A casbah — you will also see kasbah — is the old, tight heart of a North African city: often a stronghold on a hill, with narrow streets, houses, and shops packed around it. The Casbah of Algiers is the one many English books mean. A learner dictionary may say “an ancient Arab city or the market in it.” That is close, but a little too wide. It is not every Arab city, and it is not only a market. It is that old inner town or fortress quarter, especially in Algeria, Morocco, or Tunisia. People do stretch the word for a busy, “exotic” market, and a lot of English speakers mainly know it from the song “Rock the Casbah.” It is not an everyday word; you meet it in travel writing, history, and that song.

卡斯巴（北非舊城／城堡區）