Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Surprise meSurprise meSubscribe
Encyclopedia

Thénia

Place in Boumerdès, Algeria

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated March 10, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Thénia (الثنية), sometimes written as Thenia, with around 40,000 inhabitants, is the chief town in the daïra of the same name, in the wilaya of Boumerdès, in northern Algeria. Historically, the name is a contraction of "Theniet Beni Aicha" (ثنية بني عائشة) ("the mountain pass of the sons of Aisha"), the Arabic translation of the Kabyle Berber toponym Tizi n At Ɛica. The steep-sided pass, which is only about 800 metres (2,600 ft) wide at its narrowest point, is sometimes taken to mark the transition between Mitidja and Grande Kabylie.

01Villages

The villages of the commune of Thénia are:

Yahia Boushaki Boulevard
Yahia Boushaki Boulevard

02Geography

Thénia is located on the main road from Algiers to Constantine, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Algiers, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) inland from the coast, at an altitude of 300 metres (980 ft). Between the town and the coast, the scrub-covered Djebel bou Arous rises to a height of around 400 metres (1,300 ft) and then falls more gently to the coast. South and east is the valley of the Isser River, whose sides rise to around 600 metres (2,000 ft) and are deeply incised by streams. In many places the slopes are covered with vineyards and olive-groves.

Thénia is on the double-track portion of the Algiers-Skikda railway line and is the end of electric commuter rail service from Algiers station.

03History

During the French occupation, the town was renamed Ménerville, after Charles-Louis Pinson de Ménerville (1808-76), the first president of the court of appeals in Algiers. It resumed the name of Thénia a few years after independence in 1962.

In 1944, the town had 2,656 inhabitants, of whom the majority, 1,929, were European pieds noirs while the commune or district had 12,755, of whom 2,640 were pieds noirs.

Thénia was very near to the offshore epicenter of the 21 May 2003 Boumerdès earthquake, the strongest earthquake to hit Algeria since 1980.

At least four people were killed and around 20 injured by a car bomb outside a police station in the town on 29 January 2008.

French conquest

Algerian Revolution

Salafist terrorism

04Roads

The town of Thénia contains dozens of roads in its urban network:

Boumerdès River
Boumerdès River

05Rivers

This commune is crossed by several rivers:

06Football clubs

Club Division Level Location Logo
CMB ThéniaLigue Régional II5Thénia

07Notable people

Watch videos about ThéniaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Thénia”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.