Blida

Blida, known as the City of Roses for its abundant rose gardens and orchards, is a city in Algeria and capital of Blida Province, about 45 kilometers southwest of Algiers, with a city-proper population of 182,447 as of 2012 and a metropolitan area of roughly 1.17 million. Founded in the sixteenth century by the Moor Sidi Ahmed El-Kebir, the town was rebuilt on a grid plan after a destructive earthquake in March 1825 and was later occupied and developed by France from 1839 until Algerian independence. Lying at the base of the Tell Atlas amid the fertile Mitidja Plain, Blida's economy has historically centered on agriculture, with significant trade in oranges, flour, cork and cedar products.