloriousalgeria.dz |access-date=1 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Raf |first1=Mohh |title=Fly Whisk Incident (1827) |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fly-whisk-incident-1827 |website=encyclopedia.com |publisher=Kenneth J. Perkins}}</ref>

In an attempt by [[Charles X of France]] to increase his popularity amongst the French, he sought to bolster [[patriotic sentiment]], and turn eyes away from his domestic policies, by treating the incident as a public insult and demanded an apology. Failure to respond was met by operations against the dey.<ref name="EncBrit">{{cite encyclopedia |title= Algeria, Colonial Rule|access-date=2007-12-19 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |page= 39 |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-220553/Algeria#487751.hook}}</ref> A naval siege on the port of Algiers by the [[French Navy]] began the following days which lasted 3 years and impacted the French and Algerian economies due to their former extensive trade treaties.

[[File:Keys of Algiers 1830.jpg|thumb|The keys of the city of Algiers, which were handed to the [[French Army]] on 5 July 1830.]]
[[File:Bombardementd alger-1830.jpg|thumb|Bombardment of Algiers by sea on July 3, 1830]]
Tensions only continued rising while the [[French Armed Forces]] were preparing for the [[invasion of Algiers in 1830|1830 invasion of Algiers]]. The naval fleet departed from [[Toulon]] on May 25, 1830, and successfully reached the western coast of the Regency near what is today [[Sidi Fredj]] on June 14, 1830. The Algerian forces met their French opponents in the [[Battle of Staouéli]] on June 19, 1830, to which the [[Dey]]'s forces were defeated, this enabled the colonial army to advance into the city and made [[Hussein Dey]] surrender to French [[Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de Ghaisnes de Bourmont|General de Bourmont]] on 5 July 1830.

===French rule===

Under French rule, Algiers became the capital of [[French Algeria]], "an integral part of the [[French Republic]]" according to a formal annexation declared on June 22, 1834.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Raf |first1=Mohh |title=The end of the Ottoman Regency and the limited occupation of Algeria |url=https://www.musee-armee.fr/ExpositionAlgerie/the-end-of-the-ottoman-regency-and-the-limited-occupation-of-algeria.html |website=musee-armee |access-date=1 September 2024}}</ref> Following this, interest turned into the completion of the [[French conquest of Algeria]] that shared goals with its [[Pacification of Algeria|pacification]] efforts; Establishing a European [[Culture of Europe|cultural]], economic and political presence in Africa without considering the indigenous population's lifestyle or connection to their land. Plans to transform the face of the city to match French standards and architectural trends began shortly after obtaining the city. Originally, the Casbah extended to the sea, but it was pushed back to the hills above after demolishing the walls and lower half of the old city and erecting the current "Place des Martyrs",<ref name="harvsp Driss 2002 p45">{{harvsp|id=Nassima Dris, 2002|Dris|2002|p=45}}.</ref> constructing [[promenade]]s and boulevards that circle the city or face the [[Mediterranean]], tracing new streets and building apartments that are characterized by their "Haussmanian" Style.<ref name="Almi70">{{harvsp|Almi|2002|p=70}}.</ref>

Settlers of [[European descent]] marked a majority of the city's population,<ref>Albert Habib Hourani, Malise Ruthven (2002). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=egbOb0mewz4C&pg=PA323 A history of the Arab peoples] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906022938/https://books.google.com/books?id=egbOb0mewz4C&pg=PA323&dq&hl=en |date=2015-09-06 }}''". Harvard University Press. p.323. {{ISBN|0-674-01017-5}}</ref> some constituted a minority of "[[Pieds-noirs]]" who were granted [[French citizenship]] and rights under the [[Crémieux Decree]]. On the other hand, [[Code de l'indigénat]] enforced inferiority of the "Arabs" and "Muslims" which were getting forcibly removed from their homes and were banned from entering various parts of "Alger" to segregate by race, religion and language.<ref name="AlloucheLaloum1987">{{cite book|author1=Jean-Luc Allouche|author2=Jean Laloum|title=Les Juifs d'Algérie: images & textes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JK4rAAAAMAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Editions du Scribe|isbn=978-2-86765-008-6}}</ref><ref>The Code d'Indigénat was promulgated by the French government for Algeria on 28 June 1881. It was officially abolished during 1946, but parts of it remained in force until independence during the early 1960s. The senatus consulte of 14 July 1865 implemented many of the elements of the future Code d'Indigénat in Algeria, and prior to 1887, other colonial subjects lived under similar conditions</ref> Added to that, [[mosque]]s were repurposed to [[Church (building)|church]]es, [[stables]], or demolished/closed permanently, examples of this are [[Ketchoua Mosque]] and [[Ali Bitchin Mosque]].<ref name="Almi36">{{harvsp|Almi|2002|p=36}}.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ French casualties in Algeria (1830–1851)<ref name=Bennoune>{{cite book|last=Bennoune|first=Mahfoud|author-link=Mahfoud Bennoune|title=The Making of Contemporary Algeria, 1830–1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nXl7h8i5scC&pg=PA43|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52432-2|page=42}}</ref><ref>J. Ch. M. Boudin, Histoire statistique de la colonisation en Algérie (Paris, Bailliers, 1853), p. 53.</ref>
|-
! Year !! Active !! Died in hospital !! Killed in battle
|-
| 1831 || 71,190 || 1,005 || 55
|-
| 1832 || 21,511 || 1,998 || 48
|-
| 1833 || 26,681 || 2,512 || 
|-
| 1834 || 29,858 || 1,991 || 24
|-
| 1835 || 29,485 || 2,335 || 310
|-
| 1836 || 29,897 || 2,139 || 606
|-
| 1837 || 40,147 || 4,502 || 121
|-
| 1838 || 48,167 || 2,413 || 150
|-
| 1839 || 50,367 || 3,600 || 163
|-
| 1840 || 61,204 || 9,567 || 227
|-
| 1841 || 72,000 || 7,802 || 349
|-
| 1842 || 70,853 || 5,588 || 225
|-
| 1843 || 75,034 || 4,809 || 84
|-
| 1844 || 82,037 || 4,664 || 167
|-
| 1845 || 95,000 || 4,664 || 601
|-
| 1846 || 99,700 || 6,862 || 116
|-
| 1847 || 87,704 || 4,437 || 77
|-
| 1848 || 75,017 || 4,406 || 13
|-
| 1849 || 70,774 || 9,744 || 
|-
| 1850 || 71,496 || 4,098 || 
|-
| 1851 || 65,598 || 3,193 || 
|}

During the 1930s, the architect [[Le Corbusier]] drew up plans for a complete redesign of the colonial city. Le Corbusier was highly critical of the urban style of Algiers, describing the European district as "nothing but crumbling walls and devastated nature, the whole a sullied blot". He also criticised the difference in living standards he perceived between the European and African residents of the city, describing a situation in which "the 'civilised' live like rats in holes" whereas "the 'barbarians' live in solitude, in well-being".<ref>Celik, Zeynep, ''Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers Under French Rule'', University of California Press, 1997, p. 5.</ref> However, these plans were ultimately ignored by the French administration.

During World War II, Algiers was the first city to be seized from the Axis by the Allies in [[Operation Terminal]], a part of [[Operation Torch]].
[[File:Algiers CNE-v1-p58-J.jpg|thumb|left|City and harbour of Algiers, {{circa|1921}}]]

===Algerian War===
[[File:1962-03-22 Algeria tense cease fire.ogv|thumb|right|The "tense truce" between Algerian rebels, French army and the OAS in 1962]]
Algiers also played a pivotal role in the [[Algerian War]] (1954–1962), a bloody independence struggle in which hundreds of thousands (estimates range between 350,000 and 1,500,000) died (mostly Algerians but also French and [[pieds-noirs]]). In particular, it saw the [[Algerian War#Battle of Algiers|Battle of Algiers]] when the 10th Parachute Division of the French Army, starting on January 7, 1957, and on the orders of the French Minister of Justice [[François Mitterrand]] (who authorized any means "to eliminate the insurrectionists"{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}), led attacks against the Algerian fighters for independence. Algiers remains marked by this battle, which was characterized by merciless fighting between FLN forces which carried out a guerrilla campaign against the French military and police and pro-French Algerian soldiers, and the French Army which responded with a bloody repression, torture and blanket terrorism against the native population. The demonstrations of May 13 during the crisis of 1958 provoked the fall of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] in France, as well as the return of General [[Charles de Gaulle|de Gaulle]] to power.

===Independence===
Algeria achieved [[independence]] on July 5, 1962, with Algiers as its capital. Since then, despite losing its entire ''[[pied-noir]]'' population, the city has expanded massively. It now has about five million inhabitants, or 10 percent of Algeria's population—and its suburbs now cover most of the surrounding [[Geography of Algeria|Mitidja]] plain. Run by the FLN that had secured independence, Algiers became a member of [[Non-Aligned Movement]] during the [[Cold War]]. In October 1988, one year before the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], Algiers was the site of demonstrations demanding the end of the single-party system and the creation of a ''real'' [[democracy]] baptized the "Spring of Algiers". The demonstrators were repressed by the authorities (more than 300 dead), but the movement constituted a turning point in the political history of modern Algeria. The [[1989 Algerian constitutional referendum]] took place and a new constitution was adopted that put an end to the one-party rule and saw the creation of more than fifty political parties, as well as official freedom of the press.

===Crisis of the 1990s===
The city became the theatre of many political demonstrations of all descriptions until 1993. In 1991, a political entity dominated by religious conservatives called the [[Islamic Salvation Front]] engaged in a political test of wills with the authorities. In the 1992 elections for the Algerian National Assembly, the Islamists garnered a large amount of support in the first round. Fearing an eventual win by the Islamists, the army canceled the election process, setting off the [[Algerian Civil War|civil war]] between the State and armed religious conservatives which would last for a decade.

On December 11, 2007, two car [[11 December 2007 Algiers bombings|bombs exploded in Algiers]]. One bomb targeted two [[United Nations]] office buildings and the other targeted a government building housing the [[Supreme Court of Algeria]]. The death toll was at least 62, with over two hundred injured in the attacks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Les autorités accusent al-Qaïda|publisher=RFI|url=http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/096/article_60149.asp|access-date=2007-12-11| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071213023440/http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/096/article_60149.asp| archive-date= 13 December 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> However, only 26 remained hospitalized the following day.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Toll in Algiers bombings rises to 31 |agency=Associated Press |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_af/algeria_explosion |access-date=2007-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214021257/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_af/algeria_explosion |archive-date=2007-12-14 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{as of|2008}}, it is speculated that the attack was carried out by the [[Al Qaeda]] cell within the city.<ref>{{cite news|title=Al Qaeda blamed for Algeria bombs|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/11/algeria.blast/index.html|access-date=2007-12-11 | date=2007-12-12| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071212153122/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/11/algeria.blast/index.html| archive-date= 12 December 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>

Indigenous terrorist groups have been actively [[Islamic insurgency in Algeria (2002–present)#2007|operating in Algeria since around 2002]].