Batna

Batna is the main city and capital of Batna Province in Algeria, located in the Aures Mountains at an elevation of 1,048 meters, with a population of 290,645 recorded in the 2008 census, making it Algeria's fifth-largest city. It serves as a principal center for the Chaoui people and is considered the capital of the Aures region, and it played a pivotal role in Algeria's war of independence, hosting the revolutionary command headquarters from 1954 to 1962; the conflict itself began on November 1, 1954, when mujahedeen attacked the city's barracks. Its position provides a natural passage through the mountains to the Sahara, which drew Roman settlement in antiquity and French military interest from 1844.