Guelma Province

Guelma Province is a province in eastern Algeria. Its namesake is its seat and most populous municipality: Guelma.

History

Its civilians suffered heavy casualties during the 1945 Sétif massacre by the French Army. The province itself was established in 1974 but before that, it was part of Annaba Province.
In 1984 El Taref Province and Souk Ahras Province were carved out of its territory.

It has 556,673 inhabitants as of 2024, one of the lower populations in the country, which gives it 39 seats in the APW, the province's assembly. The population density is. Of these, 54.4% live in urban areas and 87% have access to safe drinking water, lower than the national average of 89%. . Of the active population of the province, 23.3% work in agriculture, 17.9% in construction, 9.9% in industry, and 48.9% in the services sector. 21.1% of the population is unemployed.http://www.ansej.org.dz/Wilayate/GUELMA.htm

The territory of the province is mainly [composed of arable land or, of which about is irrigated, and the rest is rainfed. In the area surrounding Guelma, around is irrigable, in the area between Oued Zenati and Tamlouka, and around Bouchegouf. Forests cover about 31% of the total area, which equals, composed mainly of Aleppo Pine, Algerian Oak and Cork Oak. Areas dedicated for future industrial development, called activity zones in Algeria cover.http://www.ansej.org.dz/Wilayate/GUELMA.htm

The province is divided into 10 [districts, which are further divided into 34 communes or municipalities.