El Asnam (Ech-Cheliff; Orleansville) also called Chlef. An important administrative and communication center in the west, halfway along the Chlef Valley between Algiers and Oran. Established in 1843 as a Frensh military base, it is now the center of a large agricultural region. It was struck by earthquakes in 1954 and 1980.

OUED CHELIF, the longest and most important river of Algeria. Its farthest tributary, the Wadi Sebgag, rises in the Amour ranges of the Saharan Atlas Mountains near Aflou. Crossing the Hauts Plateaux for most of the year as a chain of marshes and muddy pools, the river loses most of its water but is replenished by a stream near Chabounia, the Wadi Nahr Ouassel. The Chelif then turns abruptly north to rush through a deep gorge in the Tell Atlas Mountains between Ksar el-Boukhari (Boghari) and Djendel (Lavigerie). Below Oued Chorfa (Dollfusville) the river swings to the west, flowing for about 145 miles (230 km) parallel with the coast in a depression (the Chelif plain) between the Dahra Massif, Mount Zaccar Rherbi, and the Tell Atlas. The river reaches the Mediterranean about 8 miles (13 km) north of Mostaganem.

The Chelif is unnavigable throughout its 450-mile (725-kilometre)length, and its flow is irregular, the maximum being November to March. The Chelif plain receives only moderate, undependable rainfall (average, 16 inches [400 mm] annually), and evaporation is intense. The lower reaches of the river's basin are, however, cultivated with the aid of irrigation. Three main dams have been constructed on the Chelif system at Ksar el-Boukhari (1932), Ech-Cheliff (El-Asnam; 1932), and El-Khemis (1939).

Cereals, oranges, and grapes are the principal crops, and there is minor cultivation of cotton around the town of Ech-Cheliff.