Tunisia
Tunisia,[a] officially the Republic of Tunisia,[b][18] is a
country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, covering
163,610 square kilometres (63,170 square miles). Its
northernmost point, Cape Angela, is also the northernmost
point on the African continent. Tunisia is bordered by
Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast,
and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia's
population was 11.7 million in 2019.[12] Tunisia's name is
derived from its capital city, Tunis (Berber native name:
Tunest), which is located on its northeast coast.
Geographically, Tunisia contains the eastern end of the
Atlas Mountains, and the northern reaches of the Sahara
desert. Much of the rest of the country's land is fertile
soil. Its 1,300 kilometres (810 miles) of coastline include
the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of
the Mediterranean Basin.
Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative
democratic republic. It is considered to be the only fully
democratic sovereign state in the Arab world.[19][20] It has
a high human development index.[15] It has an association
agreement with the European Union; is a member of La
Francophonie, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Arab Maghreb
Union, the Arab League, the OIC, the Greater Arab Free Trade
Area, the Community of Sahel–Saharan States, the African
Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77; and has
obtained the status of major non-NATO ally of the United
States. In addition, Tunisia is also a member state of the
United Nations and a state party to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court. Close relations with Europe,
in particular with France[21] and with Italy,[22][23] have
been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation and
industrial modernization.
In ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by
Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century
BC; these immigrants founded Carthage. A major mercantile
power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage
was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans occupied
Tunisia for most of the next 800 years, introduced
Christianity and left architectural legacies like the
amphitheatre of El Jem. After several attempts starting in
647, Muslims conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697 and
introduced Islam. After a series of campaigns beginning in
1534 to conquer and colonize the region, the Ottoman Empire
established control in 1574 and held sway for over 300 years
afterwards. French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881.
Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and
declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the
Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, followed by parliamentary
elections. The country voted for parliament again on 26
October 2014,[24] and for President on 23 November 2014.[25]
As a result, Tunisia is the only country in North Africa
classified as "Free" by the Freedom House organization[26]
and is also considered by The Economist's Democracy Index as
the only democracy in the Arab World.
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