Download 1 TUNISIA Img 1: Flag of Tunisia [4] Img 2: Map of Tunisa [9] Img 3

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TUNISIA
Img 1: Flag of Tunisia [4]
Img 2: Map of Tunisa [9]
Img 3: Location of Tunisia [10]
1.
Introduction
Rivalr y bet ween French a nd Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a Fr ench
invasion in 1881 and the creation of a pr otectorate. Agitat ion f or independence in
the decades f ollowing World War I was f inally successf ul in getting the French to
recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's f irst president,
Habib BOURGUIBA, established a str ict one -part y state. He dominated the
countr y f or 31 year s, repressing Islamic f undamentalism and establishing rights
f or women unmatched by any other Arab nation. In November 1987, BOURG UIBA
was removed f rom off ice and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless
coup. Street protests that began in Tunis in December 2010 over high
unemployment, corr uption, widespread povert y, and high f ood pr ices escalated in
Januar y 2011, culminating in r iot ing that led to hundreds of deaths. On 14 January
2011, the same day BEN ALI dism issed t he government, he f led the countr y, and
by late Januar y 2011, a "national unit y government" was f ormed. In late October
2011, elections f or a Const ituent Assem bly were held. The Const ituent Assembly
is charged with appoint ing a new inter im government, drafting a new constit ution,
and preparing f or legislative and presidential elections. [ 1 ]
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2. Basic information
2.1. General[3]
Original name: Al Jumhuriyah at
Tunisiyah
Area: 8,459,417 sq km
Population: 10,629,186 (2011)
Relief: Jebel ech Chambi (1 544 m), Shatt al
Gharsah (-17 m)
Geobioms: deserts, semi-deserts, subtropicall
biota
2.2.
Name: Tunisian Republic
Capital: Tunis
Location: 7°-12° w.l., 30°-37° s.l.
Landuse: 17.05% arable land, 3.08%
permanent crops, 69.87% other
Climate: temperate in north wit h mild,
rainy winters and hot , dry summer
Political status [ 3 ]
Established: 1956
Regions: 24 governor ates
Integration: OSN, LAS
GDP - per capita (PPP): $9,400 (2010 est.) [11]
Goverment type: republic
Time: GMT +1
HDI: 0.698 (2011) [2]
3. Maps skills
Gulf of Gabes, Golfe de Boughrara, Jer ba Island, Kerkennah Islands, Atlas mts.,
Bou- Hedma NP, Djebel Chambi NP, Jebil NP, Chott el -Jér id, Lac de Bizerte,
Medjer da River
4. Population and Settlement
4.1. Demographics
98% of modern Tunisians are ArabBerber, speakers of Tunisian Arabic.
There is also a small populat ion (1%)
of Berbers, living in the Jabal Dahar
mountains and on the island of Jerba.
The Berbers speak Berber languages
called Shelha.
1% of European population consist
mostly of French and Italians . We
cannot
f orget
about
Jew ish
communit y, who are settled in
Tunisia f or 2,000 years. In 1948 the
Jewish populat ion was circa 105,000,
but by 2003 only about 1,500 remained . [ 4 ]
Img 5: Berber people
[10]
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Tab.1: Races of Tunisia
Color/Races
Arab
Berbers
Europeans
98,00%
1,00%
1,00%
Tab. 2: Religion of Tunisia
Religion
Muslim
Christian
Jewish and other
98,00%
1,00%
1,00%
4.2. Religion
Img 6: Arab people [12]
The constitut ion declares Islam as the official state religi on and rewuires the
President to be Muslim. Besides the pr esident, there is a signif icant degree of
religious f reedom, a right wr itten in constitut ion.
Christians are mainly Catholics (22,000) and Protestants appear less. Judaism is
third largest religion with 1,500 members. Jewish people live mainly in and around
the capital, remain lives on the island of Djerba, with 39 synanogues. [ 4 ]
4.3. Language
The official language is Modern Standard Arabic , but Tunisian Arabic is the
local vernacular and also considered Tunisia`s nat ive language. A local vari et y of
Arabic is used by the public too. There is also a small minor it y speaking Shelha,
a Berber language.
French also plays a major role in the countr y f rom f ormer French occupation,
despite having no off icial status. It is widely used in education, the press,
business. Most Tunisians are able to speak French. Italian is spoken by just a
small part of the Tunisian populat ion. [ 4 ]
4.3. Settlement
Rank
1.
2.
3.
4.
City
Tunis
Sfax
Sousse
Kairouan
Population
728 453
340 000
173,047
117,903
Rank
5.
6.
7.
8.
City
Gabes
Bizerte
Aryanah
Gafsa
Population
116,323
114,371
97,687
84,676
Tab. 3: Largest cities of Tunisia [1]
5. Economy (agriculture, industry, services, transportation)
Tunisia has a diver se econom y – agriculture, mining, manuf acturing, petroleum
products and tour ism. In 2008 it had a GDP of US $41 bilion. It also has one of
Af ri ca and the Midd le East`s highest per -capi ta GDPs. The industrial sect or is
mainly made up of clothing and f ootwear manuf acturing, production of car parts,
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and electric machiner y. However, Tunisia suff er f rom a high unempl oyment
especially among young people.
In 2009 Tunisia was ranked the most competitive economy in Africa and 40 t h in
the world. Tunisia has managed to attract many inter national companies such as
Ai rbus and Hew lett-Packard.
Tourism accounted f or 7% of GDP and 370,000 jobs in 2009.
First trading partner of Tunisia is The European Union – 72.5% of Tunisian
imports and 75% of Tunisian exports. [ 4 ]

Agriculture – products:
olives, olive oil, grain, tomatoes, citrus
f ruit, sugar beets, dates, almonds, beef ,
dair y pr oducts [ 1 ]

Industries:
Tourism, text iles, f oo twear, agribusiness,
beverages [ 1 ]

Natural resources:
phosphate, iron ore, petroleum, natural
gas, lead, zinc [ 3 ]
Img 7: Olive plantation [13]
6. Tourism

Carhage
Major urban centre t hat has existed f or nearly 3, 000 years on the Gulf of Tunis,
developing f rom a Phoenici an colony of the 1 s t m illennium BC. It is current ly a
suburb of Tunis, Tunisia, with a populat ion of 20,715. [ 5 ]

Djerba
Also Jerba or Jarbah, has 514 sq km and that makes Jerba the largest island of
North Af rica, located in the Gulf of Gabes. It attracts mainly tourists by pr oviding
luxur y ser vices. [ 6 ]

Monastir
Cit y on the central coast of Tunisia, in the Sahel area. Tradit ionally a f ishing port,
Monastir is now a major tourist resort . [ 7 ]
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7. Key studies

Arab spring – Tunisian revolution
Following the suicidal self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a series of violent street
demonstrations through December 2010 led to the oustrer of longtime President Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali on 14th January 2011. The demonstrations were caused by high
unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech and other forms of
political freedom, and poor living conditions. The protests contituted the most dramatic wave
of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades, and have resulted in scores of deaths
and injuries, most of which were result of action by police and security forces against
demonstrators. Ben Ali fled into exile in Saudi Arabia, ending his 23 years in power.
Img 8: Demonstration [14]
Following Ben Ali`s deparature, a state of emergency was declared and a caretaker coalition
government was created, which included members of Ben Ali`s party, the Constutituonal
Democratic Rally (RCD), as well as opposition figures from other ministries. However, the five
newly appointed non-RDC ministers resigned almost immediately. As a result of continued daily
protests, on 27th January Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi reshuffled the government,
removing all former RCD members other than himself, and on 6th February the former ruling
party was suspended. Later, on 9th March, it was dissolved. Following futher public protests,
Ghannouchi himself resigned on 27th February, and Beji Caid el Sebsi became Prime
Minister. [8]
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Img 9: former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali [15]
8. Videos
Tunisian Nat ional Anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWuILKvwpTg&feature=related
The story of Moham ed Bouazizi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47d6fyaOjRM
„Visit Tunisia after the revolution, where it all started!“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6qlKXHwyoc
Tunisia, another side of the Medi terranean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfZe8IwPXHg
Tunisian wedding song – traditional music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMmch8iTbWA
Traditional Tunisian dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W29diXPoP9M
9. Tasks

W hich country created a protector ate of Tunisia in 1881?
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
W hich group of Tunisian people speaks Shelha language?

W hat is the off icial state religion?

Compare Tunisian econom y with econom ies of other Af rican states.

Descr ibe tourism of Tunisia. W hy is this countr y so attract ive f or tourists?

Name causes of Tunisian Arab spring.
References:
[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.html
[2] http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/TUN.html
[3] http://www.zemepis.com/Tunisko.php
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerba
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastir,_Tunisia
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring#Tunisian_revolution
[9] http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/tn.htm
[10] http://mathildasanthropologyblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/berbers.jpg
[11] http://www.indexmundi.com/tunisia/gdp_per_capita_%28ppp%29.html
[12] http://www.images-photos.com/Travel_to_Tunisia/Arab_people.jpg
[13] http://www.topnews.in/law/files/olive-plantations.jpg
[14] http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Egypt-Victory.jpg
[15]http://s.tf1.fr/mmdia/i/88/8/zine-el-abidine-ben-ali-tunisie10388888faxow_1713.jpg?v=3
[16] http://girlsoloinarabia.typepad.com/photos/algeriapics/sousse_beach.jpg