Tunisia

From Imakoopedia

Tunisia is a country in Northern Africa that has a Mediterranean Sea coastline in the very centre of Mediterranean Africa. Tunisia lies immediately to the south of Italy and Malta. Libya borders Tunisia to the south-east, whilst Algeria lies to the west.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By boat 6 Get around 6.1 By train 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact 18 External links

Regions

Administrative divisions 

23 governorates; Ariana (Aryanah), Beja (Bajah), Ben Arous (Bin 'Arus), Bizerte (Banzart), El Kef (Al Kaf), Gabes (Qabis), Gafsa (Qafsah), Jendouba (Jundubah), Kairouan (Al Qayrawan), Kasserine (Al Qasrayn), Kebili (Qibili), Mahdia (Al Mahdiyah), Medenine (Madanin), Monastir (Al Munastir), Nabeul (Nabul), Sfax (Safaqis), Sidi Bou Zid (Sidi Bu Zayd), Siliana (Silyanah), Sousse (Susah), Tataouine (Tatawin), Tozeur (Tawzar), Tunis, Zaghouan (Zaghwan)

Cities

• Tunis - the capital of Tunisia
• Bizerte
• Gabes
• La Goulette
• Sfax
• Sousse
• Zarzis

Other destinations

• Carthage — the ruins of an empire that challenged Rome
• Matmata — desert village where Star Wars' Tatooine was filmed
• Sidi Bou Said — beautiful seaside town of white houses and blue doors

Understand

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 desert.

Elevation extremes 

lowest point: Shatt al Gharsah -17 m
highest point: Jebel ech Chambi 1,544 m

History

Independence 

20 March 1956 (from France)

National holiday 

Independence Day, 20 March (1956)

Following independence from France in 1956, 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 recent years, Tunisia has taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in its foreign relations. Domestically, it has sought to diffuse rising pressure for a more open political society.

Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil exploration.

Get in

By plane

Tunisia's main international airport is Carthage International Airport (TUN) near Tunis.

By boat

Ferry services link Tunis to Malta, Trapani (Sicily, Italy), Genoa (Italy) and Marseille (France).

Get around

By train

The national train company SNCFT runs modern and comfortable trains from Tunis south to Sousse, Sfax and Monastir. There are three classes of service, namely Grand confort (deluxe 1st), 1st and 2nd, and all are quite adequate. Example fares from Tunis to Sousse are 12/10/6 dinars in Grand/1st/2nd class.

A light railway also connect Tunis northward to Carthage and Marsa.

Talk

Arabic is the official language of Tunisia and one of the languages of commerce, the other being French — a relic of Tunisia's former status as a French colony until 1956. English is of limited use.

Buy

Eat

Tunisian cuisine is very much in the Northern African Maghreb tradition, with couscous and tajine stews forming the backbone of most meals. Distiguishing characteristics are the fiery harissa chili sauce and the heavy use of tiny olives, which are abundant in the country.

Drink

Being a Muslim country, alcohol availability is restricted to certain licensed (and invariably more expensive) restaurants, resort areas and Magasin General shops.

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

External links

• Tourism Tunisia .com (http://www.tourismtunisia.com/) - official tourism website