Blog About Tunis

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.

Agriculture remains a major source of income. Olives and cereals are the principal crops grown, and olive oil and foodstuffs are processed. Manufactures include textiles and clothing, carpets, and cement and metal building structures. There are also chemical (superphosphate), metallurgical, machine, and electrical industries and railway workshops. There are several thermoelectric plants at Ḥalq al-Wādī, and Maqrīn has a lead smelter. Tourism is of particular economic importance. Al-ʿUwaynah International Airport and the International Airport of Tunis-Carthage are located northeast of the city.

Tunis has two cultural centres, as well as a theatre that is used by international theatre groups. The summer festival—the Festival of Carthage, held in July—has achieved a certain renown. Among the city’s attractions are its thermal baths, dating from the time of Rome’s Antonine emperors (who reigned in the 2nd century), the heights of Sīdī-Bū Saʿīd, the exoticism of its markets (suqs), and the mosque of Al-Zaytūnah (8th century), the oldest and most venerated monument in Tunis. The University of Tunis was founded in 1960. Southeast of the city, along the valley of the Wadi Milyān, are magnificent remains of the aqueduct built by the Romans to link Mount Zaghwān (Zaghouan) to Carthage. Pop. (2004) city (commune),

Tunis, Arabic Tūnis or Tūnus, capital and largest city of Tunisia, on the northern African coast, between the western and eastern basins of the Mediterranean Sea. Tunis was built at the end of the shallow Lake of Tunis, an inlet of the Gulf of Tunis, and is linked with its port, Ḥalq al-Wādī, 6 miles (10 km) to the northeast.

Tunis, Tunisia
Tunis, Tunisia
Tunis, Tunisia.
© eFesenko/Shutterstock.com
Tunis, Tunisia: traditional architecture
Tunis, Tunisia: traditional architecture
Traditional architecture on a medina terrace in Tunis, Tunisia.
© Gimas/Shutterstock.com
Tunis was founded by the Libyans, who in the 9th century BCE surrendered the site of Carthage to the Phoenicians from Tyre. In 146 BCE, during the Third Punic War between Carthage and Rome, Tunis and Carthage were destroyed. The city flourished under Roman rule, but its importance dates chiefly from the Muslim conquest in the 7th century CE. It became the capital city under the Aghlabids (800–909) and reached its greatest prosperity under the Ḥafṣid dynasty (1236–1574). The Holy Roman emperor Charles V took possession of it in 1535, and in 1539 the city passed into the hands of the Turks. It was retaken by the Spaniards, who held it from 1573 to 1574 but who were obliged to yield it to the Ottoman Empire, under which it remained until the French protectorate (1881–1956). Occupied by the Germans in 1942 and liberated by British forces and Allied troops in 1943, it became the national capital of Tunisia when independence was achieved in 1956.

Agriculture remains a major source of income. Olives and cereals are the principal crops grown, and olive oil and foodstuffs are processed. Manufactures include textiles and clothing, carpets, and cement and metal building structures. There are also chemical (superphosphate), metallurgical, machine, and electrical industries and railway workshops. There are several thermoelectric plants at Ḥalq al-Wādī, and Maqrīn has a lead smelter. Tourism is of particular economic importance. Al-ʿUwaynah International Airport and the International Airport of Tunis-Carthage are located northeast of the city.

Tunis has two cultural centres, as well as a theatre that is used by international theatre groups. The summer festival—the Festival of Carthage, held in July—has achieved a certain renown. Among the city’s attractions are its thermal baths, dating from the time of Rome’s Antonine emperors (who reigned in the 2nd century), the heights of Sīdī-Bū Saʿīd, the exoticism of its markets (suqs), and the mosque of Al-Zaytūnah (8th century), the oldest and most venerated monument in Tunis. The University of Tunis was founded in 1960. Southeast of the city, along the valley of the Wadi Milyān, are magnificent remains of the aqueduct built by the Romans to link Mount Zaghwān (Zaghouan) to Carthage. Pop. (2004) city (commune), 638,845.

Tunis, Arabic Tūnis or Tūnus, capital and largest city of Tunisia, on the northern African coast, between the western and eastern basins of the Mediterranean Sea.