Jijel is the administrative and trade center for a region specialising in cork processing, leather tanning and steelmaking.

Tourists (mainly Algerians) are attracted to Jijel for its landscapes and fine sand beaches.

[4] Originally Phoenician, Igilgili passed to the Carthaginians, the Roman Republic and Empire, the Vandals, the Byzantines, the Umayyads, the Genovese, and the Ottomans.

Resistance was organised under the direction of Shaban Aga and the French were driven out in October of the same year.

Strong local resistance, finally subdued in 1851, resulted in the construction of three forts along its southern fringe as well as minimal colonisation.