Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria Waaled town situated 80km (50 miles) south of Oran on the Wadi Mekerra in the Tell Atlas. Named for the tomb of the marabout "saint" Sidi bel-Abbass, it grew up around a Frensh camp built in 1843 and was the headquarters of the Frensh Foreign Legion until Algeria independance in 1962. The old walls and bastions were demolished in the 1930s and have been replaced by wide boulevards and squares, beyond which are spreading suburbs.

The town is the administrative center of the district as well as an important road and rail crossroads. Situated in a mojor agricultural region, it trades in cereals, wine, olives, livestock, tobacco and esprato grass.

Population : (estimated) 150.000