Tunisia, officially the
Tunisian Republic, is a country situated on the Mediterranean coast of
North Africa. It is the northernmost African country and the smallest of
the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range, bordering Algeria,
to the west, and Libya to the south east. Around forty percent of the
country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder
consisting of particularly fertile soil, and a 1300-km coastline. Both
played a prominent role in ancient times, first with the famous
Phoenician city of Carthage, and later, as the Africa Province, which
became known as the bread basket of the Roman Empire. It is thought that
the name Tunis (Arabic for both the nation and capital city) originated
from Berber, meaning either a geographical promontory, or, "to
spend the night." Tunisia is a republic with a strong presidential system dominated by a single political party. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been in office since 1987, the year he deposed Habib Bourguiba in a bloodless coup. The constitution has been changed twice to allow Ben Ali to remain in power: initially from two to three terms, then from three to five. The ruling party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), was the sole legal party for 25 years, known previously as the Socialist Destourian Party (PSD). The RCD still dominates political life.
Tunisia is in northern Africa, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. It is bordered by Algeria in the west and Libya in the south-east. Much of the land is semi-arid and desert. The north of the country is mountainous, with a climate that is temperate with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The south of the country is dominated by the Sahara desert.
Tunisia is also one of the few Muslim countries (Azerbaijan and Turkey are two others), that prohibits the hijab in government buildings. By government edict, women that insist on wearing the hijab must quit their job or drop out of school. Dissenters are forced to sign a document admitting to having committed a crime punishable by law and, in cases of recidivism, are jailed. Women who insist on keeping their veils despite all threats become the subject of negative propaganda disseminated by the Tunisian authorities on all state and private media.
While the vast majority of modern Tunisians identify themselves as Arab, most Tunisians descend from indigenous Berbers: less than 20% of the Tunisian genepool comes from the Middle East.[2] Numerous civilizations have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia. Significant influxes of population have come through conquest by the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Ottomans, and French. Many Spanish Moors and Jews also arrived at the end of the 15th century. Nearly all Tunisians (98% of the population) are
Muslim. There has been a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba for 2500 years, and though considerably diminished, there remains a small Jewish population in Tunis which is descended from those who fled Spain in the late 15th century. There is also a small indigenous Christian
population. Small nomadic indigenous minorities have been mostly assimilated into the larger population.
