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 Tunisia| Facts & Figures |
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| President: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
(1987) Prime Minister: Mohamed
Ghannouchi (1999) Land area: 59,985 sq mi (155,361 sq km);
total area: 63,170 sq mi (163,610 sq km) Population (2009 est.): 10,486,339 (growth
rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 15.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 22.5/1000;
life expectancy: 75.8; density per sq mi: 171
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Tunis, 1,660,300 (metro. area), 699,700 (city
proper) Monetary unit: Tunisian
dinar More Facts & Figures |
Tunisian Republic
GeographyTunisia, at the northernmost bulge of Africa, thrusts out toward Sicily
to mark the division between the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea.
Twice the size of South Carolina, it is bordered on the west by Algeria
and by Libya on the south. Coastal plains on the east rise to a
north-south escarpment that slopes gently to the west. The Sahara Desert
lies in the southernmost part. Tunisia is more mountainous in the north,
where the Atlas range continues from Algeria.
GovernmentRepublic.
HistoryTunisia was settled by the Phoenicians in the 12th century
B.C.
By the sixth and fifth centuries
B.C.
, the great city-state of Carthage (derived from
the Phoenician name for “new city”) dominated much of the western
Mediterranean. The three Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage (the second
was the most famous, pitting the Roman general Scipio Africanus against
Carthage's Hannibal) led to the complete destruction of Carthage by 146
B.C.
Except for an interval of Vandal conquest in
A.D.
439–533, Carthage was part of the Roman Empire
until the Arab conquest of 648–669. It was then ruled by various Arab and
Berber dynasties, followed by the Turks, who took it in 1570–1574 and made
it part of the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century. In the late 16th
century, it was a stronghold for the Barbary pirates. French troops
occupied the country in 1881, and the bey, the local Tunisian ruler,
signed a treaty acknowledging it as a French protectorate.
Nationalist agitation forced France to recognize Tunisian independence
and sovereignty in 1956. The constituent assembly deposed the bey on July
25, 1957, declared Tunisia a republic, and elected Habib Bourguiba as
president. Bourguiba maintained a pro-Western foreign policy that earned
him enemies. Tunisia refused to break relations with the U.S. during the
Arab-Israeli War in June 1967. Concerned with Islamic fundamentalist plots
against the state, the government stepped up efforts to eradicate the
movement, including censorship and frequent detention of suspects.
In 1987, the aged Bourguiba was declared mentally unfit to continue as
president and was removed from office in a bloodless coup. He was
succeeded by Gen. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, whose tenure has been marked by
repression, a poor human rights record, the rise in Islamic
fundamentalism, and growing anti-Western sentiments among the populace.
Ben Ali was reelected in Oct. 1999 with 99% of the vote in an election
criticized by many human rights observers. In May 2000 Ben Ali's
Constitutional Democratic Assembly Party swept local elections with 92% of
the vote, in a contest many opposition leaders boycotted. However,
Tunisia's economy continued to improve in the late 1990s, making the
country one of the most attractive in Africa for foreign investors. In May
2002, a referendum passed that ended the three-term limit for the
presidency. It permitted Ben Ali, who has served as president for more
than 15 years, to run for two more terms. Opposition parties protested. In
Oct. 2004, the president was reelected with 94% of the vote.
See also
Encyclopedia:
Tunisia
.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Tunisia
National Statistics Institute (In French only)
www.ins.nat.tn/
.
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