Siliana

Siliana, also spelled Siliyānah, town in northern Tunisia located on the western edge of the Dorsale Mountains. The town is built not far from Maktar (Makthar), an ancient site with megalithic monuments, Numidian ruins, and Roman remains. Lying in a fertile region dominated by the Dorsale Mountains, which extend from the northeast to the southwest, Siliana is an important agricultural centre; food and mineral industries are also located there. In the late 1950s, after Tunisian independence, the government replaced the former plantations of wheat and barley with tree crops such as olives, almonds, and apricots. Siliana is linked by road to Tunis, about 75 miles (120 km) northeast. Pop. (2004) 24,243.