Tiaret (; Berber: Tahert or Tihert, i.e. "Lioness") is a major city in northwestern Algeria that gives its name to the wider farming region of Tiaret Province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers in the western region of the Hautes Plaines, in the Tell Atlas, and about from the Mediterranean coast. It is served by Abdelhafid Boussouf Bou Chekif Airport. Etymology The name means "Lioness" in the Berber language, a reference to the Barbary lions that lived in this region. Maghrebian place names like Oran (Uhran) which means "lion", and Souk Ahras which means "Market of Lions" have the same etymological source. Population The town had a population of 178,915 in 2008. The town covered around 20.086.62 km² Infrastructure & industry A 1992 study by the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis reported significant areas contaminated by industrial pollution, and growing squatter settlements on the periphery. The region is predominantly one of agriculture. There is a large airfield with a tower and terminal at Abdelhafid Boussouf. The Institute of National Studies of Tiaret holds 25,000 volumes in its library. Politics The province suffered massacres (the largest being the Sid El-Antri massacre in 1997), killings, and bombings during the Algerian Civil War, though less so than areas closer to Algiers. The Africa Institute reported in a May 2004 monograph that Tiaret's more "arid and mountainous landscape has facilitated terrorist activities". The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base reports that Tiaret "is a frequent site of attacks by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)" (now known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). The GSPC is "believed to have close ties to Osama bin Laden" (Paris AFX News Agency, Jul 13, 2005) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Asharq Alaswat Jul 3 2005), and is reported to be active in Italy (Deutsche Welle, Jul 15 2005). History The province has been inhabited since antiquity, and there are numerous megalithic monuments. It served as a Roman station and fort, Tingartia. Near Tiaret are the jedars, which are ancient mausoleums. The edifices demonstrate that the area was inhabited during the Late Antiquity by a Berber tribe(s) that could build in stone. Tiaret grew up as a site under the domination of small Berber tribal kingdoms; the first of these being the Rustamid dynasty between 761 and 909 when Tiaret served as the capital of the area. However, this capital may have been