Skikda

File:Philippeville - Statue - Mieusement 02.jpg

{{further|Maghreb placename etymology}}

The Phoenicians and Carthaginians established a trading post and fort named {{sc|rškd}} ({{lang|xpu|𐤓𐤔𐤊‬𐤃‬}}, "Jug Cape") after Skikda's nearby cape.{{sfnp|Huss|2006}} Falling under Roman hegemony after the Punic Wars, the name was Latinized as Rusicade{{cite book|author1=John Boardman|author2=I. E. S. Edwards|author3=E. Sollberger|author4=N. G. L. Hammond|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGBGauNBK8kC&pg=PA496|date=16 January 1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-22717-9|page=496}}Plin., Nat. Hist., Book V, §22; Tab. Peut., 3.3; Rav. Cosmogr., 39.12. or Rusiccade.Mela, De Situ, Book I, §33; Julius Honorius, Cosmogr., A.44; Vibius Sequester, Geogr., p. 151. Rusicade contained the largest Roman theatre in Algeria, dating to the reign of Hadrian.

In late antiquity, the port was destroyed during the Vandals' invasion of 530. The Byzantines reconquered the region in 533 and 534, but left large areas under Berber control. The town was overrun by the Umayyad Caliphate at the end of the 7th century.

Present-day Skikda was founded by French governor Sylvain Charles Valée in 1838 under the name Philippeville, honoring the French king at the time. The French were in the process of annexing Algeria and developed Philippeville as a port for Constantine, Algeria's third-largest city. The two cities were connected by rail. The harbour works, with every vessel in port, was destroyed by a storm in 1878; a larger harbour was then built. On 10 October 1883, there was an earthquake in Philippeville.{{Cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9801E5DF103BE033A25753C1A9669D94629FD7CF|title=Earthquake Shock in Algeria |work=New York Times|date=10 October 1883}}

Towards the end of World War II, a UNRRA refugee camp name {{lang|fr|Camp Jeanne d'Arc}} was established near the city. On 25 January 1945, 200 Jews holding citizenship from countries in North and South America were sent from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to Switzerland as part of a prisoner exchange group. They were later sent to the UNRRA camp in Skikda.[http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust/0138_Bergen-Belsen_to_Algeria.html source] Page at Holocaust database

{{main|Battle of Philippeville}}

An attack by the FLN in 1955 during the war of Independence left around 123 civilians dead, mainly French and those suspected of collaboration.Ben Abro, Assassination! July 14, University of Nebraska Press (2001), p251 Angered over the massacre of civilians, including women, seniors, and babies, the French escalated their offensive against the FLN. Reprisals by French forces may have killed between 1,200 (according to French sources,) and 12,000 civilians (according to the FLN.)

The city has a commercial harbour with a gas and oil terminal. On 15 February 1989 the Dutch tanker the MV Maassluis was anchored just outside the port, waiting to dock the next day at the terminal, when extreme weather broke out. The ship's anchors did not hold and the ship smashed on the pier-head of the port. The disaster killed 27 of the 29 people on board.Website Nieuwsdossier on [http://www.nieuwsdossier.nl/dossier/1989-02-15/Tanker+Maassluis+gezonken+nabij+Skikda Sinking of Maassluis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503024203/http://www.nieuwsdossier.nl/dossier/1989-02-15/Tanker+Maassluis+gezonken+nabij+Skikda |date=3 May 2011 }}, retrieved 3 August 2010

The city has a population of over 250,000 inhabitant. Natural gas, oil refining, and petrochemical industries were developed in the 1970s and pipelines have been built for their transportation. The city hall (a neo-moorish style palace) and the railroad station were designed by Le Corbusier.

The official city flag colours are blue and white, reflecting the colours of the Mediterranean. The current postal code is 21000. Skikda has the third largest commercial port in Algeria after Algiers and Oran. It has also a petrochemical terminal port and a smaller fishing port in Stora, and there are many beaches along the natural Mediterranean coastline. There is also a closed airport near the petrochemical complex.

File:Atlantis seen over the Mediterranean Sea, near the Algerian coast.jpeg, November 2009]]

Skikda lies on the coast of the Gulf of Stora, part of the Mediterranean Sea. The landscape is hilly and forested, with high ridges on both the western and eastern sides of the city.

Skikda has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with cool, wet winters and very warm, dry summers.

{{Weather box

|location=Skikda (1961–1990, extremes 1926–1992)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan record high C = 26.4

|Feb record high C = 30.6

|Mar record high C = 32.0

|Apr record high C = 34.6

|May record high C = 38.8

|Jun record high C = 41.0

|Jul record high C = 44.4

|Aug record high C = 46.7

|Sep record high C = 44.0

|Oct record high C = 38.0

|Nov record high C = 33.0

|Dec record high C = 28.0

|year record high C = 46.7

|Jan high C = 16.1

|Feb high C = 16.6

|Mar high C = 17.5

|Apr high C = 19.5

|May high C = 22.2

|Jun high C = 25.1

|Jul high C = 28.4

|Aug high C = 28.9

|Sep high C = 27.3

|Oct high C = 24.3

|Nov high C = 20.5

|Dec high C = 17.1

|year high C = 22.0

|Jan mean C = 12.0

|Feb mean C = 12.3

|Mar mean C = 13.2

|Apr mean C = 15.1

|May mean C = 17.9

|Jun mean C = 21.0

|Jul mean C = 23.9

|Aug mean C = 24.6

|Sep mean C = 22.9

|Oct mean C = 19.8

|Nov mean C = 16.1

|Dec mean C = 13.0

|year mean C = 17.6

|Jan low C = 8.0

|Feb low C = 7.9

|Mar low C = 8.8

|Apr low C = 10.7

|May low C = 13.5

|Jun low C = 16.7

|Jul low C = 19.4

|Aug low C = 20.2

|Sep low C = 18.5

|Oct low C = 15.3

|Nov low C = 11.6

|Dec low C = 8.9

|year low C = 13.3

|Jan record low C = 0.0

|Feb record low C = -0.5

|Mar record low C = -0.6

|Apr record low C = 3.0

|May record low C = 5.0

|Jun record low C = 8.0

|Jul record low C = 10.2

|Aug record low C = 12.3

|Sep record low C = 11.6

|Oct record low C = 2.0

|Nov record low C = 0.0

|Dec record low C = 0.0

|year record low C = -0.6

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 115.3

|Feb precipitation mm = 94.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 75.6

|Apr precipitation mm = 60.8

|May precipitation mm = 29.9

|Jun precipitation mm = 13.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 2.9

|Aug precipitation mm = 9.7

|Sep precipitation mm = 30.1

|Oct precipitation mm = 75.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 99.2

|Dec precipitation mm = 123.0

|year precipitation mm = 728.8

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 15

|Feb precipitation days = 11

|Mar precipitation days = 12

|Apr precipitation days = 10

|May precipitation days = 7

|Jun precipitation days = 5

|Jul precipitation days = 1

|Aug precipitation days = 3

|Sep precipitation days = 7

|Oct precipitation days = 12

|Nov precipitation days = 13

|Dec precipitation days = 16

|year precipitation days = 112

|Jan humidity = 75

|Feb humidity = 75

|Mar humidity = 75

|Apr humidity = 75

|May humidity = 76

|Jun humidity = 75

|Jul humidity = 73

|Aug humidity = 75

|Sep humidity = 75

|Oct humidity = 74

|Nov humidity = 75

|Dec humidity = 75

|year humidity = 75

|Jan sun = 139.5

|Feb sun = 155.4

|Mar sun = 207.7

|Apr sun = 222.0

|May sun = 279.0

|Jun sun = 306.0

|Jul sun = 356.5

|Aug sun = 322.4

|Sep sun = 258.0

|Oct sun = 201.5

|Nov sun = 156.0

|Dec sun = 133.3

|year sun =

|Jand sun = 4.5

|Febd sun = 5.5

|Mard sun = 6.7

|Aprd sun = 7.4

|Mayd sun = 9.0

|Jund sun = 10.2

|Juld sun = 11.5

|Augd sun = 10.4

|Sepd sun = 8.6

|Octd sun = 6.5

|Novd sun = 5.2

|Decd sun = 4.3

|yeard sun = 7.5

|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

| title = Climate Normals for Skikda

| url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-I/AL/60355.TXT

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = 27 March 2016}}

|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes 1926–1992, sun 1952–1990, humidity 1973–1992, and avg. precipitation days 1952–1970)

{{cite web

| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_603550_kt.pdf

| title = Klimatafel von Skikda (Philippeville) / Algerien

| work = Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world

| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst

| language = de

| access-date = 27 March 2016}}

|date=February 2013

}}

Historically, Skikda is known for its seaport. It was described, in 1911, by Baedeker as having "the youngest Algerian seaport."{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8816/ |title = Philippeville, Algeria |website = World Digital Library |year = 1899 |access-date = 26 September 2013 }}

On 19 January 2004, a fire and explosion at the Skikda LNG facility killed 29 people and caused $940,000,000 worth of damage. The accident incapacitated three LNG trains and impacted approximately 2% of the world's liquefaction capacity. The explosion was preceded by the ingestion of a sizable leak of cold hydrocarbon into the boiler of the westernmost LNG line. This caused the boiler to explode. According to a 2018 report by Marsh McLennan on the 100 largest losses in the hydrocarbon industry, the Skikda explosion is the second most damaging gas processing incident since 1974.{{Cite web |title=100 Largest Losses in the Hydrocarbon Industry |url=https://www.marsh.com/content/dam/marsh/Documents/PDF/UK-en/100-largest-losses-in-hydrocarbon-history.pdf |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Marsh |publisher=Marsh McLennan |date=2018-03-16}}

The University of Skikda is the main educational institution in the city and the province,with two campuses located in Azabba and Al-Hadaiq, attracting students from local, national, and international backgrounds. It offers a range of programs, including specialized courses in petrochemical engineering, which are key to the region's industrial development. The university plays a significant role in preparing students for careers in various fields, contributing to Skikda as a growing industrial and logistics city.

Skikda, with football being the most popular. The city's top club, JSM Skikda, represents Skikda in national competitions and has the largest supporters base in the province. The team plays at the Skikda Stadium of 20 August 1955. In addition to JSM Skikda, there are other clubs and football academies competing in inter-regional leagues.

Handball is also a prominent sport in Skikda, with JS Esperance de Skikda being a dominant club that represent the city and province in the national league. The club is well-known for its success, having won numerous national and international titles and currently playing in the top tier.

File:Skikda Station.jpg

The main road from Skikda is the N3 to El Arrouch, Constantine, Batna, Biskra and Touggourt. Smaller local roads lead to the towns of Stora (to the northwest along the coast), Beni Bechir (to the south), Bissy and Azzaba (to the southeast), and El Mersa and Chetaibi (to the east).

Skikda is the terminus of the Algiers-Skikda line – one of the SNTF mainline railroads, although most passenger and cargo services branch off in nearby Ramdane Djamel (towards the Ramdane Djamel-Annaba or Ramdane Djamel-Jijel lines before reaching Skikda). The city is served by Skikda Airport, although this airport is currently unused.

• Fadéla M'rabet (born 1935), writer and feminist
• Rose Celli (1895–1982), novelist, playwright, translator and poet

File:Théâtre Régional de Skikda.jpg

{{Portal|Algeria}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{citation |last=Huss |first=Werner |author-link=Werner Huß |contribution=Rusicade |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |title=Brill's New Pauly Encyclopedia of the Ancient World |date=2006 |editor=Hubert Cancik |editor2=Helmuth Schneider |editor3=Christine F. Salazar |editor4=Manfred Landfester |editor5=Francis G. Gentry |display-editors=0 }}.

{{Commons category|Skikda}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130201122736/http://www.wilayadeskikda-dz.com/index.php Skikda District's Official Website]

{{Province seats of Algeria}}

{{Skikda Province}}

{{Phoenician colonies}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Communes of Skikda Province

Category:Coastal cities in Algeria

Category:Cities in Algeria

Category:Province seats of Algeria

Category:Phoenician colonies in Algeria