Constantine, << KAHN stuhn `teen` or kawn stan TEEN >> (pop. 448,028), is a trading center in Algeria about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Mediterranean Sea. It lies on a cliff above the Rhumel River. Railroads link Constantine, a grain shipping point, with the nearby ports of Skikda and Annaba. It was named for the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. He rebuilt it in A.D. 313 on the site of Cirta, a city that was destroyed by war. After hundreds of years of Arab, Berber, and Turkish rule, Constantine was captured by France in 1837. France held it until 1962, when Algeria gained independence.
