Dellys (, Berber: Delles) is a small Mediterranean town in northern Algeria's coastal Boumerdès Province, almost due north of Tizi-Ouzou and just east of the Sebaou River. It is the district seat of the daïra of Dellys. The town is 45 km from Tizi Ouzou, 50 km from Boumerdes (the provincial capital), and about 100 km from the capital Algiers.
It is notable for its Ottoman-era Casbah, two colonial-era lighthouses (marking Cape Bengut), and some beaches; the principal activities of the area are fishing and farming.
As of 2008, the population of the municipality is 32,954.
Geography
The Dellys area presents a natural harbour in the form of a small bay sheltered on the west and northwest by the peninsula of Sidi Abdelkader (largely occupied by the town cemetery, along with a small lighthouse). This peninsula is the seaward extension of the mountain of Assouaf, looming over the town. Around this harbour grew the Casbah of Dellys. During the colonial period the town grew southwards, as the port was expanded; a technical school, the École des arts et métiers, was also built to the north, near the cemetery. Expansion further up the mountain was prevented by the preservation of the Bou-Arbi forest; instead, the town's growth after independence in 1962 was mainly concentrated in two "wings" on each side of it.
To the south, former agricultural areas on the mountain slopes were built up with apartment buildings to form the new suburb Nouvelle-Ville, still surrounded by farmland on both sides. To the west, the relatively level Ladjenna (or "Les Jardins") area, with rocky coasts, consisted mainly of family gardens and small farms until the mid-twentieth century, but is now largely built up. It includes the tiny fishing port of El-Kouss; Cape Bengut, the northernmost land in the region, marked by a larger lighthouse; and the rock promontory of Sid El-Medjni. Further west, the village of Takdempt, at the mouth of the Sebaou river, remains marginally separated from Dellys proper.
The municipality has a total of 678 hectares of forest, most of it accounted for by Bou-Arbi above the old town (74 hectares, Aleppo pine), Assouaf above the Ladjennna suburb (50 hectares, thuya and degraded maquis), Achtoub (290 hectares, brush), and an area around Takdempt (250 hectares, brush).
Spots, districts and hamlets
In addition to its seat, Dellys proper, the Dellys District is composed of the following localities: Ain Salem, Takdempt, Sidi El Medjni, Ladjenna, Bordj Fnar, Beni Azeroual, L'Assouaf, Lemchachka, Thouabet, Boukmach, Bouafia, Brarat, Dar El Melh (Les Salines), Boumedas, Ouled Mahdjoub, Beni Amara, Tizeghouine, Dar Rabah, Ouled Sabeur, Chegga, Mezoudj, Houasna, Azrou, Afir, Amadhi, Thissira, Ifri Tamarth, Ivehlal (Bhalil), Thala Ayache, Thala Arousse, El Marssa Tofaha.
These are divided among three municipalities: Dellys itself, Aafir to the east, and Ben Choud to the south.
Demographics
Postcode
From independence in 1962 to 1984, Dellys was part of the Wilaya of Tizi Ouzou, and each wilaya had a single postcode, in this case 15000.
After the administrative division of Algeria in 1984, Dellys was attached to the newly created wilaya of Boumerdès, whose postcodes started with 35; the Daïra of Dellys was indicated by a following 1 (351xx), its chief town (Dellys) with the number 0 (3510x), and its town centre with a further 0, giving the town centre of Dellys the complete postal code 35100.
In 2008, Dellys was given the new postcode 350043 as part of the restructuring undertaken by Algérie Poste.
History
Prehistoric
The Dellys area has been inhabited since prehistoric times; archeological finds in the area include Iberomaurusian remains, a Neolithic polished axe, and (at Takdempt) some dolmens and covered alleys.
Antiquity
Dellys first entered written history as the Phoenician colony of Rusucurru or Rusuccuru,<ref>Entry Rusucurru, in: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical sites. Stillwell, Richard. MacDonald, William L. McAlister, Marian Holland. Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press. 1976. </ref> known to the Greeks as Rhousoukkórrou (). (A few authorities instead identify the ancient Rusucurru with Tigzirt.)
Rusuccuru became part of the Roman Empire about 42 CE with Claudius' annexation of the Kingdom of Mauretania, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of municipium after the suppression of Aedemon's revolt. The town's regional importance in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis was sufficient that inscriptions in the nearest towns, Iomnium to the east (modern Tigzirt) and Cissi to the west (modern Djinet), were dedicated to Rusucurru's genius loci.