Current Time in Djelfa, Algeria

Djelfa lies in the centre of Algeria, roughly three hundred kilometres south of Algiers, on the high steppe plateau that separates the fertile Tell of the north from the Sahara. The town stands at more than eleven hundred metres above sea level in the shadow of the Ouled Nail mountains, surrounded by open grassland, salt flats and stony plains grazed by enormous flocks of sheep. Its climate is severe for a country associated with heat, with snow and hard frosts in winter and dry burning summers.

The city has a population of around half a million and is the capital of one of Algeria's largest provinces. It is the undisputed centre of the national sheep trade, and its weekly livestock market is among the biggest in Africa, drawing dealers from across the country. Wool, cereals grown on the plateau, and the harvesting of esparto grass used for paper and basketry have long sustained the local economy, and more recent additions include cement, food processing and services for the oil and gas fields further south.

The plateau has been inhabited since prehistory, and the surrounding cliffs and rock shelters carry some of the finest ancient engravings in North Africa, showing elephants, lions, antelope and cattle from a time when the region was far wetter and greener. In classical times the Romans built forward posts along this frontier, and ruins of a garrison town survive at Messad to the south. The modern town was established in the middle of the nineteenth century by the French army as a military outpost and market on the road to the desert, and it grew quickly in the twentieth century as nomadic families settled and administration expanded.

The province is best known for the Ouled Nail, the confederation of tribes whose name the mountains carry and whose women were famous throughout the Maghreb for their silver jewellery, elaborate headdresses and traditional dance. That heritage lives on in music, costume and craft, and the local museum and cultural centre display weaving, carpets and silverwork. The rock art sites, the pine forest of Senalba with its cool gorges and walking trails, the springs and the desert horizons are the main attractions for visitors, while the town itself has a busy central market, mosques and wide avenues built for the climate.

Life follows the rhythm of pastoral tradition, with a cuisine based on lamb, couscous, flatbread baked in ashes, dates and mint tea. Hospitality is a strong social value, and religious festivals and family gatherings punctuate the year.

A railway running south from the north coast reaches Djelfa and continues towards Laghouat, the north-south trans-Saharan highway passes through the town, and an airport provides limited flights. Ziane Achour University, established in the city, teaches thousands of students in science, medicine, law and agriculture.

Djelfa is important as the capital of Algeria's steppe country, a crossroads between the Mediterranean north and the Sahara where pastoral traditions remain part of everyday life.