Tunisia: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Country in North Africa}}

{{pp-move}}

{{Infobox country

| conventional_long_name = Republic of Tunisia

| image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg

| map_caption = Location of Tunisia in [[North Africa]]

| capital = [[Tunis]]

| largest_city = capital

| percent_water = 5.04

| population_estimate = 11,708,370<ref name="ins">{{cite web |url=http://www.ins.tn/en/themes/population |title=National Institute of Statistics-Tunisia |publisher=National Institute of Statistics-Tunisia |access-date=2 March 2020 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128201634/http://www.ins.tn/en/themes/population |url-status=dead }}</ref>

| population_estimate_year = 2020

| population_estimate_rank = 81st

| population_density_km2 = 71.65 <!--pop est 2011 (164,418 sq km) / land area (163610) = 63,482 sq mi-->

| population_density_sq_mi = 186

As part of postwar Tunisia, a new all-Tunisian labor organization was formed, the [[Tunisian General Labour Union|Union Générale des Travailleurs (UGTT)]].<ref name=":02" /> This was one of the stronger components of the nationalist group [[Neo-Destour]].<ref name=":02" />

 

 

Bourguiba continued to plead to foreign leaders when he traveled to Italy on 6 November 1951.<ref name=":12" /> His contacts included [[Alberto Mellini Ponce De León]], [[Mario Toscano]], and [[Licinio Vestri]].<ref name=":12" /> De León was an old friend of Bourguiba who had helped free him from German captivity, Toscano was the head of the ''Ufficio Studi e Documentazione'' in the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Italy)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], and Vestri was an [[Africanist (discipline)|Africanist]] scholar.<ref name=":12" /> Despite his best efforts, the Italians remained neutral as they did not want to ruin relations with [[NATO]] ally France, nor did they want to hamper any possibility of future relations with Tunisia as it served as a key part of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].<ref name=":12" />

Tunisia was hit by two terror attacks on foreign tourists in 2015, [[Bardo National Museum attack|first killing 22 people]] at the [[Bardo National Museum (Tunis)|Bardo National Museum]], and [[2015 Sousse attacks|later killing 38 people]] at the [[Sousse]] beachfront. Tunisian president [[Beji Caid Essebsi]] renewed the state of emergency in October for three more months.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/why-is-the-state-of-emergency-renewed-three-times-tunisia.html|title=The real reason Tunisia renewed its state of emergency|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220140248/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/why-is-the-state-of-emergency-renewed-three-times-tunisia.html|archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref> The [[Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet]] won the 2015 [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for its work in building a peaceful, pluralistic political order in Tunisia.<ref>"The Nobel Peace Prize 2015". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 15 December 2016.</ref>

 

Tunisia's first democratically elected president [[Beji Caid Essebsi]] died in July 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi dies aged 92 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190725-tunisia-president-essebsi-dies-aged-92 |work=France 24 |date=25 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Following him, [[Kais Saied]] became Tunisia's president after a landslide victory in the [[2019 Tunisian presidential election]]s in October.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2019-10-14|title=Tunisia election: Kais Saied to become president|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50032460|access-date=2021-03-26}}</ref> On 23 October 2019, Saied was sworn in as Tunisia's new president.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tunisia's new president sworn in after surprise election win |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20191023-tunisia-s-new-president-sworn-in-after-surprise-election-win |work=France 24 |date=23 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

 

Tunisia is home to five terrestrial ecoregions: [[Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests]], [[Saharan halophytics]], [[Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe]], [[Mediterranean woodlands and forests]], and [[North Saharan steppe and woodlands]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}}</ref>

 

{{main|Politics of Tunisia}}

[[File:Kais Saied 2023.jpg|left|thumb|[[Kais Saied]], [[President of Tunisia|President]] since 2019]]

 

===Administrative divisions===

{{main|Subdivisions of Tunisia|Governorates of Tunisia|Delegations of Tunisia}}

{{Labelled map of Tunisia|float=right}}

Among Tunisia's tourist attractions are its cosmopolitan capital city of [[Tunis]], the ancient ruins of [[Carthage]], the Muslim and Jewish quarters of [[Djerba]], coastal resorts outside of [[Monastir, Tunisia|Monastir]], and the night life-driven city of [[Hammamet, Tunisia|Hammamet]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=HAMMAMET |url=https://www.tunisiatourism.info/en/destination/hammamet |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=TunisiaTourism.info |language=fr}}</ref> According to ''The New York Times'', Tunisia is "known for its golden beaches, sunny weather and affordable luxuries".<ref>{{cite news |title=A Night, and Day, In Tunisia at a New Resort |last=Glusac |first=Elaine |newspaper=The New York Times |date=22 November 2009 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE4D81538F931A15752C1A96F9C8B63}}</ref>

 

{{Main|Energy in Tunisia}}{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = '''Sources of electricity production in Tunisia'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steg.com.tn/journee_sidi_salem/maitrise_energie.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055823/http://www.steg.com.tn/journee_sidi_salem/maitrise_energie.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 |title=Effort national de maitrise de l'energie : contribution de la steg |access-date=12 November 2009 |last=Arfa |first= M. Othman Ben |work=steg.com.tn |url-status=dead }}</ref>

|label1 = Thermal steam

|value1 = 44

The country maintains {{convert|19232|km|mi}} of roads,<ref name=CIA/> with three highways: the [[A1 motorway (Tunisia)|A1]] from Tunis to Sfax (works ongoing for Sfax-Libya), [[A3 motorway (Tunisia)|A3]] Tunis-Beja (works ongoing Beja – Boussalem, studies ongoing Boussalem – Algeria) and [[A4 motorway (Tunisia)|A4]] Tunis – Bizerte. There are 29 airports in Tunisia, with [[Tunis Carthage International Airport]] and [[Djerba–Zarzis International Airport]] being the most important ones. A new airport, [[Enfidha – Hammamet International Airport]] opened in 2011. The airport is located north of Sousse at Enfidha and is to mainly serve the resorts of Hamammet and Port El Kantaoui, together with inland cities such as Kairouan. Five airlines are headquartered in Tunisia: [[Tunisair]], [[Syphax Airlines]], [[Karthago Airlines]], [[Nouvelair]], and [[Tunisair Express]]. The railway network is operated by [[SNCFT]] and amounts to {{convert|2135|km|mi}} in total.<ref name=CIA/> The Tunis area is served by a [[Light rail]] network named ''Metro Leger'' which is managed by Transtu.

 

{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in Tunisia}}

Tunisia has achieved the highest access rates to water supply and sanitation

According to the CIA, as of 2021, Tunisia has a population of 11,811,335 inhabitants.<ref name=CIA/> The government has supported a successful [[family planning]] program that has reduced the population growth rate to just over 1% per annum, contributing to Tunisia's economic and social stability.<ref name=cnsd/>

 

According to the [[CIA]] [[The World Factbook|World Factbook]], [[ethnic groups]] in Tunisia are: Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%.<ref name=CIA/>

 

There are also a number of musical festivals; some honor traditional Tunisian music, while others, including the [[Tabarka Jazz Festival]], focus on other genres.

 

 

[[Omek Tannou]] is an ancient Tunisian [[rainmaking (ritual)|rainmaking festival]] which was inherited from [[Punic]] and [[Berbers|Berber]] traditions involving invocations of the goddess [[Tanit]]. It features the ritual use of the [[Sculpture|sculpted]] head of a woman (somewhat resembling the head of a girl's [[doll]]), which is carried in procession between the houses of a village during periods of [[drought]] by children singing the refrain {{lang|aeb|أمك طانقو يا نساء طلبت ربي عالشتاء}} (transliteration: ''amk ṭangu ya nsaʾ tlbt rbi ʿalshta'a''), "Amek tango, o women, ask God to rain". This song varies according to the region because the term ''shta'' designates rain only in certain urban areas. Each housewife then pours a little water on the statuette, invoking rain.

In 2012, Tunisia participated for the seventh time in its history in the [[Summer Paralympic Games]]. Their national team finished the competition with 19 medals; 9 golds, 5 silvers and 5 bronzes. Tunisia was classified 14th on the [[2012 Summer Paralympics medal table|Paralympics medal table]] and 5th in [[2012 Summer Paralympics medal table|Athletics]].

 

 

==See also==

*[[Architecture of Tunisia]]

 

{{notelist}}

 

{{reflist|30em}}

 

 

==External links==

*{{osmrelation-inline|192757}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131225020057/http://www.enpi-info.eu/countrymed.php?country=8 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre: Country profile of Tunisia]

{{Tunisia topics}}

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