Sidi Bel Abbes, city, northwestern Algeria, capital of Sidi bel Abbès Province, near Oran. It is in the center of an important agricultural region. The city was noted as the headquarters of a French Foreign Legion regiment. A wall with four gates encircles the city.
After Algerian independence in 1962 all French troops and legionnaires were evacuated from the town, and the Legion Museum was transferred to Aubagne, Fr. The old walls and bastions were demolished in the 1930s and have been replaced by wide boulevards and squares, beyond which are spreading suburbs.
Industry includes a farm-machine manufacturing complex. The surrounding area, once swampy, now produces cereals like wheat and barley and grapes. Population: 114,838.