30/10/2021
Home to roughly a quarter of its nation’s total population, Tunis is the capital city for the Republic of Tunisia.
Serving the tiniest country in northwestern Africa, Tunis is also home to headquarters for roughly two-thirds of Tunisia’s financial services companies. Tunisia’s capital is therefore the country’s central business and urban hub.
Tunis was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the site for the unveiling of the largest pair of jeans ever made. The record-setting jeans measured 164 feet 4 inches (36 meters) with a waist of 118 feet 1 inch (36 meters) and weighed 2,204.6 pounds (1,000 kilograms).
Research website numbeo ranks Tunis in the bottom quarter compared to the 250 cities evaluated on its overall quality of life index at June 2020. Tunis scored poorly on index factors such as high pollution (top 20%), purchasing power (bottom 10%), health care (bottom 17%) and safety (bottom 41%). On the positive side, Tunis rates in the top 10% for lowest cost of living.
Despite being on the edge of the Sahara Desert, Tunis is often subject to freezing cold during its winter months. During January, Tunisia’s average high is just 61 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius).
Tunisia’s capital is also home to one of the world’s oldest mosque, the mammoth Al-Zaytuna Mosque which dates as far back as 698 A.D.
As the most northern African nation, the Republic of Tunisia shares strong trade ties with Europe. Tunisia exported an estimated US$15.1 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports include automotive wiring sets (10% of Tunisia’s global total), crude oil (4.8%), cotton men’s trousers and shorts (4.7%), virgin olive oil (3.1%), modems and similar reception, transmission and conversion equipment (2.5%), cotton women’s trousers and shorts (1.9%), dates (1.9%), electric conductors fitted with connectors (also 1.9%), airplane or helicopter parts (1.6%) and television reception apparatus (1.5%) according to the International Trade Centre.