Tunisia Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia (pronounced US: Tūnis), officially the Tunisian
Republic ‎ al-Jumhūriyya at-Tūnisiyya), is the northernmost country in Africa. It is an Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya
to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east.
Its area is almost 165,000 km², with an estimated population of just over
10.3 million. Its name is derived from the capital Tunis
located in the north-east.

Tunisia is the smallest of the
nations situated along the Atlas mountain range. The south of the
country is composed of the Sahara desert,
with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and
1,300 km of coastline. Both played a prominent role in ancient times,
first with the famous Phoenician city of Carthage, then as the Africa
Province which was known as the "bread basket" of the Roman Empire. Later, Tunisia was
occupied by Vandals during the 5th century AD, Byzantines in the 6th century, and Arabs
in the 8th century. Under the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia was known as "Regency
of Tunis". It passed under French protectorate in
1881. After obtaining independence in 1956, the country took the official name
of the "Kingdom
of Tunisia" at the
end of the reign of Lamine Bey and the
Husainid Dynasty. With the proclamation of
the Tunisian republic on July 25, 1957, the nationalist leader Habib Bourguiba became its first president
and led the modernization of the country.

Today Tunisia is an
export-oriented country, in the process of liberalizing and privatizing its
economy. The country operates as a republic under the leadership of President Zine El Abidine
Ben Ali who has governed since 1987. Although he has been criticized
for limiting freedom of the press, the Tunisian economy has flourished since he
came to power averaging 5% GDP growth since the early 1990s. ^[6]

Tunisia has close relations with
both the European Union —
with whom it has an association
agreement — and the Arab world. Tunisia is also a member of the Arab League and the African Union. The current government's
success in fighting international Islamic terrorism, along with its amicable
foreign policy, has moderated Western criticism of what some have characterized
as Tunisia's
slow pace in improving democratic practices. Tunisia
has built favourable relations with the European Union, and with France
in particular, through successful economic cooperation, industry modernization,
and privatisation programs.