- published: 28 Jul 2015
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Boumerdès (Arabic: بومرداس; Kabyle: Bumerdes; Bumardas or Bomardas) is the capital city of Boumerdès Province, Algeria. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea. It had a population of 28,500 in 1998 and 15,000 in 1987.
Boumerdès is a seaside city located in the north of Algeria about 50 km east of Algiers. Its previous name, during French occupation of Algeria, was Rocher Noir, translated from French as Black Rock.
It is the capital city of Wilaya (district) of Boumerdès. The city had a major earthquake on May 21, 2003 causing a lot of damage to the city with 1,382 people killed and 3,442 injured. The city became the capital of the province, having the same name, according to the administrative division in 1984.
The city is famous as a scientific center, including a number of national institutes and the University of M'hamed Bouguerra. The institutes include l'Institut Algerian du Petrole (The Algerian Petroleum Institute IAP), Faculty des Hydraucarbures et de la Chimie (Faculty of Hydroncarbons and Chemistry FHC), l'Institut National d'Eletrecite et d'Electronqiue (The National Institute for Electricity and Electronics INELEC), l'Institut National de Genie Mechanique (The National Institute of Mechanical Engineering ENGM), l'Institut National des Industries Legeres (The National Institute for Light Industries INIL).