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Annaba (Bone), Algeria town and seaport on the Mediterranean coast near the mouth of the Wadi Seybouse, close to the Tunisian border. It is Algeria's most important port after Algiers and Oran. It was built by Arabs in the 7th century on the site of Aphrodisium, the Ancient Roman port of Hippo, which was the bishopric of St Augustine in the 5th century.
Iron ore, phosphates, wine and cork are the chief exports. The town manufactures chemicals and is the site of Algieria's only iron and steel plant. The new town, built since 1870 along both sides of the thoroughfare Cours de la Révolution, contains the cathedral (1850) and basilica (1881) of Saint-Augustine, the chief public buildings, schools, the Hippo Museum, and public gardens. It is an administrative and transport centre and has an international airport and also is the site of a university founded 1975. The old town with its narrow streets dominates the centre of the city and is grouped around the Place du 19-Août and its early French houses and the Mosque of Salah Bey (1787). The 11th-century Mosque of Sidi Bou Merouan was built with columns
taken from Roman ruins. The Roman site of Hippo Regius, a rich city of Roman Africa until AD300, lies 2km (1 mile) to the south-west and many of the archaeological finds are displayed in the museum at Annaba.
Population : (estimated) 350.000
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