the present city, on the wadi chelif river, developed around a french camp built in 1843. in 1849 a planned agricultural town was established around the existing military post. from the 1830s until 1962 the city was closely associated with the french foreign legion, being the location of its basic training camp, and the headquarters of its 1st foreign regiment. in the late 1890s the town, described as being of spanish appearance, had a civilian population of about 30,000. the main buildings were in the french military district of the "quartier vienot".the training centre of the modern algerian national gendarmerie is located in sidi bel abbès.