Bejaļa, city and seaport, northeastern Algeria, in Bejaļa Province, on the Mediterranean Sea. Wine, minerals, wool, hides, and oils are the chief articles of trade. Founded in ancient times by Carthaginians, the city became an important commercial and military center (called Saldae) of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century it was seized and fortified by Gaiseric, king of the Vandals. Occupied by Berbers in later times, the city in 1062 became the capital of a Berber dynasty. For a long period thereafter it was one of the chief ports of North Africa. After successive occupations of the region by Spain and Turkey, in the 16th century, the city declined in importance until, at the beginning of the 19th century, it contained little more than ruins. Following its capture by the French in 1833, however, Bejaļa regained a large part of its former importance. The harbor was enlarged and improved, and the town was connected by a spur line to the Tunis-Oran railroad. Population (1987) 114,534.
