Setif

Encyclopedia : S : SE : SET : Setif

Sétif (Arabic: ولاية سطيف ) is an university city and also a capital of Sétif province in northern Algeria. The city is situated 190 miles east of Algiers, on the main highway to Constantine, and has a population of 187,000.

Here and in the nearby towns of Guelma and Kherrata occurred a popular uprising on May 8, 1945 which led to the deaths of 90 European settlers and caused a crackdown by the French known as the Setif massacre. According to the official figures released by the French government at the time, 1,500 Muslims were killed during the crushing of the uprising. The commander of the sub-division in Setif, Col. Bourdila, declared the death toll to be nearer to 7,500, a number which doubled after an official investigation into the matter. Finally, the American consul in Algiers estimated that between 40,000 and 45,000 Algerians had lost their lives, figures which seemed to match Muslim public opinion.

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