Bona (Fr. Bone; Arabic, Beled el-Anib, town of grapes), a fortified seaport town of Algeria, in the province of Constantine, on the W. coast of the gulf of Bona, 270 m. E. of Algiers; pop. in 1866, 17,841, more than half Europeans. It is built in the form of an amphitheatre in an extremely fertile region, at the foot of a hill, and has been Europeanized and embellished by the French, who have improved the harbor and in 1858 built new piers. The town is well supplied with churches, schools, and public institutions. Outside the walls, which are flanked with four square towers and pierced by four gates, is the citadel, built by Charles V. in 1535. Its capture by the French, March 26, 1832, was one of the most brilliant achievements of the French invasion. Since 1850 it has been used as a prison of state. Though the harbor is not favorably situated, commerce is active, but less so than formerly, part of it having been diverted to Philippeville since the establishment of that port in 1838. The coral fisheries are extensive.

Silks, tapestry, and other articles are manufactured, and the town contains a marble quarry, an iron foundery, and other industrial establishments, and has weekly communication by steam with Marseilles. A marsh, between the town and the junction of the Seibous with two of its affluents near the entrance of the former river into the sea, is productive of malaria, and is supposed to have been the ancient harbor of Hippo Regius, the scanty remains of which town are about 1 1/2 m. S. by W. of Bona. (See Hippo).

Bona.