Zemmouri is a town and commune in the Bordj Menaïel District of Boumerdès Province, Algeria. As of 2008, the population of the municipality is 26,408.
Villages The villages of the commune of Zemmouri are:
History
The coastal site of Zemmouri El-Bahri was a Phoenician and later Roman settlement named Rusubbicari.Salama, Pierre. Sites commerciaux antiques sur le littoral de l’Algérois. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité, vol. 118, n°2. 2006. pp. 527-547. In the medieval period, it became a small port named Marsa al-Dajaj (literally "chicken port"). Archeological research there has uncovered medieval structures and pottery, as well as Roman coins.
By the 19th century the main village, slightly further inland, was known as Zemmouri (usually spelled Zamouri or Zemouri at the time). In 1872 the French government established a colonial settlement there using land confiscated from the Isser el-Ouidan tribe and from private individuals in the wake of the Mokrani Revolt;Alain Mahé, 2001, Histoire de la Grande Kabylie, XIXe-XXe siècles, p. 583; Bulletin officiel du gouvernement général de l'Algérie, Volume 16, p. 136, arrété du 19 juillet 1875 in 1886 it was renamed Courbet, after Admiral Amédée Courbet.Notre village Courbet (Algérie), ch. III. IV Following Algeria's independence in 1962, the name Zemmouri was restored.
French conquest
Expedition of the Col des Beni Aïcha (1837) First Battle of the Issers (1837)
Algerian Revolution
Salafist terrorism
2008 Zemmouri bombing (9 August 2008)
Geology The disastrous 2003 Boumerdès earthquake led to the discovery of a thrust fault; it was subsequently named after the town. The fault has since been incorporated into seismic hazard maps, which will serve as an important guideline for public safety.
Nature To the northwest of the town, the Sahel Forest and the coastal dunes on which it grows are dominated by Aleppo pine and other Mediterranean maquis flora, and constitute a tourist attraction.Programme d’Aménagement Côtier (PAC) "Zone côtière algéroise" , p. 9
Notable people - Kris Abdelhafid Benchabla, boxer Ali Rial, footballer
References