Member State of the African Union Member State of the Arab League The provinces of Algeria are divided into 547 districts (daïras / " دائرة ").
Algiers, the national capital, is the only city in the country which is divided into districts (and municipalities), and the only one which is a province itself.
This means that its neighborhoods and suburbs have the same status as those of smaller cities or villages elsewhere in the country.
Algeria's districts were created as arrondissements when Algeria was a colony of France and they had a status equal to those of mainland France.
They were maintained 6 years after the country's independence (until 1968) when they were renamed "daïras" and had their functions slightly changed.