painting finished in 1907. The Hungarian composer Béla Bartók collected traditional music in Biskra in 1913. The Polish composer Karol Szymanowski, who traveled to North Africa, seemed to have been quite impressed by Biskra. This trip probably aroused a genuine interest for the North African/ Arabic culture. He composed many pieces influenced by his experience there. He sent a post card from Biskra on 11 April 1914. Diana Mayo, protagonist of Edith Maude Hull's popular 1919 novel The Sheik, starts her journey into the desert from Biskra, and in the identically named 1921 silent movie The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino in perhaps his most famous role. Winston Churchill's cousin, sculptress and author Clare Sheridan held a salon in Biskra in the 1920s and 1930s. Geography Biskra is located in the north-east of Algeria, in the district of Biskra. The city lies about from Algiers, southwest of Batna and north of Touggourt. She is nicknamed "The Queen of the Zibans", "The door of the desert" or "The Saharan Nice" because of its location which is the beginning of the desert. It is located at an altitude of in the northern part of the Sahara Desert. Apart from the mountains that surround it, the topography of Biskra is generally very flat. Part of the city is surrounded by the Sfa Pass and the Ziban Mountains. In the outskirts of Biskra, the landscape is very arid with all the same vegetation that vary depending on the location. Small water points can be found in the outskirts of Biskra, especially in the oases and canyons of the mountains around El Kantara. The prefecture of Biskra is crossed by Oued Labiod waterways, Oued El Arab, Djedi, Oued Meziraâ, Oued El and Oued el Gantara. The city covers an area of . It has a population of 307,987 and is the 10th most populous city. It has a population density of 1,612.0 inhabitants per square meter. The population of Biskra are called Biskri. As in the rest of the country, Biskra does not observe summer time and stays in the same time zone all year round. Whether winter or summer, the time is always the same in Biskra. The sunrise is around 7:41 am to 21 December and 5:24 am on 21 June. The sunset is around 5:30 pm on 21 December and at 7:54 pm on 21 June. Cityscape Neighborhoods The city of Biskra has