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Tunisia

The Ribat of Monastir is an Islamic defensive structure built by the Arabs during the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. Monastir is a city and fishing port in the Sahel region of Tunisia; it is located on a peninsula on the east coast of Tunisia.
Image: IssamBarhoumi

Location map of Tunisia

Flag of Tunisia

Tunisia in brief

Destination Tunisia, a Nations Online Project country profile of the smallest country in North Africa and the Maghreb region. Tunisia is situated between Algeria and Libya, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The country shares maritime borders with Italy.

Tunisia covers an area of 163,610 km²; this makes it about two-thirds the size of the United Kingdom or slightly larger than the US state of Georgia.

The landscape of Tunisia is mountainous in the northwest, where the eastern foothills of the Atlas Mountains are located. Within the mountain range is Jebel ech Chambi at 1,544 m, the highest point in the country. Further to the east, along Tunisia's eastern Mediterranean coast, is a broad coastal plain, known as the Tunisian Sahel; the area is famous for its Olive cultivation. To the south lies a hot and dry central plain, the semiarid area merges into the Sahara.

Tunisia has a population of 11.7 million people (in 2020); the capital and largest city is Tunis. Spoken languages are Arabic (official) and French; English and other languages in tourist regions. Official Religion is Islam.

What is Tunisia famous for?

Ruins of Dougga, Tunisia.
Image: Sue Lowndes

Tunisia is known as the country of origin of the so-called Arab Spring, an uprising against the governments in various countries in North Africa and the Middle East that began in 2011.

Tunisia is famous for having been one of the sites of the ancient Phoenician civilization. Carthage was the new center of the maritime trade empire and the largest metropolis in the world at that time. It was the home of Hannibal, the ancient Carthaginian general and statesman and deadly rival of Rome.

In recent years, Tunisia has become known as a popular, affordable beach destination with an oriental flair that has had a thriving tourism industry since the 1960s.

In addition to its many beaches, the country attracts visitors with a number of historical sites, such as pillaged Carthage, several Muslim Kasbahs and Ribats (fortifications), fortified Berber granaries and cave houses or the remains of Dougga, a Berber, Phoenician and Roman settlement and, according to some, the best-preserved small Roman town in North Africa.

Besides the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Bardo National Museum in Tunis is the most important archaeological museum in North Africa.

Kingdom of Tunisia | Al Jumhuriyah at Tunisiyah

Background:

Following independence from France in 1956, President Habib Bourgiuba established an authoritarian one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation.
In November 1987, Bourgiuba was removed from office and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless coup.

Street protests that began in Tunis in December 2010 over high unemployment, corruption, widespread poverty, and high food prices escalated in January 2011, culminating in rioting that led to hundreds of deaths.

These protests spread in the Arab world to Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. The wave of violent and non-violent demonstrations, protests, and riots were all meant to remove the corrupt leaders of those countries and to find more democratic political solutions. These movements were coined the Arab Spring.

In Tunisia, parliamentary and presidential elections for a permanent government were held at the end of 2014. Beji Caid Essebsi was elected as the first president under the country's new constitution. The incumbent president is, since 23 October 2019, Kais Saied.

Tunisia is a member state of the League of Arab States

Country Profile

Official Name:
Al Jumhuriyah at Tunisiyah
short form: Arabic: Tunis
int'l long form: Tunisian Republic
int'l short form: Tunisia

ISO Country Code: tn, TUN

Time:
Local Time = UTC+1h (summer UTC +2h)
Actual Time: Wed-July-7 22:03

Country Calling Code: +216

Capital City:Tunis

Other Cities: Sfax, Bizerte, Monastir, Sousse, Kairouan, Gabes

Official Sites of Tunisia

Ministry of Finance and the Prime Ministry of Tunisia in the capital city Tunis

Kasbah Square in Tunis with the Ministry of Finance (left) and the Dar El Bey, the governmental palace.
Image: Kassus

Government
Note: External links will open in a new browser window.

Portail de la Présidence du Gouvernement – Tunisie
Official website of the Presidency of Tunisia.

Gouvernement Tunisien
The Tunisian Government Portal (in French and Arabic)

République Tunisienne Ministère des Affaires Étrangères
Tunisia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Diplomatic Missions

Embassy of Tunisia in Washington, D.C.
Embassy of Tunisia in the US.
The Embassy of Tunisia, New Delhi
Official website of the embassy.
Embassy of Tunisia In London
Official website of the embassy.

Statistics

Institut National de la Statistique
Tuisia statistics (French)

Tunisia in Figures
Tunisia key statistical data.

Weather
Institut National de la Météorologie
Tunisia's National Institute of Meteorology (NIM).

Maps from Tunisia

Map of Tunisia preview (click map to enlarge)
Image: © nationsonline.org

Maps

Map of Tunisia
Political Map of Tunisia.

Administrative Map of Tunisia
Administrative Map of Tunisia showing the country's governorates (Wilayah).

Google Earth Tunisia
Searchable map/satellite view of Tunisia.

Google Earth Tunis
Searchable map/satellite view of Tunisia's capital.

Map of Northern Africa and the Middle East
Political Map of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East.

Political Map of Africa
The 54 countries of Africa.

Map of Africa
A Relief Map of Africa.

News of Tunisia

Tunisia Newsstand

Online News from Tunisia

Under the authoritarian regimes of Habib Bourguiba and then Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the media was prone to censorship. Today the Tunisian media enjoys much greater freedom than before the 2011 popular revolt. However, the country is still behind due to some of the legislation which has been enforced over the years.

Freedom of the press and the freedom to inform are key achievements of the 2011 Tunisian revolution, but since the 2019 parliamentary elections, these freedoms have increasingly become a political issue. Far-right politicians no longer hesitate to openly target journalists and press freedom advocates, and the general climate for media and journalists has deteriorated significantly. ^[RSF]

Arabic-language news

Assabah
Daily news.
Essahafa
Tunisian Arabic-language daily.
Al Chourouk
Private daily newspaper in Arabic, and the best-selling newspaper in Tunisia.
Le Maghreb
Private daily newspaper in Arabic.

French-language news

Kapitalis
Tunisia news.
La Presse
National and international news.

English-language news

Al Jazeera
Current Tunisia News.
Tunis Daily News
News Agencies Feed.
The Guardian (UK)
What is going on in Tunisia?
Qantara
The German Internet portal Qantara.de promotes dialogue with the Islamic world and offers news and opinions on topics relating to the countries of the Middle East in German, English and Arabic.

Arts & Culture of Tunisia

Wall painting by Brusk at Djerbahood, island of Djerba, Tunisia

Wall painting by Brusk at Djerbahood, a street art event that brought together artists from around the world in the town of Erriadh on the Tunisian island of Djerba.
Image: Galerie Itinerrance / Aline Deschamps

Arts & Culture

Museums

The representation of Neptune in a 2nd century Roman mosaic, Bardo Museum, Tunis, Tunisia

Poseidon's Triumph and the four Seasons. The depiction of Neptune in a 2nd-century Roman mosaic, National Bardo Museum, Tunis.
Photo: Tony Hisgett

The National Bardo Museum
The Bardo Museum is the largest archaeological museum in Tunisia. It has the world's most important collection of Roman mosaics, along with the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, which opened in Turkey in 2011.

Chimtou Museum
The Chimtou Archaeological Museum was opened in 1997. The museum focuses on the results of German-Tunisian research from 1965 to 1995 in Simitthu/Chimtou, an ancient Roman-Berber city in northwestern Tunisia.

Djerba Traditional Heritage Museum
The Djerba Traditional Heritage Museum displays jewelry, ceramics, traditional costumes of the population, and various utensils such as wedding chests and kitchen utensils. The museum offers a very good impression of the life and customs of Djerba.

Sousse Archaeological Museum
The Archaeological Museum of the city of Sousse in Tunisia is one of the most important in the country, along with the Bardo Museum of Tunis. It is located in the building of a medieval fortress (kasbah) above the city.

Visual Arts

Selma Feriani Gallery
Selma Feriani Gallery was founded in Tunis in 2013 and represents artists from the MENA region and around the world. The gallery has mounted critically and publicly successful exhibitions and interventions and participates in international biennials and art fairs.

Musk and Amber Gallery
The Musk and Amber Gallery in Tunis offers a cheerful mix of design, art and fashion.

Lost in Tunis
Lost in Tunis - Urban Exploring & Streetphotography. Empty Streets of Downtown Tunis - COVID19.

Djerbahood
Open-air museum Djerbahood. The village of Erriadh in Djerba hosted during the summer of 2014 the works of a hundred artists from more than thirty different nationalities.

Festivals
Internationales Festival Carthage
Official website of the Music Festival Carthage.

Tourism Tunisia
Top 20 Festivals in Tunisia.

Business & Economy of Tunisia

Tunis-Carthage International Airport

Tourism in Tunisia is an industry that generates around 9.5 million arrivals in normal years. Tunis-Carthage International Airport is the country's main airport. Tunisair, the national airline of Tunisia, is headquartered in Tunis and based at Tunis Carthage Airport.
Image: Citizen59

Economy of Tunisia
The economy of Tunisia is traditionally based on oil, phosphates, agri-food products, car parts manufacturing, and tourism.

Due to the pandemic and political tensions, Tunisia has experienced a sharper decline in economic growth than most other countries in the region. It has plunged into crisis by slow growth, rising debt and unemployment.

Banque Centrale de Tunisie
The Central Bank of Tunisia.

Bourse de Tunis
Official website of the Tunis Stock Exchange.

Investir en Tunisie
Invest in Tunisia is a foreign investment promotion agency.

Major companies in Tunisia

Carthage Cement
Tunis-based large-scale cement producer.

Evertek
Evertek is a Tunisian mobile manufacturer.

Industries Mécaniques Maghrébines
Industries Mécaniques Maghrébines is a car manufacturer founded in 1982.

La Poste Tunisienne
La Post Tunisienne is Tunisia's postal service.

Vermeg
VERMEG is an international software group founded in Tunisia in 1993.

Wallys
Wallyscar is a Tunisian automobile manufacturer based in Tunis.

Société tunisienne de l'électricité et du gaz (Steg)
STEG is a Tunisian public company founded in 1962 whose mission is to generate and distribute electricity and natural gas in Tunisia.

Transportation

Air
Tunisair
The Tunisian flag carrier is majority-owned by the Tunisian government and serves more than 40 destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Western Europe.

Ferries
Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation - CTN
Tunisia Ferries provides regular passenger ferry connections between Tunisia and the ports of Marseille and Genoa.

Railroad
Réseau Ferroviaire Rapide
RFR is the Tunisian speed railway company.

Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens
SNCFT is the Tunisian National Railways Company.

A Ro-Pax vessel of Tunisia Ferries leaves Marseille

A Ro-Pax vessel of Tunisia Ferries leaves Marseille

A Ro-Pax vessel of Tunisia Ferries (CTN) leaves Marseille, France. The ferry port of Tunis is served by a number of shipping companies offering crossings to Marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Palermo and Salerno.
Image: François Schwarz

Tourism in Tunisia

At the pool of the Hotel Royal Garden Palace on Djerba, Tunisia

At the pool of the Hotel Royal Garden Palace on Djerba, the largest island of North Africa.
Image: drklops

Destination Tunisia - Travel and Tour Guides

Discover Tunisia: Bizerte, Carthage, Djerba, Dougga, El Jem, Kairouan, Ksours, Mahdia, Matmata, Nefta, Sousse, South Tunisia, Tozeur.

Seaside resort areas: Sousse, Monastir, Hammamet, Nabeul, Djerba, Sidi Bou Said and Tabarka.

Find accommodation, hotels, attractions, festivals, events, tourist boards, biking, hiking, cruising, diving, tours and much more.

Despite several terrorist incidents in Tunisia, the country has been a popular tourist destination since the early 1960s and is among the most visited countries in Africa.

Ministry of Environment and Tourism
Official website of the ministry.

Office National du Tourisme Tunisien
Official tourism information

Wikivoyage - Tunisia
The free worldwide travel guide's page about travel in Tunisia.

City Guides

Commune-Tunis
The Offical Website Commune-Tunis

Commune-Soussa
The Offical Webiste Commune-Soussa

Coummne-Kairouan
The offical website of the Commune-Kairouan.

Filmset Starwars in the Matmata desert of Tunisia

The original filming location of Starwars in the Matmata Desert is now a popular tourist destination to visit Mos Espa, a settlement on the desert planet Tatooine.
Image: Rais67

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The amphitheater of El Djem is the best-preserved arena in North Africa and, with a capacity of estimated 35,000 spectators, it is also the second-largest after that of Carthage. The ruins are located in the village of El Djem in central Tunisia, where the ancient city of Thysdrus was located. The Amphitheatre of El Jem is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
Image: Diego Delso

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Tunisia
There are eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Tunisia; additionally, sixteen properties are listed in UNESCO's Tentative List, an inventory of those properties which each state party intends to consider for nomination. (see the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Tunisia ).

The following links lead to a detailed description of the respective World Heritage Site at UNESCO.

Dougga / Thugga
The archaeological site of Dougga / Thugga is located in the northwest of Tunisia, on the 571 meters high hilltop dominating the fertile valley of Oued Khalled. Before the Roman annexation of Numidia, the city of Thugga was the capital of an important Libyco-Punic state. The city flourished under Roman and Byzantine rule but fell into decline during the Islamic period.

Kairouan
Kairouan or Qairawān lies in the heart of Tunisia. It is one of the oldest Arab-Islamic cities in the Maghreb and one of the most important holy cities. Kairouan was founded in 670 and became the capital of the Aghlabid dynasty in the 9th century. Despite the relocation of the political capital to Tunis in the 12th century, Kairouan remained the principal city of the Maghreb. Its rich architectural heritage includes the Great Mosque and the 9th-century mosque of the Three Gates.

Punic Town of Kerkuane and its Necropolis
This Phoenician urban center was probably abandoned during the First Punic War (circa 250 BCE) and therefore not rebuilt by the Romans. The remains of this city, are the only example of a Phoenician-Punic settlement that has survived the passage of time. The buildings in the town were organized and constructed according to a standard plan that relied on a sophisticated concept of spatial planning.

Exterior walls of the Kasba of Sousse. Sousse is located in the Tunisian part of the Sahel; it reflects Arab-Islamic urbanism applied to a coastal town that had to deal with piracy and other dangers of the sea. The Medina of Sousse is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image: Fehmi bouguezzi

Education in Tunisia

University Ez-Zitouna, Tunis

The University of Ez-Zitouna is located in the Montfleury district of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. With its predecessor institute, the Madrasa of the Great Ez-Zitouna Mosque, founded in 737, it is considered the oldest Islamic university and the oldest continuously teaching educational institution in the world.
Image: Rais67

Ministry of Education Tunisia
The ministry is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of government education policies.

National Library
Tunisia's national library.

Réseau National Universitaire RNU
The National University Network.

Higher Education Index
Links to websites of Tunisian higher education, scientific research institutions, students and university services.

Higher Education in Tunisia
Information on Higher Education in Tunisia in Arabic, French and English.

Université de Tunis
The University of Tunis is the leading institution of higher education in Tunisia.

Université Libre de Tunis
ULT strives to offer academic programs that are comparable in content and quality to those in Europe and the United States.

Environment & Nature

Lake Ichkeul in Ichkeul National Park

Lake Ichkeul is the last remaining freshwater lake in a chain that once stretched across North Africa. The lake and the surrounding marshes are an important stopover for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. The Ichkeul National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image: Neal B. Johnson

Environmental Organizations

Environment Department
Offical Website of the Environment Department.

Agence Nationale de Protection de l'Environnement
Official website of the National Environmental Protection Agency.

Agence de Protection et d'Aménagement du Littoral
Official website of the Coastal Protection and Development Agency.

Office National d'Assainissement
Official website of the National Sanitary Office.

Agence Nationale pour la Maitrise de l'Energie
Official website of the National Agency for Energy Management.

Changements Climatiques en Tunisie
Official website of climate change in Tunisia.

Centre International des Technologies de l'Environnement de Tunis
CITET - Tunis International Centre for Environmental Technologies.

Bou Hedma National Park, Tunisia

Bou Hedma National Park is a national park in Tunisia. The park is located 85 kilometers east of Gafsa in the central part of the country. The park represents a unique remnant of an ancient pre-Saharan savanna similar to the African Sahel.
Image: El Golli Mohamed

Tunisia History

Hannibal Crossing the Alps; detail from a fresco by Jacopo Ripanda, ca 1510.
Photo: José Luiz

History of Tunisia (short version)
Tunisia has been the scene of many different colonizations, including those of the Phoenicians (as early as the 12th century B.C.), the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, various Arab and Berber kingdoms, and the Ottomans (16th to late 19th century). The rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the establishment of a French protectorate. Independence in 1956 was followed by 31 years of rule by a one-party government under Habib Bourguiba.

Tunisia's history
A brief history of Tunisia

Tunisia profile - Timeline
BBC - Timeline of historical events in Tunisia.

History of Tunisia
Wikipedia page about Tunisia's history.

Ottoman Tunisia
Ottoman Tunisia refers to a period of three centuries during which Tunis was integrated into the Ottoman Empire as the Eyalet of Tunis.

The Leptiminus Archaeological Project
Leptiminus was an important port town that flourished under Roman rule.

Ancient Carthage
Article about the Phoenician civilization from the founding of Carthage in the ninth century BCE to its destruction in 146 BCE.

Dido
Dido (Alyssa) was the legendary foundress and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage. She was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, today Ṣūr in Lebanon, who flees tyranny to found her own city in northwest Africa.

Indigenous People of Tunisia

Berber warriors riding Berber horses (Barbs) on Djerba

Amazigh warriors riding Berber horses (Barbs) on Djerba, Tunisia.
Image: Johan

The Indigenous peoples of Tunisia

As elsewhere in North Africa, the Indigenous population of Tunisia is formed of the Amazigh, also known as Berbers or Imazighen. The Amazigh are an ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb region, specifically Tunisia, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, the Canary Islands, and to a lesser extent in Mauritania, northern Mali, and northern Niger.
Smaller Berber populations are also found in Burkina Faso and Egypt's Siwa Oasis.

Historically, Berber nations spoke the Berber languages, which are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family.
Today, many Berbers refer to themselves as Amazigh or Imazighen "free people" and reject the foreign designation "Berber," which is understood as pejorative.

Imazighen Links

Indigenous peoples in Tunisia
There are ten Amazigh associations whose mission is to protect and promote the Amazigh language and culture in Tunisia.

Tunisian people
Wikipedia article about the Maghrebi ethnic group.

Additional Information

Selected country profiles of Tunisia published by international organizations.

Amnesty International: Tunisia
Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights.

BBC Country Profile: Tunisia
Country profiles by the British public service broadcaster.

BTI Transformation Index Tunisia
Tunisia Country Report 2020 by Bertelsmann Stiftung.

Freedom House: Tunisia
The U.S. government-funded non-profit organization whose goal is to promote liberal democracies worldwide.

GlobalEDGE: Tunisia
Tunisia ranking by the Global business knowledge portal.

The Heritage Foundation: Tunisia
Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank.

Human Rights Watch: Tunisia
HRW conducts research and advocacy on human rights.

OEC: Tunisia
The Observatory of Economic Complexity provides the latest international trade data.

Reporters Without Borders: Tunisia
RSF (Reporters sans frontières) is an international NGO that defends and promotes media freedom.

Wikipedia: Tunisia
Wikipedia's Tunisia page in many languages.

World Bank Data: Tunisia
World Development Indicators database.

The CIA World Factbook -- Tunisia
CIA World Factbook Tunisia Page.