Kef, El-

El-Kef, also spelled Al-Kāf (Arabic: “The Rock”) or Le Kef, town in northwestern Tunisia, about 110 miles (175 km) southwest of Tunis. El-Kef is situated at an elevation of 2,559 feet (780 metres) on the slopes of the Haut (high) Tell, 22 miles (35 km) from the Algerian border. It occupies the site of an ancient Carthaginian town and later Roman colony, Sicca Veneria, which was at the centre of the Mercenaries’ War (or “Truceless War”), sparked by the revolt of unpaid mercenaries in the 3rd century bce. El-Kef was an important stronghold during Ottoman rule; it was taken by France in 1881 and was later maintained as a military garrison. During World War II it was named the provisional capital of Tunisia. The town is now a regional marketplace and strategic road junction on the route to Algeria. There are remains of a rampart, Roman baths, and a temple, as well as large cisterns below the Ottoman casbah (citadel), which crowns a rocky hill in the town’s centre. El-Kef is surrounded by a region of grain and cattle raising and mining. Inhabitants of this area include sedentary groups of Imazighen (Berbers). Pop. (2004) 45,191.