TLEMCEN, tlem-sen'. The capital of an arrondissement in the Department of Oran, Al geria, near the Moroccan frontier. It is 80 miles southwest of the city of Oran, with which it is connected by rail, and stands in an undulating country, everywhere irrigated and highly cul tivated (Map: Africa, D 1). It is also connected by rail with its port, Rashgun, 37 miles distant. The town is accessible only from the southwest, the other sides presenting steeply escarped fronts. It is protected from the smith wind by a range of mountains, 4200 feet in height, and is surrounded by the ruins of its ancient battle mented wall. It contains Catholic and Protestant churches, magnificent mosques, synagogues, and a museum of interesting antiquities. The town is well supplied with spring water, and a basin under the walls 720 feet long by 4110 feet wide and 10 feet deep, used for naval exhibitions by the ancient Tlemcen rulers, is now a reservoir.
The district is covered with fruit trees of all kinds, of which the olive is one of the most valu able; cereals, tobacco, etc., are extensively pro duced. Besides the special markets, a daily market is held, at which cattle, wool, grain, and oils are sold. Ostrich feathers and cork are ex ported; and woolen goods, leather, saddles, slip pers, and arms are manufactured. Population, in 1901, 35,468, of whom 24,234 were of native origin. Dating from 1002, Tlemcen has an in teresting hi_story under Berber, Arab, Spanish, and Turkish rule. It had about 100,000 inhabit ants in the thirteenth century. It has been on the decline since the early part of the sixteenth century. The French nitimately occupied it in 1842.