Tunisia
Tunisia: population and cities
Population
Population
According to
Countryaah website, Since 1956 until today, Tunisia's population has more than tripled to around
11.7 million people. The initially rapid population growth has slowed since the
1990s, which is also due to the fact that today's Tunisia has the lowest birth
rate in the entire Arab region.

The population growth is only around 1%. Actually, one should also add the
approximately 1 million people who are currently abroad to the population. 85%
of them live in Europe, with most of them having dual citizenship.
Ethnic groups
About 98% of the population of Tunisia are Arabs and Arabized
Berbers. Furthermore, about 1% Berbers and minorities of French, Italian and
Maltese live in the country.
Religions
The state religion of Tunisia is Islam. About 99% of the population are Muslim,
mostly Sunnis. However, there are also minorities of Jews, Catholics and
Protestants.
Overall, only about 0.2% of the population profess Christianity
National languages
A Tunisian dialect of Arabic is predominantly spoken in the country, as well as
Berber languages and French.
Capital and other cities
Tunis
The capital of Tunisia is Tunis, with a population of around 2 million. The
medina, the old town of Tunis, is well worth seeing. The largest in its
extension and at the same time next to that of Kairouan best preserved old town
in the country was built in the 9th/10th. Created by the Aghlabids and rebuilt
by the Hafsids from the 13th century. The Turks added a number of buildings,
especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. The total of around 700 historically
significant buildings in the old town appear mostly inconspicuous from the
outside and are not accessible. The villa suburb of Bardo in Tunis, created
around a palace district founded by the Hafsids in 1420, is also well worth
seeing. It was greatly expanded by the Turkish beys, especially in the 19th
century.
Other bigger cities in Tunisia are:
Monastir
Monastir is one of the most famous cities in the country. Around 75,000 people
live in the city, located in the south of the Gulf of Hammamet on
the Mediterranean. The old town of Monastir is also very worth seeing.
Sousse
Sousse has about 180,000 residents. The port city is located in the north-west
of the country on the Mediterranean coast. The Sousse Medina attracts thousands
of tourists every year.
The old town is enclosed by a 2.25 km long stone city wall, which was built
between 859 and 874 and of which three gates are still preserved. Other cities
worth mentioning are:
- Sfax (Safaqs) with around 280,000 residents
- Ariana with around 240,000 residents
- Kairouan (Al-Qayrawan) with around 120,000 residents
- Biserta (Banzart)
- Gabés (Qabis) with around 110,000 residents each.
Tunisia: geography, map
Defined by DigoPaul, Tunisia is located in North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea and covers an
area of 164,150 km². Thereof:

- Forest
Around 3% of the country is forested.
- Meadow and pasture land
Around 18% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
- Savannah
Around 23% of the country consists of savannah.
- Arable land and fields
Around 30% of the land is used as arable land or fields.
- Desert
About 45% of the country is covered by the Sahara desert.
Tunisia shares a border with the following two countries:
- Algeria with a length of 965 km
- Libya with a length of 459 km.
The length of the coast to the Mediterranean is around 1,150 km.
Longitude and latitude
Tunisia extends over the following geographical latitude (abbr. Δφ) and
geographical longitude (abbr. Δλ):
Δφ = from around 30 ° to 37 ° 40 'north latitude
Δλ = from around 007 ° 30' to 011 ° 30 'east longitude |
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and
Latitude.
Time
For Tunisia, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e.
the time (without summer time) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland:
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones,
time.
Tunis lies at a northern latitude of around φ = 37 °.
If the sun or its image point is at the northern tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °,
summer starts in Tunis, this is June 21. Then, for the highest position of the
sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see position of the sun):
37 ° = (90 ° - h) + 23.5 °
so:
At 76.5 °, the sun in Tunis has the highest level of the entire year above
the horizon (more precisely: above the horizon).
The highest point of the sun in Tunis
mountains
The highest mountain in the country is Jabal al Shanabi (Jebel
Chambi) with a height of 1,544 m. Other high mountains are:
- Jebel Bireno with a height of 1,419 m
- Jebel Mrhila with a height of 1,378 m
- Jebel Selloum with a height of 1,373 m
- Jebel Tiouach with a height of 1,363 m.
Rivers
The longest river in the country is the Medjerda with a
length of 361 km. Another river in the country is the Zeroud.
Lakes
The country includes numerous more or less dried up salt lakes. The largest
salt lake is the Chott el Jerid with an area of around 4,900
km². Another lake is the Sebkhet de Sidi el Hani.
Islands
The following islands are in front of the country:
Djerba as the largest island in North Africa with an area of
514 km², furthermore Chergui and Gharbi.
The Mediterranean
Tunisia borders the Mediterranean Sea in the north and east with a length of
around 1,150 km.
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