Algiers

Algiers (pop. 1,483,000), capital, major port, and largest city of Algeria. Founded by Berbers in A.D. 935 on the site of the Roman settlement of Licosium, it was taken by the French in 1830. The modern city lies at the base of a hill overlooking the Bay of Algiers; higher up the slope is the old Moorish city, dominated by the Casbah, a citadel built by the Turks.