Annaba, formerly Bône, city, northeastern Algeria, capital of Annaba Province, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea, near the mouth of the Seybouse River. The picturesque old sector with narrow streets and bazaars remains, and examples of modern French architecture stand alongside original native buildings.
It passed to the Romans as Hippo Regius, was the residence of the Numidian kings, and achieved independence after the Punic Wars (264-146 BC).Hippo Regius later became a centre of Christian thought, housing the Council of Hippo (AD 393) and forming the bishopric of St. Augustine (396-430). Destroyed by the Vandals in 431, Hippo Regius passed to the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 533, and about two centuries later (697) it was overcome by Arabs.
It is connected by roads or rail lines to several other cities of northeastern Algeria and to Algiers. Annaba's major industries include an iron and steel complex, a fertilizer plant, automobile and railway shops, and aluminum works. Population: 222,518.