Current Time in Bab Ezzouar, Algeria

Bab Ezzouar lies on the eastern edge of Algiers, the capital of Algeria, on the coastal plain of the Mitidja between the Mediterranean shore and the low hills of the Sahel. It stands only a short distance from Houari Boumediene International Airport and from the bay of Algiers, and its name is usually translated from Arabic as the gate of the visitors. The setting is flat and open, which allowed the district to be planned on a large scale, and the sea breeze tempers a warm Mediterranean climate.

Around one hundred and fifty thousand people live here, in one of the most rapidly developing suburbs of the capital. Bab Ezzouar has become a major business location, with office towers, banks, hotels, corporate headquarters and one of the largest shopping centres in the country, and it is often described as the new business district of Algiers. Light industry, logistics linked to the airport, higher education and public services provide further employment, while many residents commute into central Algiers.

The area was farmland until the second half of the twentieth century, part of the fertile Mitidja plain that supplied the capital with citrus, vegetables and wine. As Algiers grew rapidly after independence in 1962, the government developed Bab Ezzouar from the 1970s as a planned new housing zone, building tower blocks and apartment estates to relieve overcrowding in the historic city. The university campus followed, and in the 2000s the district was chosen for a wave of commercial development that changed its character again, adding glass office buildings, hotels and retail complexes to the residential estates.

Bab Ezzouar is a working suburb rather than a tourist destination, but it makes a convenient base. The great sights of Algiers are only a short journey away, including the Casbah with its steep lanes and Ottoman houses, recognised as a World Heritage Site, the Notre Dame d'Afrique basilica, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Ottoman palaces and the sweeping colonnaded seafront built in the nineteenth century. The Martyrs Memorial, a striking concrete monument to the war of independence, dominates the skyline across the bay. Closer at hand are the beaches east of the city and the Roman ruins of Tipasa further along the coast.

Daily life centres on cafés, markets and family gatherings, with the calendar shaped by Ramadan, Eid celebrations and national holidays. Algerian food is generous, with couscous, chorba soup, grilled meats, seafood along the coast and pastries flavoured with honey and almonds, and mint tea and coffee are drunk at all hours.

Transport is good by regional standards. The Algiers tramway runs through the district, suburban trains connect to the central station, buses are frequent and the airport is minutes away. The University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene, the largest scientific and technical university in Algeria with tens of thousands of students, occupies a huge campus here and gives the suburb a distinctly youthful atmosphere.

Bab Ezzouar is significant as the modern commercial and academic face of the Algerian capital.