Métouia ( ar, المطوية '), also spelled El Méthouia, is a town and commune in the

Gabès Governorate __NOTOC__ Gabès Governorate ( ') is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia, governorates of Tunisia and in south-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of 7166 km2 and had a population of 374,300 as at the 2014 census.Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. As of 2004 it had a population of 9,946.Recensement de 2004 (Institut national de la statistique)
In summer, it increases to nearly 50 000 inhabitants due to the return of summer residents living abroad. Administratively, it has a municipality seat of 9,946 inhabitants and a delegation attached to the governorate of

Gabès Gabès (, ; ar, قابس, ), also spelled Cabès, Cabes, Kabes, Gabbs and Gaps, is the capital city of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. It is located on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès. With a population of 152,921, Gabès is the 6th largest ...

History

Roman remains in Metouia witness Roman presence in ancient time. A large water resource have gathered settling tribes over the centuries in Metouia. According to the work of

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...

, “Archaeological Travel in the Regence of Tunis” (1862) account 500 inhabitants in Métouia in 1862, describing the town as follows: "They grow very fertile gardens, divided by small separation of clay walls and watered by numerous rivulets. The tree that dominates is the palm tree. This set of gardens and the forest is an oasis of date palms larger than the previous one ( Oudhref ) ".

Geography

Located 12 kilometres from Gabès, Métouia has a wide areas of palm trees (about 270 hectares) and a coastline of 10 kilometres from its centre. Fisheries is diverse (essentially

Grooved carpet shell The grooved carpet shell, or Palourde clam, ''Ruditapes decussatus'', or ''Venerupis decussatus'', is a clam (bivalve mollusc) in the family Veneridae. It is distributed worldwide and due to its ecological and economic interest has been proposed ...

,« Diagnostic initial des sites de pêche artisanale du Maroc et de Tunisie », ''CopeMed II – ArtFiMed Technical Documents'', nº4, Malaga, 2009
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octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

and various species of fish), contributing to the high productivity of the

Gulf of Gabès The Gulf of Gabes (or Cabès, Cabes, Gaps; ar, خليج قابس, ḫalīǧ Qābis), also known as Lesser Syrtis (from grc, Μικρά Σύρτις, Mikrá Sýrtis; la, Syrtis Minor), contrasting with the Greater Syrtis in Libya, is a gulf on ...

. The main highway connecting the city is National Highway 1 (RN1).

Economy

Its economy is based mainly on farming of oasis, select industrial activities (industrial Métouia zone El-Aouinet), and tourism.

Sport

It features two teams of soccer: The Métouian Sport Union, and The Métouian Athletic Youth based in Tunis.

Notable residents

Änis Ben-Hatira Änis Ben-Hatira (born 18 July 1988) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Between 2012 and 2016 he made 12 appearances for the Tunisia national team scoring one goal. Club career Born in Berlin, Ben-Hatir ...

, footballer. *

Amor Ben Salem ,''AbouJahl Addahhas'' ( ar, أبو جهل الدّهّاس Amor Ben Salem ( aeb, عمر بن سالم) is a Tunisian Arabic writer. Biography Amor Ben Salem was born in the village of Métouia in the southeastern province of Gabes in Tunis ...

, story writer, novelist, historian of modern and contemporary Tunisian literature. * Oussama Romdhani, former Tunisian Communications Minister

Twin towns – sister cities

Métouia is twinned with: * Gausson, since 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metouia Populated places in Gabès Governorate Communes of Tunisia