MʾSila

MʾSila, town, north-central Algeria. It is situated on the Plains of Hodna at an elevation of 1,542 feet (470 metres) between the saline lake Chott el-Hodna (south) and the east-west-extending Hodna Mountains (a range of the Tell Atlas Mountains) to the north. A dam on the Wadi Ksob in the Hodna Mountains irrigates the cereal-growing area around the town. MʾSila is a farming and trading centre whose chief industry is leatherworking.

The surrounding region is largely covered with salt lakes (chotts), which drain intermittent streams. The chief economic activities of the region are the nonintensive raising of cereals (wheat and barley), seminomadic herding (goats and sheep), and date production. Pop. (1998) 99,855; (2008) 132,975.