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Algeria This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Algeria Constitution President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem Parliament Council of the Nation People's National Assembly Political parties Elections: 2007 Provinces (Wilayah) Foreign relations Other countries · Atlas  Politics Portal view • talk • edit

Algeria is currently divided into 48 wilayas (provinces), 553 dairas (circles, or counties) and 1541 baladiyahs (municipalities, in French: commune). The capital city of a baladiyah, daïra, or province (which is also the largest city of those) always gives those entities their name, even Algiers, the capital of the country gave it its name (El Djazayar, the Arabic name for both the city and the country).

According to the Algerian constitution, a wilaya is a territorial collectivity enjoying economic and diplomatic freedom, the APW, or "Popular Provincial Parliament/Provincial Popular Parliament" (the Assemblé Populaire Wilayale, in French) is the political entity governing a province, directed by the "Wali" (Governor), who is chosen by the Algerian President to handle the APW's decisions, the APW has also a president, who is elected by the members of the APW, which is elected by Algerians.

Map of the provinces of Algeria numbered according to the official order.

The administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. When introducing new wilayas, the numbers of old provinces are kept, hence the non alphabetical order. With their official numbers, currently (since 1983) they are:

The 15 departments were reorganized to form 31 departments:

1. Adrar
2. Algiers
3. Annaba
4. Batna
5. Béchar
6. Béjaïa
7. Biskra
8. Blida
9. Bouira
10. Constantine
11. Djelfa
12. El Asnam (Currently Chlef)
13. Guelma
14. Jijel
15. Laghouat
16. Mascara
17. Médéa
18. Mostaganem
19. M'Sila
20. Oran
21. Ouargla
22. Oum el Bouaghi
23. Saïda
24. Sétif
25. Sidi Bel Abbès
26. Skikda
27. Tamanrasset
28. Tébessa
29. Tiaret
30. Tizi-Ouzou
31. Tlemcen

Immediately after independence, Algeria retained its 15 former French départements, which were renamed wilayas (provinces) in 1968, for the most part, with some name changes:

• 9A-Alger (Algiers)
• 9C-Annaba (Formerly Bône, English: Bona)
• 9B-Batna
• 9D-Constantine
• 9H-Orélansville (Then El Asnam, now Chlef)
• 8A-El Wahat (Currently Ouargla, formerly Oasis)
• 9E-Médéa
• 9F-Mostaganem
• 9G-Oran
• 9R-Saïda
• 8B-Saoura (Currently Béchar)
• 9J-Sétif
• 9K-Tiaret
• 9L-Tizi-Ouzou
• 9M-Tlemcen

During the Algerian War of Independence, the FLN adopted an organizational system divided by 6 numbered wilayas:

1. Aurès
2. Constantine
3. Kabylie
4. Algiers
5. Oran
6. Sahara

with France sometimes described as a "wilaya 7".

• Municipalities of Algeria
• Districts of Algeria
• List of Algerian Provinces by population
• List of Algerian Provinces by area

v • d • e Provinces of Algeria

Adrar • Aïn Defla • Aïn Témouchent • Algiers • Annaba • Batna • Béchar • Béjaïa • Biskra • Blida • Bordj Bou Arréridj • Bouira • Boumerdès • Chlef • Constantine • Djelfa • El Bayadh • El Oued • El Tarf • Ghardaïa • Guelma • Illizi • Jijel • Khenchela • Laghouat • Mascara • Médéa • Mila • Mostaganem • M'Sila • Naâma • Oran • Ouargla • Oum el-Bouaghi • Relizane • Saida • Sétif • Sidi Bel Abbes • Skikda • Souk Ahras • Tamanrasset • Tébessa • Tiaret • Tindouf • Tipaza • Tissemsilt • Tizi Ouzou • Tlemcen