Bou Saâda

Commune and town in M'Sila Province, Algeria

Bou Saâda بو سعادة
Commune and town


35°13′09″N 4°10′54″E / 35.21917°N 4.18167°E / 35.21917; 4.18167
Country	Algeria
Province	M'Sila Province
Area
• Total	249.34 km² (96.27 sq mi)
Elevation	553 m (1,814 ft)
Population (2008 census)
• Total	111,787
• Density	450/km² (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Postal code	28001
Website	bousaada.org

Bou Saada (Arabic: بو سعادة, bu s‘adah, meaning "place of happiness^[1]") is a town and municipality in M'Sila Province, Algeria, situated 245 km south of Algiers. As Arena it was the site of a city and bishopric in Roman Africa, now a Catholic titular see. The municipal population was estimated at 134,000 in 2008.

Geography

Bou-Saada is located in the southwest of the Hodna region in the Hauts Plateaux, at the feet of the Ouled Naïl Range of the Saharan Atlas.

Bou-Saada has traditionally been an important market place producing and selling jewelry, metalwork, carpets and bousaadi knives. There is also a textile mill in town. Even in modern times, Bou-Saada is an important trading post for nomads. There is also some national tourism during winter. Bou-Saada is well-connected with other urban centres by road. M'Sila is 70 km northeast, Biskra is 175 km east, Bordj Bou Arreridj 130 km northeast and Djelfa 120 km southwest. Bou-Saada has two quarters, the old medina (ksar) within the city walls with arched alleyways, and the French town to the south. Surrounding the town are extensive date groves.

Historical population^[1]
Year	Population
1954	66,800
1966	26,300
1977	46,800 (town) 50,100 (municipality)
1987	68,700
1998	99,800
2000	104,800
2008	134,000

Climate

Bou Saada has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk). Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Bou Saada is 15.5 °C (59.9 °F). About 212 mm (8.35 in) of precipitation falls annually.

Climate data for Bou Saada
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	12.7 (54.9)	14.1 (57.4)	16.7 (62.1)	20.3 (68.5)	23.5 (74.3)	27.5 (81.5)	31.2 (88.2)	31.0 (87.8)	27.0 (80.6)	22.0 (71.6)	17.3 (63.1)	14.1 (57.4)	21.5 (70.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	3.2 (37.8)	3.8 (38.8)	5.5 (41.9)	7.8 (46.0)	10.5 (50.9)	14.0 (57.2)	16.3 (61.3)	16.3 (61.3)	14.7 (58.5)	10.9 (51.6)	7.9 (46.2)	4.5 (40.1)	9.6 (49.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	22 (0.9)	14 (0.6)	21 (0.8)	16 (0.6)	26 (1.0)	16 (0.6)	6 (0.2)	8 (0.3)	20 (0.8)	22 (0.9)	24 (0.9)	17 (0.7)	212 (8.3)
Source: Climate data

Ecclesiastical history

Arena was important enough in the Late Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis to be one of the many suffragans of its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae's Metropolitan Archbishopric; discontinued as a consequence of the Arab conquest of North Africa.

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Catholic titular bishopric.

It has had the following incumbents, of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank :

Luís António de Almeida (1935.10.04 – 1941.04.19)
Joseph-Conrad Chaumont (1941.06.28 – 1966.10.08)
György Zemplén (1969.01.10 – 1973.03.29)
Roger-Émile Aubry, Redemptorists (C.SS.R.) (1973.06.14 – 2010.02.17)
Mário Antônio da Silva (2010.06.09 – ...), Auxiliary Bishop of Manaus (Brazil)

Rock art

In the municipality, located not far from the village of Ben Srour, are several petroglyph sites of archaeological interest.^[2]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "ALGERIA: urban population". populstat.info. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
^ Tixier, J. (1958-1960) Gravures rupestres de Bou Saâda (Algérie)" Bulletin de la Société Royale Belge d'Études Géologiques et Archéologiques 17: pp. 21-27, in French
^ Poyto, R. (1976) "Les rupestres de Ben-S'rour, Daïra de Bou-Saâda" Libyca Alger 24: pp. 195-202, in French