When did the French Algiers exist?

The French Algiers existed 1830–1841. On this map they are drawn 1830–1841.

How large were the French Algiers?

At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the French Algiers covered about 29,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.

Africa · Sultanates, sharifs and the Atlantic trade

French Algiers

1830–1841

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Existed: 1830–1841
Shown on the map: 1830–1841
Peak area: 29k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

"French Algiers" here denotes the first phase of French rule in Algeria, when French control was essentially limited to Algiers and its environs between the 1830 invasion and the deepening conquest of the interior. (The table's dates 1830–1841 cover the occupation and initial consolidation; French Algeria as a whole lasted to 1962.) The pretext was the famous "fly-whisk incident" of April 1827, when Hussein Dey struck the French consul over unpaid French debts from the Napoleonic-era grain trade (the Bakri-Busnach affair); King Charles X, seeking patriotic distraction from domestic unpopularity, blockaded Algiers for three years and then, on 14 June 1830, landed an expeditionary army at Sidi Fredj. After defeating the dey's forces at Staouéli, the French took Algiers on 5 July 1830, ending 314 years of the Regency of Algiers; Hussein Dey surrendered and went into exile.

History

What began as a limited coastal occupation turned into a settler colony. On 22 June 1834 France formally annexed its Algerian holdings as "an integral part of the French Republic." In Algiers itself the transformation was drastic: the lower Casbah's walls and quarters were demolished for the Place des Martyrs and Haussmann-style boulevards; mosques such as Ketchaoua and Ali Bitchin were converted to churches, stables or razed; and European settlers — the future pieds-noirs — came to outnumber Muslims in the city, while the Code de l'indigénat later codified native inferiority and segregation. The conquest was ferociously resisted: the French army in Algeria grew from some 29,000 men in 1834 to 95,000 by 1845, suffering thousands of deaths annually (mostly to disease), while Abd al-Qadir's emirate in the west and resistance in Kabylia tied down French columns through the 1830s–40s. Economically the period meant expropriation of habous and beylik lands and the beginning of wine, grain and settler agriculture on the fertile Mitidja plain. The religion of the conquered remained Sunni Islam, with Sufi orders (Rahmaniyya, Tijaniyya) mobilizing resistance.

Decline and legacy

The "restricted occupation" policy collapsed in 1841 as General Bugeaud pushed total conquest; Abd al-Qadir surrendered in 1847 and the last revolts were crushed by 1849. Algiers remained the colonial capital until Algerian independence in 1962, after which it became the capital of the modern Algerian state; its Casbah is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Common questions

What were the French Algiers?: "French Algiers" here denotes the first phase of French rule in Algeria, when French control was essentially limited to Algiers and its environs between the 1830 invasion and the deepening conquest of the interior. (The table's dates 1830–1841 cover the occupation and initial consolidation; French Algeria as a whole lasted to 1962.)
When did the French Algiers exist?: The French Algiers existed 1830–1841. On this map they are drawn 1830–1841.
How large were the French Algiers?: At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the French Algiers covered about 29,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the French Algiers?: What began as a limited coastal occupation turned into a settler colony. On 22 June 1834 France formally annexed its Algerian holdings as "an integral part of the French Republic."
How did the French Algiers end?: The "restricted occupation" policy collapsed in 1841 as General Bugeaud pushed total conquest; Abd al-Qadir surrendered in 1847 and the last revolts were crushed by 1849. Algiers remained the colonial capital until Algerian independence in 1962, after which it became the capital of the modern Algerian state; its Casbah is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia – Algiers en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiers
Wikipedia – Regency of Algiers en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regency_of_Algiers

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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