Located in the north of Algeria, 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of the capital, Algiers, it was founded in 1843, as Orléansville, on the ruins of Roman Castellum Tingitanum.

It is home to the soccer club ASO Chlef, the Hassiba Ben Bouali university, and the ruins of the basilica of Reparatus, who was bishop of Castellum Tingitanum from 465 to 475.

[3] The Bishop Felix (Italian: Felice), was among the Catholic prelates summoned to the Council of Carthage (484) by the Arian Vandal king Huneric before he was exiled.

[clarification needed] Some historians believe that it belongs to the Confederation of Ibn Suwayd Zoghba of Beni Hillal and therefore cousins of Mehal, other military nobility.

Documents of the French army and other historians speak of "most powerful and wealthy tribes' in the Chellif Valley in 1830,[citation needed] with more than 500,000 hectares of very fertile land and more than 19,000 soldiers.

After the defeat of the Emir and his allies, their lands were in large part confiscated and distributed among settlers and other indigenous people, including Medjadja, marabouts who supported the French army on arrival.

The last Kaid (tribal leader) after the arrival of the French army was Foudad Ben Adda, who served during 1867 on the city council of the municipality of Orleansville.