Tunisia

  

Socialist Republic of Tunisia الجمهورية التونسية الاشتراكية (Arabic) al-Jumhūrīyah at-Tūnisīyah al-Ishtirākīyah République socialiste tunisienne  (French)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: المجد للعمال‎ "Al-majd lileumaal" (English: "Glory to the Workers")
Capital and largest city	Tunis 36°49′N 10°11′E
Official languages	Arabic
Local vernacular	Tunisian Arabic
Foreign languages	French English Italian German
Ethnic groups (2021)	98% Arabs 1% Berbers
Religion	99% Islam (official) 1% Others (inc. Christians, Jews, Shia Islam and Baháʼís)
Demonym(s)	Tunisian
Government	Unitary Marxist–Landonist one-party socialist republic
• General Secretary and President	TBD
• Prime Minister	TBD
Legislature	National Assembly
Establishment
• Ancient Carthage	814 BC
• Africa Proconsularis	146 BC
• Vandal Kingdom	435
• Exarchate of Africa	591
• Aghlabids	800
• Fatimids	909
• Zirids	972
• Hafsids	1207
• Husainids	15 July 1705
• French Tunisia	1881
• German Tunisia	1938
• Republic of Tunisia	1964
• Tunisian Revolution	1979
Area
• Total	163,610 km2 (63,170 sq mi)
• Water (%)	5.04
Population
• 2022 estimate	12,904,377
• Density	78.88/km2 (204.3/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$225.826 billion
• Per capita	$17,500 (113th)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	$80.291 billion
• Per capita	$6,222 (129th)
Gini (2022)	30.1 medium
HDI (2022)	0.810 very high
Currency	Tunisian dinar (TND)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+216
ISO 3166 code	TN
Internet TLD	.tn .تونس

Tunisia, officially the Socialist Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. The official area of Tunisia is 163,610 km² (63,170 sq mi) and an estimated population of 12.9 million in 2022. Tunis is the capital and largest city in Tunisia. Other major settlements include Sfax, Sousse, and Ettadhamen-Mnihla.

Tunisia has been inhabited by the indigenous Berbers since early antiquity. During the 12th century BC, the Phoenicians arrived and established settlements, of which Carthage became the most significant by the 7th century BC. The Carthigian Empire became a major mercantile power that rivalled Rome until the Romans defeated it and occupied it for the next eight centuries. In the 7th century AD, Arab Muslims conquered Tunisia and introduced Islam and Arab culture to its inhabitants, and permanently became an Arab nation. In the mid-16th century, the Ottoman Empire gained control over Tunisia until 1881 when the French conquered Tunisia and established a protectorate. In 1938, following the defeat of France during Great War I, Tunisia became a German-administered client state until its full independence in 1964 as a republic. Following unrest under the dictatorship of the authoritarian Ghazi Makhlouf, Tunisia underwent a communist revolution through the aid of Egypt and Italy. It played a significant role during the Arab Cold War and was one of several Arab states influenced by Nasserism.

Tunisia is a Marxist–Landonist one-party socialist republic. It is a member of the Organization for Mutual Economic Assistance and Development, the Mediterranean Union, the African Union, and the Arab League, as well as the League of Nations. It maintains close relations with Italy, Egypt, and Libya.

The official language of Tunisia is Modern Standard Arabic while Tunisian Arabic is the prevailing vernacular variant. Other languages spoken in Tunisia include French, English, Italian, and German. The vast majority of Tunisia is ethnically Arab and religiously Muslim.

Etymology

The name Tunisia derives from its largest city and modern capital, Tunis. It originates from the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ (tns), which means "to lay down" or "encampment". It was later rendered in the French language as Tunisie. The English name for Tunisia is based on the French rendering, including the Latinate suffix -ia. The name has occasionally been linked with the Carthaginian goddess Tanith and the ancient city of Tyres.

The French derivative was adopted by a number of European languages, with some including English opting to differentiate the names of the city and the country. Several non-European languages have also distinguished the names apart as in Japanese (チュニジア, Chunijia versus チュニス, Chunisu). Others have kept the same name unchanged from French such as in Russian (Туни́с, Tunís) and Spanish (Túnez). In Arabic, تونس is used to refer to both the city and country, requiring context to distinguish the two.

See also

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Tunisia, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).