Algeria: Timeline
View chronological details of Jewish life and presence in Algeria.
- 586 BCE
First account of Jewish presence in Algeria.
- 1492
Large increase in the Jewish population following the Reconquista when the Spanish inquisition expels Jews from their county of origin. Jews create communities primarily in Oran and Algiers and preserve the Ladino language.
- 1830
Large increase in the Jewish population following the Reconquista when the Spanish inquisition expels Jews from their county of origin. Jews create communities primarily in Oran and Algiers and preserve the Ladino language.
- 1840s
Jewish courts are abolished. French courts are used to adjudicate cases involving Jews. Later, the communal structure is reorganized. Chief Rabbis are appointed for each region to enforce the laws and loyalty to France.
- 1870
Jews are granted French citizenship under the décrets Crémieux of 1870.
- 1930s
120,000 Jews living in Algeria. Muslim riots in Constantine in 1934 kill 25 Jews and injure many more as a result of pro-Nazi sentiment. Until the 1940s, the French Vichy government persecutes the Jewish community socially and economically.
- 1962
Algerian independence. Algerian Nationality code of 1963 allows only those with Muslim ancestors to gain citizenship. Many Jews leave for relocation in France. Only about 10,000 Jews remain, primarily in the city of Algiers.
- 1990s
Civil war in Algeria causes most of the remaining Jews to emigrate. The Armed Islamic Group rebel in 1994 declares war on all non-Muslims in Algeria.
- 2005
No Jews remaining in Algeria.
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