Aïn Témouchent (Arabic: عين تموشنت) is a city in north-western Algeria, it is the capital of Aïn Témouchent Province. Aïn Témouchent is located 72 km (or 44.7 miles) south-west of Oran, a city with which it is closely associated, and 63 km (or 39.1 miles) west of Sidi Bel Abbès. Known as "la Florissante", it is set in a narrow, fertile basaltic valley amid vineyards and orchards.[2] As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 75,558.
The town was founded in 1851 by Spanish immigrants, who built on what had been the site of Roman Albulae and Arab Ksar ibn Senar.[2] It was made the capital of the local subprefecture in 1955, and then the capital of the wilaya Aïn Témouchent in 1983. [3] Prior to the end of colonization, the region was a large producer of wine.
In 1999, the town was devastated by a large earthquake. A loan of 83.5 million USD granted by the World Bank to the Algerian government enabled the rapid reconstruction of the city, among the best developed in Algeria: a new city, a hospital, a one-hectare public garden, were built and inaugurated in December 2003.
