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City in western Algeria with 150,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate), in
the border zone between Sahara and the Atlas Mountains, on the foot of
Bechar Mountain, at an elevation of 784 metres.
It is the capital of Bechar province with 250,000 inhabitants (2005
estimate) and an area of 162,200 kmē.
Bechar
is a trade centre and has a variety of small-scale industries. Among its
exports are leatherwork and jewelry. Bechar serves as the administrative
centre for local mining, producing coal, copper, magnesium and iron.
Local agriculture produces dates, cereals, vegetables, figs and almonds.
Bechar
is an isolated city but has good connections with other urban centres by
road and rail. There is also a national airport. Oran lies 520 km to the
north.
Bechar
lies close to Morocco, but the border has not been demarcated, and there
is no border crossing before Beni Ounif/Figuig (Morocco), which is
usually closed.
Despite
its size, Bechar is still very much a desert town. Traditional houses
coexist with simple, modern buildings. The traditional quarters have
covered and narrow streets. A new town called New Bechar has been built
5 to the south, housing workers at the coalfields at Kenadsa. Around
Bechar are wide date-palm groves which get the water from the seasonal
Wadi Bechar. To the southeast of Bechar the landscape turns into true
sandy desert, with the Grand Erg Occidental, the Erg er-Raoui and the
Erg Iguidi. The region to the west has a landscape called chebka,
numerous wadis (seasonal rivers) and ravines
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