Finding Ancestors in French Algeria: ANOM Archive Guide 2026

Your grandfather was born in Oran. Your great-grandmother came from Fort-de-France. Or you just know that a branch of the family came from Algeria but no one can say which city, or when. These ancestors don't appear in any French departmental archives.

The reason is simple: their records are elsewhere. Often in Aix-en-Provence, at the Archives nationales d'outre-mer (ANOM).

What the ANOM Holds and Who It Covers

The ANOM is the national repository for archives from France's former colonies and overseas territories. Unlike French departmental archives, which cover each metropolitan department, the ANOM centralizes in one place the collections from territories as different as Algeria, the Caribbean, Réunion, Indochina, and New Caledonia.

For genealogy, three main categories of archives are useful:

• Civil records: births, marriages, and deaths of Europeans in Algeria from 1830 to 1962, and of populations in other territories depending on the period
• Military archives related to colonial campaigns and military administration
• Notarial and administrative records: wills, property titles, naturalization files

The online consultation site is anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr. The main tool is called CAOMEC2 (Contrôle des actes d'outre-mer de l'état civil). That is where 90% of searches begin.

European Algerian Records: Step by Step

This is the ANOM's most consulted collection, and the best digitized. If your family was among the Europeans settled in Algeria between 1830 and independence (1962), your ancestors' birth, marriage, and death certificates are very likely available online.

The CAOMEC2 protocol:

1. Select "Algeria" as the territory
2. Choose the record type (birth, marriage, death)
3. Enter the surname and first name if known
4. Refine with the commune and approximate decade

Communes are listed under their French period names: Oran, Alger, Constantine, Bône (now Annaba), Philippeville (Skikda), Sétif, Mostaganem. If you only know the current Arabic name, a quick list of correspondences will save you hours.

Found records can be downloaded as PDF or JPG. The most useful practical tip: start with marriages, not births. A marriage certificate lists both spouses, their ages, professions, and their parents' identities. One document, two families reconstructed.

A few limitations to know: registers from small communes may be missing or partially illegible. Pre-1862 records may be less well indexed under old Algerian administrative divisions. If a record doesn't appear online, on-site consultation in Aix-en-Provence remains an option.

Muslim Algerian Families: A Different Search

Civil registration for the Muslim population of Algeria was introduced much later and less systematically. The 1882 law made registration of marriages compulsory. Births and deaths followed gradually. 19th-century registers often remain incomplete.

Several complementary resources exist:

Genea-Algérie (genea-algerie.geneactes.com): a community database with thousands of records indexed by volunteers, often for communes with limited ANOM coverage. Free and valuable for smaller localities.

The Algerian National Archives in Algiers: since 1962, part of the archives remained in Algeria. Access from France requires procedures through consular services. Processing times vary.

Specialist genealogical societies: several associations of pied-noir or harki descendants preserve photographic collections and nominal lists. Some have digitized registers not yet indexed by the ANOM.

For branches predating French colonization (before 1830), sources are in Arabic or Ottoman Turkish, held locally in Algeria, and rarely accessible from France without travel.

Overseas Territories: Caribbean, Réunion, New Caledonia

If your family comes from the Caribbean, Réunion, or other overseas territories, the ANOM is your first port of call, even if digitization is less advanced than for Algeria.

For the Caribbean (Martinique, Guadeloupe), civil records go back to the 17th century. An important historical note: registers of enslaved people only appear in civil registration from the abolition of 1848. People of enslaved African descent will often find their branches end at that date in the archives, sometimes with surnames imposed at the time of emancipation.

For Réunion, the situation is comparable. For New Caledonia, records exist from the 19th century, notably linked to penal colonization: deported convicts settled there, and their descendants sometimes search for their traces.

The ANOM offers a territory-specific "Research help" section on its website. It is the first document to read before opening a search: it indicates exactly what has been digitized, what is accessible on-site, and the complementary resources recommended for each territory.

Online or On-Site: When to Visit Aix-en-Provence

Online and free: the majority of civil records for Europeans in Algeria, and part of overseas territories. Accessible via CAOMEC2 without registration or payment.

On-site: essential for non-digitized documents, photographic collections, administrative and notarial archives, or original bundles difficult to read online. Prior registration on the ANOM website is required, then a reading room slot booking. Access remains free.

A practical tip before any trip: exhaust online sources first and contact the ANOM by email with a precise request (name, territory, period, document type). The team can confirm a document's existence and, for certain collections, offer a remote reproduction so you don't have to make the journey.

ANOM vs. Departmental Archives: if your ancestor was in metropolitan France (continental France), turn to the French departmental archives, not the ANOM. Both institutions complement each other. Our comparison of the best AI tools for genealogy integrates both in a full overview of available resources.

A Photo Found: Next Steps

Civil records give names, dates, places. But it sometimes happens that while digging through family papers, or contacting a cousin found via Geneanet, you come across a photo of an ancestor you didn't know. A man in a suit in Algiers in the 1940s. A woman photographed in Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion in faded sepia, a corner bent, the photographer's stamp on the back in violet ink.

These photos deserve to be preserved and shared.

Restoration: if the photo is damaged or blurry, AI photo restoration tools can recover details and improve readability.

Colorization: a black-and-white photo can regain its natural colors. Our guide on colorizing old photos with AI covers the best options, several of them free.

Animation: this is what thousands of pied-noir and overseas families have been doing for a few years. The photo of the grandfather born in Oran is animated: his face breathes, his eyes move gently. For grandchildren who never knew him, it is often the first time they "see" him alive. With Incarn, the first animation is free, the photo is ready in under 2 minutes, no traditional sign-up required.

A client animated the photo of his father, repatriated from Algeria in 1962 and dead twenty years later. His children had two photos of him. Now they have one that moves.