Mostaganem
{{cleanup|date=November 2010}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Mostaganem
|native_name = مستغانم
|nickname =
|settlement_type = City
|other_name =
|motto =
|image_skyline = Mostaganem_.jpg
|image_caption =
|image_flag =
|flag_size =
|image_seal = Coats of arms of Mostaganem.svg
|imagesize = 300px
|seal_size =
|image_map = DZ 27 Mostaganem.svg
|mapsize = 180
|map_caption =
|pushpin_map = Algeria
|pushpin_label_position = bottom
|pushpin_mapsize =
|pushpin_map_caption =
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Algeria}}
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = Mostaganem Province
|subdivision_type2 = District
|subdivision_name2 = Mostaganem District
|subdivision_type3 =
|subdivision_name3 =
|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title =
|leader_name =
|established_title =
|established_date =
|area_magnitude =
|area_footnotes =
|area_total_km2 = 50
|area_land_km2 =
|population_as_of = 2014 census
|population_footnotes =
|population_note =
|population_total = 245330
|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone = CET
|utc_offset = +1
|coordinates = {{coord|35|56|N|0|5|E|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 104
|elevation_ft =
|postal_code_type = Postal code
|postal_code = 27000
|area_code =
|blank_name =
|blank_info =
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
File:Mostaganem CPS W.658.269b Fp DD 300.jpg]]
Mostaganem ({{langx|ar|مستغانم|translit=Mustaghānim}}) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of Oran. It is considered as the second-largest city in the country's northwest, after Oran, and as Algeria's fourth-largest port city with its 406.190 inhabitants as of the 2019 census.http://www.ons.dz/IMG/armature2008-%20FINAL%281%29.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927232532/http://www.ons.dz/IMG/armature2008-%20FINAL%281%29.pdf |date=2013-09-27 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}
The city was founded in the 11th century as Murustage but has origins going back to Punic and Roman times. In 1516, it was captured by the Ottoman admiral Barbarossa and became a centre for Mediterranean sea corsairs, as well as a commercial port. By 1700, it had come under Ottoman rule. In 1833, the city was taken by France and a garrison established. Algeria became independent in 1962.
History
Mostaganem corresponds to the ancient Punic port of Murustaga. After becoming part of the Roman Empire, it was, according to some sources, officially renamed Cartennae under the emperor Gallienus (253–268).[http://murustaga-mostaganem27.webs.com/ Murustaga-Mostaganem] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201192800/http://murustaga-mostaganem27.webs.com/ |date=2014-02-01 }} However, according to more weighty sources, Cartennae (or Cartenna or Cartennas) corresponds instead to modern Ténès, 50 km to the east.[https://books.google.com/books?id=jjBYQCpfCNkC&dq=Cartennae+T%C3%A9n%C3%A8s&pg=PA128 J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver (editors), The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2 (Cambridge University Press 1978] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022010254/https://books.google.com/books?id=jjBYQCpfCNkC&dq=Cartennae+T%C3%A9n%C3%A8s&pg=PA128 |date=2023-10-22 }} {{ISBN|978-0-52121592-3}}), p. 118[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rq8mBAAAQBAJ&dq=Cartennae+T%C3%A9n%C3%A8s&pg=PA84 François Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co. 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022010253/https://books.google.com/books?id=Rq8mBAAAQBAJ&dq=Cartennae+T%C3%A9n%C3%A8s&pg=PA84 |date=2023-10-22 }} {{ISBN|978-0-22790308-7}}), p. 84 In any case, Murustaga is the name by which the town was known when it became a Christian bishopric, and by which it is referred to in the Catholic Church's list of episcopal sees.Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 935 It also underlies the modern name of Mostaganem.
The town was ruled by the Zirid dynasty between 973 and 1146. Then, it was conquered by the Almoravid dynasty, and reached its high point of power under Yusuf ibn Tashfin (c. 1061–1106). Mostaganem was later ruled by the Zayyanid dynasty of Tlemcen and it was conquered again by the Marinid dynasty of Fes. After that the Zayyanid dynasty took control of the city again.
In the 16th century, the town resisted a Spanish invasion and came under the power of the Ottoman Hayreddin Barbarossa.
Geography
=Climate=
File:Nature always finds it way to you.jpg
Mostaganem has a mild Mediterranean climates (Köppen climate classification Csa). In winter there is more rainfall than in summer. The average annual temperature in Mostaganem is {{convert|17.9|°C|1}}. About {{convert|347|mm|2|abbr=on}} of precipitation falls annually.
{{Weather box|location = Mostaganem (1991-2020)
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
| unit precipitation days =1.0mm
| precip days colour =
|Jan record high C = 25.8
|Feb record high C = 32.6
|Mar record high C = 34.5
|Apr record high C = 35.8
|May record high C = 42.5
|Jun record high C = 43.6
|Jul record high C = 45.9
|Aug record high C = 45.0
|Sep record high C = 39.6
|Oct record high C = 38.7
|Nov record high C = 32.0
|Dec record high C = 28.7
|year record high C =
|Jan record low C = -2.2
|Feb record low C = -1.7
|Mar record low C = -1.4
|Apr record low C = 0.2
|May record low C = 4.1
|Jun record low C = 6.6
|Jul record low C = 11.0
|Aug record low C = 10.7
|Sep record low C = 8.0
|Oct record low C = 4.2
|Nov record low C = -0.6
|Dec record low C = -2.0
|year record low C =
|Jan high C = 16.2
|Feb high C = 17.0
|Mar high C = 19.2
|Apr high C = 21.3
|May high C = 24.5
|Jun high C = 28.3
|Jul high C = 31.6
|Aug high C = 32.3
|Sep high C = 28.7
|Oct high C = 25.2
|Nov high C = 20.0
|Dec high C = 17.3
| Jan mean C = 11.0
| Feb mean C = 11.7
| Mar mean C = 13.6
| Apr mean C = 15.7
| May mean C = 18.9
| Jun mean C = 22.6
| Jul mean C = 25.7
| Aug mean C = 26.4
| Sep mean C = 23.3
| Oct mean C = 19.7
| Nov mean C = 15.0
| Dec mean C = 12.3
| year mean C = 18.0
|Jan low C = 5.8
|Feb low C = 6.3
|Mar low C = 8.0
|Apr low C = 10.0
|May low C = 13.3
|Jun low C = 16.8
|Jul low C = 19.7
|Aug low C = 20.4
|Sep low C = 17.8
|Oct low C = 14.2
|Nov low C = 10.0
|Dec low C = 7.4
|year low C = 12.5
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 56.7
|Feb precipitation mm = 46.9
|Mar precipitation mm = 36.4
|Apr precipitation mm = 38.1
|May precipitation mm = 23.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 3.9
|Jul precipitation mm = 1.3
|Aug precipitation mm = 3.0
|Sep precipitation mm = 22.4
|Oct precipitation mm = 33.4
|Nov precipitation mm = 69.5
|Dec precipitation mm = 55.4
|year precipitation mm= 390.6
| Jan precipitation days =6.3
| Feb precipitation days =6.2
| Mar precipitation days =5.0
| Apr precipitation days =4.7
| May precipitation days =2.9
| Jun precipitation days =0.9
| Jul precipitation days =0.4
| Aug precipitation days =0.7
| Sep precipitation days =2.9
| Oct precipitation days =4.6
| Nov precipitation days =7.2
| Dec precipitation days =6.1
| Jan humidity =77
| Feb humidity =76
| Mar humidity =77
| Apr humidity =69
| May humidity =72
| Jun humidity =69
| Jul humidity =68
| Aug humidity =64
| Sep humidity =70
| Oct humidity =74
| Nov humidity =75
| Dec humidity =71
| year humidity =72
| Jand sun =6.6
| Febd sun =7.6
| Mard sun =7.9
| Aprd sun =8.9
| Mayd sun =9.9
| Jund sun =10.8
| Juld sun =11.5
| Augd sun =10.9
| Sepd sun =9.4
| Octd sun =8.2
| Novd sun =7.4
| Decd sun =6.7
| yeard sun =
|source 1 = NOAA (temperatures, precipitation 1991–2020){{cite web
|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Algeria/CSV/Mostaganem_60457.csv
|title = Mostaganem Climate Normals for 1991-2020
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|access-date = 9 October 2023
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231009172356/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Algeria/CSV/Mostaganem_60457.csv
|archive-date = 9 October 2023
}}
|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity 1976-1995, sun 1961-1990){{cite web |title=Klimadaten ausgewählter Wetterstationen: Algerien |url=https://www.dwd.de/DE/leistungen/klimadatenwelt/afrika/ac/algerien/algerien_node.html |website=Dwd.de |publisher=Deutscher Wetterdinest |access-date=28 July 2023 |language=German |archive-date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728144450/https://www.dwd.de/DE/leistungen/klimadatenwelt/afrika/ac/algerien/algerien_node.html |url-status=live }}
|date=18 January 2018}}
Present situation
The city is divided in two by a ravine of the river Aïn Sefra, with the modern town to southwest, and the old Muslim city, Tidgit, to the northeast.
In 2010 a tunnel under the city and towards the city centre is expected to change traffic flow significantly. Also, new buildings, some modern and some in colonial style, are being added to this growing city. The new autoroute from the capital Algiers towards Oran will make it easier also to access Mostaganem by road from the capital, as Mostaganem has no public airport. The road connecting Oran (around 80 km from Mostaganem to the west) will remain the same, a crowded 2 lane in each direction highway.
The port of Mostaganem is being used for unloading of all sorts of cargo, ranging from provisions to cars and pipelines. As in most ports of Algeria, it is not allowed to sailors to exit the port and visit the city. The port is being shared by large transport vessels and fishing boats alike. A new, smaller port for fishing boats has been constructed, but is currently not used.File:El Arsa.jpg
Notable people
{{alumni|people|section|date=June 2022}}
Mostaganem has given birth to illustrious figures such as playwright Ould Abderrahmane Abdelkader AKA Kaki, cinema director Mohamed Chouikh, historians such as Moulay Belhamissi, and lyricists such as Kadda Medjeded. A major centre of popular and amateur theater, it is home to important specialists of Andalusian classical music (Moulay Benkrizi), Chaabi (Maazouz Bouadjadj, Habib Bettahar), masters of traditional Bedouin music (Sheikh Hamada, Sheikh Djilali Ain Tedeles) and poets such as Sheikh Abdelkader Bentobdji and Sidi Lakhdar Benkhelouf who are authors of well-known qasida of Malhun poetry bequeathed as much to the Chaabi legacy as to Bedouins such as Emir `Abd al-Qādir al-Jazā'irī. The poet Ahlam Mostaghanemi Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi was originally from near Mostaganem.
Furthermore, one of the most notable religious figures of the 20th century was also born and later buried in Mostaganem, the Great Sufi Master, Ahmad al-Alawi, who played a major role in spreading the Shadhili Darqawi tariqa (spiritual order) across the globe, such that this order is now considered one of the world's largest and most influential Sufi paths. Many modern Muslims consider al-Alawi to be one of the "revivers" of Islam in the 20th century due to his role in spreading the religion, and even influencing the West, including opening the first mosque in Paris. Al-Alawi's tomb is now a popular visitation sight in Mostaganem.
- Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general, was born in Mostaganem in 1856.
- Alain-Julien Rudefoucauld, French writer and playwright was born in Mostaganem in 1950.
- Ishak Belfodil, (born 12 January 1992) is an Algerian professional football player
- Abdelkader Ouali (born 1952), politician
See also
{{Portal|Algeria}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://mostaghanem.wordpress.com/ Mostaganem dz by Mohammed Abbassa]
- [http://abbassa.wordpress.com/divers/ History and old postcards of Algeria]
- [http://annales.univ-mosta.dz Annals of Heritage (Journal of the University)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428234249/http://annales.univ-mosta.dz/ |date=2012-04-28 }}
- [http://mostaganemalgerie.free.fr/ Mostaganem pictures and many things by S. Benhenda]
- [http://www.mostaganem.org/ Mostaganem Its History, Photograph, Current events, Culture, Geography]
{{Province seats of Algeria}}
{{Mostaganem Province}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Populated places in Mostaganem Province