Kabylia

Kabylia
Total population:	7.5 million (estimated)
significant population in:	Algeria : Kabylia (approx. 5 million); Algiers (approx. 1.5 million) France (approx. 1.1 million)
Language:	Kabyle
Religion:	Mostly Muslim
related ethnic groups:	Berber

Location of Kabylia in Algeria

View over the mountains of Kabylia

The Kabylia (also Kabyle Tamurt Idurar , land of mountains ' or Tamurt Leqbayel or Tamurt n Iqbayliyen , tifinagh : ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵉⵇⴱⴰⵢⵍⵉⵢⵏ , land of the Kabyle' ; Arabic منطقة القبائل, DMG Minţaqat al-Qabā'il , area of the tribes') is the region in Algeria , the majority of the population in from the eponymous people of the Kabyle composed and in which the predominant language, the Berber Kabyle is. Kabylia is one of the regions of the Islamic world in which a large part of the population opposes Islamic fundamentalism . In the last decades of the 20th century there were repeated conversions to Christianity in protest .

geography

landscape

The area of Kabylia, which is located on a narrow coastal strip of the Mediterranean and in the heavily jagged mountain regions of the central Tell Atlas behind it , but is not exactly geographically delimited, essentially consists of the Grande Kabylie east of Algiers with the Djurdjura chain as the center and the Petite Kabylie in the around Constantine with the Babors chain; both parts are separated by the river valley of the Oued Soummam . The highest peaks are the Lalla Khadîdja ( 2308 m ) and the Mont Babors ( 2004 m ).

Cities

The largest urban centers in Kabylia are the coastal cities of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia east of Algiers, but medium -sized cities such as Constantine, Bouira , Lakhdaria and Sour El-Ghozlane should also be mentioned. The city of Sétif is not always included.

population

The Kabyle are members of different Berber tribes with a common language. The Kabyle tribe of Zuaua the name for the "going Zouaves " back whose services as infantry - mercenaries were already under Ottoman and later valued under French rule.

Today Kabylia is one of the most densely populated and at the same time poorest regions in Algeria. The unemployment is overwhelming, but the government is not able to change anything. Many Kabyls emigrate mainly to Europe (mostly France ) or Canada in search of a better future .

economy

The soils of the Kabylia are mostly stony and dry; they are therefore more suitable for pasture farming ( sheep , goats ) and less for the cultivation of grain. Olive and fruit tree plantations determine the landscape in some places. Small traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds have settled in the cities and larger towns; There is hardly any industry. A railway line and a motorway open up the mountainous region of Kabylia from Algiers.

history

Kabylia was already settled by Berbers before the turn of the ages, who were neither subjugated by the Phoenicians or Carthaginians nor by the Romans , Vandals and Arabs . From 1015 to 1152 there was the independent sultanate of the Hammadids . In the 16th century, Spanish and Ottoman claims to hegemony were fought off. After protracted fighting, Kabylia was finally occupied in 1857 by the French , who had been in the country since 1830 , but they were faced with an uprising in 1870/71 , which they put down extremely bloody. After the eight-year war in Algeria , in which the Kabyls also played an important role, the country gained independence in 1962.

politics

After Algeria gained independence in 1962, it took over the centralized structure of the former French colony. The Berber minority ( Masiren ), who participated in the FLN's struggle for freedom against France, was disappointed because the Algerian politicians of the Arab-speaking majority did not fulfill their promises to grant them autonomy within the framework of the new state, but a resolute Arabization policy pursued, which is continued at the time of Bouteflika . In the 1996 constitution, Arabic was made the only official language and the official language . With years of school boycotts Kabyle have established that not only Arabic and French, but also in some schools Kabyle is taught. Dissatisfaction grew. Since the " Berber Spring " in 1980, when the unrest in Kabylia was brutally suppressed by the Algerian security forces, there have been repeated demonstrations and clashes between the local population and the central government, mainly because of the non-recognition of Kabyle as the official language .

Landscape near Assif el Hammam

After demonstrations in 2001 (“Black Spring”) in which over 100 people died, including Massinissa Guermah (an incomplete list of the victims was published in the sociocultural journal IZURAN), the government gave in and the language as the national language did not however, it is anchored in the constitution as the official language. The Kabyle, however, want full linguistic, cultural and political autonomy , on this cross-border agreement with the Masirs in the other North African states .

The efforts for autonomy are bundled in the movement for the autonomy of Kabylia (MAK for short, Kabylic Timanit i Tmurt n Iqbayliyen ), whose co-founder and charismatic leader, the popular singer Ferhat Mehenni , has been sentenced to several years in prison more than a dozen times in the past 30 years has been. According to Bouaziz Ait-Chebib, chairman of the MAK, more than 40 percent of the Algerian security forces are stationed in Kabylia.

Attractions

The mountains, valleys, gorges and forests of Kabylia are of great natural charm, but tourists rarely find their way here due to the tense political and religious situation. The historical highlight is the Roman city of Djémila , a UNESCO World Heritage Site ; the larger cities (especially Bejaia and Constantine ) sometimes have interesting colonial buildings.

Sons and Daughters of Kabylia

Silver jewelry from Kabylia

Woven carpet from Kabylia

Women's robe from Kabylia

The list contains an alphabetical overview of important personalities born in today's Kabylia. It is irrelevant whether the people later had their sphere of activity in Kabylia or not. Some moved away after they were born and became known elsewhere. The list does not claim to be complete.

Algerian resistance figures

Colonel Amirouche (father of Nordine Ait Hamouda )
Crimea Belkacem
Belkacem Radjef
Abane Ramdane (1920–1957)
Lalla Fatma N'Soumer (1830–1863)
Lounès Matoub (1956–1998)

Personalities active in politics

Hocine Aït Ahmed (1926-2015)
Nordine Ait Hamouda
Ferhat Mehenni (* 1951)
Ahmed Ouyahia (* 1952), Prime Minister
Said Sadi
Khalida Toumi (* 1958)

athlete

Karim Benzema (* 1987), French football player; Born in Lyon as a descendant of Kabyle emigrants
Rabah Madjer (* 1958), football player
Noureddine Morceli (* 1970), track and field athlete, world record holder
Zinédine Zidane (* 1972), French soccer star ; Born in Marseilles as a descendant of Kabyle emigrants