II.

The Contemporary City

The city is divided into two sections. The lower part is the modern city, built by the French, with wide boulevards, theaters, cathedrals, museums, an opera house, and many educational institutions, including the University of Algiers and several Muslim schools. The upper part is the old city, with narrow, twisting streets dominated by the Casbah, a 16th-century fortress built by the Ottomans, which lends its name to the entire quarter. With the post-World War II population increase, and the crowding in the native quarter, suburbs have burgeoned. Algiers has a major international airport and is the hub of a network of railways and roads. Its strategic position and fine harbor combine to make Algiers a major shipping center and a principal Mediterranean refueling station.