KairouanKairouan (UKˌkaɪr(ʊ)ˈwɑːn, USkɛərˈ-), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan (al-Qayrawān æl qɑjrɑˈwæːn, Qeirwān qɪrˈwɛːn), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661–680); this is when it became an important centre for Sunni Islamic scholarship and Quranic learning, attracting Muslims from various parts of the world. The Mosque of Uqba is situated in the city.
Caliphate of CórdobaThe Caliphate of Córdoba (خلافة قرطبة; transliterated Khilāfat Qurṭuba), also known as the Cordoban Caliphate, was an Arab Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts of North Africa, with its capital in Córdoba. It succeeded the Emirate of Córdoba upon the self-proclamation of Umayyad emir Abd ar-Rahman III as caliph in January 929. The period was characterized by an expansion of trade and culture, and saw the construction of masterpieces of al-Andalus architecture.
TunisTunis (تونس ) is the capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casablanca and Algiers) and the eleventh-largest in the Arab world. Situated on a large Mediterranean Sea gulf (the Gulf of Tunis), behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette (Ḥalq il-Wād), the city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it.
MaghrebThe Maghreb (ˈmʌɡrəb; al-Maghrib), also known as the Arab Maghreb (المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania (also considered part of West Africa), Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb also includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara (controlled mostly by Morocco and partly by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) and the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla.
IcosiumIcosium (Ikósion) was a Berber city that was part of Numidia which became an important Roman colony and an early medieval bishopric (now a Latin titular see) in the casbah area of actual Algiers. A 'Roman veterans' colony was founded at Icosium during the reign of Juba II (Plin. HN 3,19; 5,20). Under Vespasian, the city became a "Colonia Latina" (CIL VIII Suppl. 3, 20853).Brills N.P. The history of Icosium goes back to around 400 BC when a small Berber village was created by some local fishermen.
Buluggin ibn ZiriBuluggin ibn Ziri, often transliterated Bologhine, in full ʾAbū al Futūḥ Sayf ad Dawlah Bulukīn ibn Zīrī ibn Manād aṣ Ṣanhājī (أبو الفتوح سيف الدولة بلكين بن زيري بن مناد الصنهاجي; died 984) was the first leader (972-984) of the Sanhaja Berber dynasty of Zirids to serve as viceroy of Ifriqiya under the Fatimid Caliphs, founding a dynasty that continued to rule the region after him. Bologhine, a suburb in the city of Algiers, is named after him. Buluggin was born in the region of Titteri, in what is now Algeria.
Emirate of SicilyThe Emirate of Sicily or Fatimid Sicily (ʾImārat Ṣiqilliya) was an Islamic kingdom that ruled the Muslim territories on the island of Sicily between 831 and 1091. Its capital was Palermo (Arabic: Balarm), which, during this period, became a major cultural and political center of the Muslim world. Sicily was part of the Byzantine Empire when Muslim forces from Ifriqiya began launching raids in 652. Through a prolonged series of conflicts from 827 to 902, they gradually conquered the entirety of Sicily, with only the stronghold of Rometta, in the far northeast, holding out until 965.
SousseSousse or Soussa (سوسة) is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles, and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse. Sousse and Soussa are both French spellings of the Arabic name Sūsa.
Kabyle peopleThe Kabyle people (kəˈbaɪl, Izwawen or Leqbayel or Iqbayliyen, iqβæjlijən, al-qabā'il) are a Berber ethnic group indigenous to Kabylia in the north of Algeria, spread across the Atlas Mountains, east of Algiers. They represent the largest Berber population of Algeria and the second largest in North Africa. Many of the Kabyles have emigrated from Algeria, influenced by factors such as the Algerian Civil War, cultural repression by the central Algerian government, and overall industrial decline.
BéjaïaBéjaïa (bɪˈdʒaɪə; beʒaja; بجاية, Bijāya, bid͡ʒaːja), formerly Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean port city and commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Béjaïa is the largest principally Kabyle-speaking city in the region of Kabylia, Algeria. The town is overlooked by the mountain Yemma Gouraya, whose profile is said to resemble a sleeping woman.
