French departments in Algeria

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Administrative division of Algeria from 1905 to 1955

The French departments in Algeria were administrative units that existed from 1848 to 1962 in the French colony of Algeria .

Until 1955 Algeria was divided into three departments : Algiers , Oran and Constantine . The territory south of these departments ( Territoires du Sud ) was under military administration. In 1955, the Bône department was founded by dividing the Constantine department . In 1956, eight new departments were founded, and three more were added in 1958, two of which were dissolved a year later.

Before 1955

Algeria was officially annexed to France in 1848. In the same year, on December 9th , the territory was divided into three provinces. These contained three militarily administered areas and three civilly administered areas, from which departments were formed: Algiers , Oran and Constantine . The boundaries of these areas were finally determined by law on December 24, 1902 and lasted until 1956. No departments were formed in southern Algeria. Instead, there were six territories that were combined in 1902 in the Territoires du Sud . In 1905 the number of these territories was reduced to four.

In 1941 the Algerian departments were numbered. They were given the numbers 91 to 94. After the Bône department was founded in 1955, it was given the number 99.

number Surname prefecture Existence period
91 Algiers Algiers 1848-1957
92 Oran Oran 1848-1957
93 Constantine Constantine 1848-1957
99 Bône Bône 1955-1957
94 Territoires du Sud - 1902-1957

After 1955

Foundation of the Bône department and twelve new arrondissements (1955–1956)

The establishment of the Bône department was established by law ( n o  55-1082,  portant création du département de Bône ) in 1955 . For this purpose, the Constantine department was divided into two parts:

On August 28, 1955, a decree ( n o  55-1148) established nine new arrondissements:

On January 11, 1956, a decree ( n o  56-29) established the Saïda arrondissement in the Oran department.

Eight new departments founded (1956–1958)

The decree n o  56-641 ordered a territorial reorganization of Algeria ( réorganisation territorial de l'Algérie ) to. Eight new departments were founded, the previous departments were divided as follows:

  • the department of Algiers :
    • the new department of Algiers (Arrondissements Algiers and Blida)
    • the Orléansville department (Arrondissements Orléansville and Miliana)
    • the Médéa department (Arrondissements Médéa, Boghari et d'Aumale)
    • the Tizi-Ouzou department (arrondissements Fort-National, Tizi-Ouzou, Bouira and Bordj-Menaiel)
  • the Oran department
    • the new department of Oran (Arrondissements Oran, Sibi-bel-Abbès, Aïn-Temouchent)
    • the Tlemcen department (arrondissements Marnia and Tlemcen)
    • the department of Mostaganem (arrondissements Mostaganem, Mascara and Relizane)
    • the Tiaret department (Tiaret and Saïda arrondissements)
  • the Constantine department
    • the new department of Constantine (arrondissements of Constantine, Philippeville, Djidjelli and Mila)
    • the Batna department (Batna, Aïn-Beïda and Biskra arrondissements)
    • the Sétif department (arrondissements Sétif, Bougie and Borj-Bou-Arreridj)
  • the Bône department (arrondissements Bône, Guelma, Souk-Ahras and Tebessa)

Foundation of three new departments (1958)

With the decree n o  58-271 of March 17, 1958, three new departments were established:

  • the Aumale department (arrondissements Aumale, Tablat, Bou-Saada and Betna)
  • the Bougie department (arrondissements Bougie, Akbou, Kherrata, Lafayette and Sidi-Aïch)
  • the Saïda department (arrondissements Telagh, Saïda, Aïn-Sefra, Géryville and Mécheria)

The decree also stipulated that two arrondissements were subordinated to other departments:

  • the arrondissement Tébessa (from the department Bône to Batna)
  • the Arrondissement of Barika (from Batna to Sétif)

Dissolution of two departments (1959)

In 1959, the Aumale and Bougie departments were dissolved. The other departments existed until Algeria became independent in 1962.

The territorial division was continued after the independence of Algeria. The departments took on the name Wilaya and became the Algerian province.

number Surname Capital Existence period
9A Algiers Algiers 1957-1962
9B Batna Batna 1957-1962
9C Bône Bône 1955-1962
9D Constantine Constantine 1957-1962
9E Médéa Medea 1957-1962
9F Mostaganem Mostaganem 1957-1962
9G Oran Oran 1957-1962
9H Orléansville Orléansville 1957-1962
9Y Sétif Sétif 1957-1962
9K Tiaret Tiaret 1957-1962
9L Tizi-Ouzou Tizi-Ouzou 1957-1962
9M Tlemcen Tlemcen 1957-1962
9N Aumale Aumale 1958-1959
9P Bougie Bougie 1958-1959
9R Saïda Saida 1958–1962

After the independence of Algeria

After the independence of Algeria was by decree n o  the division of the country into 15 departments set from 63 to 189 on May 16, the 1,963th On October 28, 1963, the Bône department was renamed Annaba and the Orléansville department was renamed El-Asnam. The Batna department was given the alternative name Aurès before it only bears the new name with a decree on September 30, 1965.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Page 55 dans le Code officiel geographique , Courrier des statistiques n ° 108, December 2003, pp. 53–62, Gérard Lang, Insee .
  2. ^ Journal officiel de la République algérienne démocratique et populaire. Lois et décrets . vol. 2e année, Décret no 63-189 du 16 may 1963 portant reorganization territoriale des communes, p. 449-578 .
  3. ^ Journal officiel de la République algérienne démocratique et populaire. Lois et décrets . vol. 2nd année, November 5th, 1963, Ordonnance no 63-421 du 28 octobre 1963 portant réorganisation territoriale des communes, p. 1102-1119 .
  4. ^ Journal officiel de la République algérienne démocratique et populaire. Lois et décrets . vol. 4e année, Décret no 65-246 du 30 septembre 1965 portant changement de nom de certaines communes, p. 1063-1139 .