Tunisia
in Northern Africa
Africa

National active POI Bordering countries
Location Summary
Currency and Currency Code:
Dinar - TND
Spoken languages:
Arabic, French
Local electricity:
230 V - 50 Hz (plugs: C, E)
Mobile phone / cellular frequencies (MHz):
900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 3G, 4G
ISO 2-Letter code:
TN
Internet top level domain:
.tn
Country phone prefix:
+216
Local Time (capital):
Timezone:
UTC/GMT offset: hours
Current travel safety evaluation for Tunisia in Northern Africa

Safety Score: 3,0 of 5.0 based on data from 9 authorites. Meaning we advice caution when travelling to Tunisia.

Travel warnings are updated daily. Source: Travel Warning Tunisia. Last Update: 2024-08-13 08:21:03

Explore Tunisia

Tunisia with its capital Tunis is located in Africa (Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea). It covers some 163,611 square kilometers (slightly larger than Georgia) with 11,403,800 citizens. Arabic and French are the common languages used in Tunisia. As an interesting fact, is sharing borders with Algeria and Libya.

Tunisia is a country in Northern Africa that has a Mediterranean Sea coastline in the very centre of Mediterranean Africa. Although Tunisia is best known today for its beach resort holidays, the country has an amazing heritage with some exceptional archaelogical remains to be explored. Little remains of Carthage, but what does is well presented and an absolute must see for every visitor to Tunisia. Tunisia has some of the most accessible, beautiful Saharan desert scenery. George Lucas fans will recognise the village of Matmata.

Popular Destinations in Tunisia

 

Tunis
 

Sousse
 

Sfax
 

Bizerte
 

Kairouan
 

Mahdia

Administrative regions of Tunisia

About the country

Website: Tunisia Tourism

The topography is mountains in north with hot, dry central plain as well as semiarid south merges into the Sahara. The average density of population is about 70 per km². The climate in Tunisia can be described as temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers with desert in south. Potential natural disasters are droughts, earthquakes and flooding.

To reach someone Tunisia dial +216 prior to a number. The local cellular networks are operated on 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 3G, 4G. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".tn". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery chaarger), keep in min the local 230 V - 50 Hz (plugs: C, E). The sign for the locally used currency Dinar is TND.

Red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; resembles the Ottoman flag (red banner with white crescent and star) and recalls Tunisia's history as part of the Ottoman Empire; red represents the blood shed by martyrs in the struggle against oppression, white stands for peace; the crescent and star are traditional symbols of Islam.

Flag of Tunisia

Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following World War I was finally successful in convincing the French to recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict 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, BOURGUIBA 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. On 14 January 2011, the same day BEN ALI dismissed the government, he fled the country, and by late January 2011, a "national unity government" was formed. Elections for the new Constituent Assembly were held in late October 2011, and in December, it elected human rights activist Moncef MARZOUKI as interim president. The Assembly began drafting a new constitution in February 2012 and, after several iterations and a months-long political crisis that stalled the transition, ratified the document in January 2014. 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. In 2016, the new unity government continued to seek to balance political cohesion with economic and social pressures.

Geography

Area
Total (World Rank: 94) 163,610sq km
Land (World Rank: 92) 155,360sq km
Water (World Rank: 55) 8,250sq km
Forest (World Rank: 51) 31.10%
Comparative slightly larger than Georgia
Coastline
1148
Landborder
1495
Elevation
Lowest point (World Rank: 54) -17m
Highest point (World Rank: 143) 1,544m
Agricultural land
Total (World Rank: 35) 64.80%
Arable (World Rank: 62) 18.30%
Permanent crops (World Rank: 17) 15.40%
Permanent pastures (World Rank: 51) 31.10%
Irrigated land (World Rank: 58) 4,590sq km
Map reference
Africa
Environment
Issues
  • - deforestation
  • - desertification
  • - limited natural freshwater resources
  • - overgrazing
  • - soil erosion
  • - toxic and hazardous waste disposal is ineffective and poses health risks
  • - water pollution from raw sewage
Agreement party
  • - Biodiversity
  • - Climate Change
  • - Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
  • - Desertification
  • - Endangered Species
  • - Environmental Modification
  • - Hazardous Wastes
  • - Law of the Sea
  • - Marine Dumping
  • - Ozone Layer Protection
  • - Ship Pollution
  • - Wetlands
Agreement signed Marine Life Conservation
Hazzards
  • - droughts
  • - earthquakes
  • - flooding
Location
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya
Climate
temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south
Terrain
mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara

People

Population
Total (World Rank: 79) 11,403,800
Deathrate (World Rank: 151) 0.63%
Birthrate (World Rank: 94) 1.82%
Growthrate (World Rank: 111) 1.01%
Migration rate (World Rank: 118) -0.17%
Fertility rate (World Rank: 96) 2.23%
Median age
Male (World Rank: 101) 31.00
Female (World Rank: 101) 32.20
Age structure
0 14 male (World Rank: 84) 1,482,300
0 14 female (World Rank: 85) 1,385,410
15 24 male (World Rank: 85) 805,376
15 24 female (World Rank: 85) 790,119
25 54 male (World Rank: 71) 2,410,720
25 54 female (World Rank: 68) 2,536,020
55 64 male (World Rank: 66) 543,865
55 64 female (World Rank: 70) 543,642
65 x male (World Rank: 70) 429,681
65 x female (World Rank: 75) 476,668
Health
Infant mortality rate (World Rank: 118) 1.21%
Life expectancy total (World Rank: 100) 76years
Life expectancy female (World Rank: 121) 77years
Life expectancy male (World Rank: 77) 74years
Physicians per 1000 (World Rank: 87) 1.65
Hospital bed per 1000 (World Rank: 101) 2.10
Sanitation access total (World Rank: 88) 91.60%
Obesity adult (World Rank: 40) 26.90%
Drinking water access (World Rank: 87) 97.70%

Energy

Electricity
Production (World Rank: 78) 18,390,000,000kWh
Consumption (World Rank: 77) 15,120,000,000kWh
Export (World Rank: 68) 500,000,000kWh
Import (World Rank: 83) 403,000,000kWh
Source fossil (World Rank: 59) 93.40%
Source nuclear (World Rank: 146) 1.30%
Source renew (World Rank: 90) 5.60%
Crude oil
Production (World Rank: 56) 48,670bbl / day
Exports (World Rank: 43) 46,370bbl / day
Imports (World Rank: 63) 23,600bbl / day
Proved reserves (World Rank: 50) 425,000,000bbl
Refined products
Production (World Rank: 85) 34,760bbl / day
Consumption (World Rank: 81) 98,000bbl / day
Export (World Rank: 70) 16,710bbl / day
Import (World Rank: 67) 72,610bbl / day
Natural gas
Production (World Rank: 60) 1,575,000,000m³
Consumption (World Rank: 59) 7,670,000,000m³
Import (World Rank: 23) 0m³
Carbon footprint
21000000

Nation

Budget
Education (World Rank: 27) 6% of GDP
Military (World Rank: 41) 2% of GDP
Health (World Rank: 81) 7% of GDP
Surplus (World Rank: 155) -5% of GDP
National symbol
encircled red star and crescent
National colours
white
Adjective
Tunisian
Noun
Tunisian(s)
Background
Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following World War I was finally successful in convincing the French to recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict 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, BOURGUIBA 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. On 14 January 2011, the same day BEN ALI dismissed the government, he fled the country, and by late January 2011, a "national unity government" was formed. Elections for the new Constituent Assembly were held in late October 2011, and in December, it elected human rights activist Moncef MARZOUKI as interim president. The Assembly began drafting a new constitution in February 2012 and, after several iterations and a months-long political crisis that stalled the transition, ratified the document in January 2014. 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. In 2016, the new unity government continued to seek to balance political cohesion with economic and social pressures.
Flag description
red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; resembles the Ottoman flag (red banner with white crescent and star) and recalls Tunisia's history as part of the Ottoman Empire; red represents the blood shed by martyrs in the struggle against oppression, white stands for peace; the crescent and star are traditional symbols of Islam

Economy

Gdp
Purchasing power parity (World Rank: 79) 130,500,000,000USD
Real growth rate (World Rank: 170) 1.00%
Per capita purchasing power parity (World Rank: 127) 11,600USD
Source agriculture (World Rank: 89) 9.90%
Source industry (World Rank: 110) 26.20%
Source service (World Rank: 100) 63.30%
Labourforce
Total (World Rank: 91) 4,022,000
In poverty (World Rank: 127) 15.50%
Products
Industries
  • - agribusiness
  • - beverages
  • - footwear
  • - iron ore
  • - mining particularly phosphate
  • - petroleum
  • - textiles
  • - tourism
Agriculture
  • - almonds
  • - beef
  • - citrus fruit
  • - dairy products
  • - dates
  • - grain
  • - olive oil
  • - olives
  • - sugar beets
  • - tomatoes
Exports
  • - agricultural products
  • - chemicals
  • - clothing
  • - electrical equipment
  • - hydrocarbons
  • - mechanical goods
  • - phosphates
  • - semi-finished goods
  • - textiles
Imports
  • - chemicals
  • - equipment
  • - foodstuffs
  • - hydrocarbons
  • - machinery
  • - textiles

Communication

Phone
Landline total (World Rank: 77) 974,975
Landline per 100 (World Rank: 134) 9.00
Mobile per 100 (World Rank: 60) 128.00
Assessment 0
Internet
Users (World Rank: 70) 5,665,240
Population (World Rank: 122) 50.90%

Transport

Air
Airports paved (World Rank: 97) 15.00
Airports unpaved (World Rank: 120) 14.00
Rail
Total length (World Rank: 71) 2,173
Road
Total length (World Rank: 113) 19,418
Paved length (World Rank: 66) 14,756
Unpaved length (World Rank: 103) 4,662
Popular places in this country

This is a list of famous places in this country in alphabetical order.