Hot Discussion
Mid-Autumn Festival Moon Cake Hunt!


Select a country/region

Tunisia - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Tunis   925,9  
Sfax   797,9  
Ariana   665  
Nabeul   624,6  
Kairouan   558,7  
Bizerte   513,9  



Total population (millions): 10
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 64%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: 1.2%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 16, 610


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Arab (98 %)
European (1 %)




Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Tunis


GMT+1


Languages


Official language: Arabic
The majority of Tunisians can speak French, which is used for business, and sometimes for administrative purposes.

Free translation tools in Tunisia :
Arjeeb
Free English-Arabic-English translation of texts and web pages

Ectaco
Free Arabic-English-Arabic dictionary



Religion


Religious practises : Muslims 98%
Christians 1%
Jews 1%.


Political system


Tunisia is a presidential republic. The President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage every five years for a maximum of three consecutive terms.
The parliament is composed of one single Chamber: the Chamber of Deputies, composed of 163 members elected by universal suffrage, every five years. The Democrat constitutional Gathering (RCD) is the party ruling with 144 seats. The main opposition parties are the socialist democrats' Movement (MSD), Harakat Ettaldid, the Popular Unit Party (PUP) the Democrat Union. These parties have little influence. Tunisia Republic is divided into 23 provinces.
President: Zine el Abidine Ben Ali (since 1987, reelected on October, 24th of 2004) RCD
Prime minister: Mohamed Ghannouchi (1999) RCD
The president is elected for a five-year term by the people.


Climate

 


Tourism

Number of visitors in Tunisia 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 5064   5114   5998   n.a.
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


-Tunis: the Africa building, the Bardo Museum, the Islamic Ceramic Museum
-Carthage: aqueduct: 344 arches - 141 km long, the national Museum.
-Djerba: El Jem: archaeological Museum, beaches.
-Kairouan: national Museum of Islamic arts.
-the following tourist places are part of the world patrimony:
-Carthage (archeological site)
-Dougga / Thugga
-El Jem (Roman amphitheatre)

For more information about tourism in Tunisia , check out the following web site(s) :
Tunisian National Tourism Office.


Food


Traditional dishes


The Tunisian food is famous for its lamb-based dishes. The following specialties can be found:
Couscous
Tajines (kind of meat stews)
Bric: mutton-based dishes
The Tunisian dishes are very flavoured: caraway, coriander, saffron, cinnamon, anisee, mint, orange, rose water.

Food-related taboos


To eat pork is prohibited and the sale of alcohol is limited.

Export Entreprises SA ©, All rights reserved
Last modified in October 2005
Email this page Bookmark this page