Algiers (Arabic Al Jazair; French Alger), city, the principal Mediterranean port of northwestern Africa. It is located in northern Algeria, on the Bay of Algiers, and is the capital and largest city of Algeria and Algiers Province.capital and chief seaport of Algeria. It is the political, economic, and cultural centre of the nation.
By 1200 bc the Phoenicians had colonized the site and set up a coastal trading post. Following the Punic Wars, Algiers, then called Icosium, became part of the Roman Empire and remained Roman until the middle of the 5th century, when it was overrun by the Vandals. Next, it was ruled by the Byzantines, who, in turn, were ousted in 650 by Arabs.
During World War II Algiers became the headquarters of Allied forces in North Africa and for a time the provisional capital of France. In the 1950s, when the Algerian uprising against France began, the capital city was a focal point in the struggle. After 1962, when Algeria became independent, many far-reaching changes were made to the city as the new government set out to create a modern socialist society out of a backward colonial one.
Algiers is chiefly a port for the import of raw materials, industrial goods, and general supplies. The main exports are wine, early vegetables and oranges, iron ore, and phosphates. The airport, Dar el-Beida, lies east of the city. Population (1998) 2,561,992.