Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
takes place within the framework of a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigrou ...
semi-presidential
A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
, with a
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
serving as
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
as
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
, a unicameral legislature and a court system influenced by French civil law. Between 1956 and 2011, Tunisia operated as a ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
''
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
, with politics dominated by the secular
Constitutional Democratic Rally
The Democratic Constitutional Rally or Democratic Constitutional Assembly ( ar, التجمع الدستوري الديمقراطي ', french: Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique, sometimes also called Constitutional Democratic Rally in E ...
(RCD) under former Presidents
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...
and then
Zine el Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
. However, in 2011 a national uprising led to the ousting of the President and the dismantling of the RCD, paving the way for a multi-party democracy. October 2014 saw the first democratic parliamentary elections since the 2011 revolution, resulting in a win by the secularist
Nidaa Tounes
Nidaa Tounes ( ar, حركة نداء تونس ', french: Appel de la Tunisie; usually translated as "Call of Tunisia", "Call for Tunisia", or "Tunisia's Call") is a big tent secularist political party in Tunisia. After being founded in 2012, ...
party with 85 seats in the 217-member assembly.
Tunisia is a member of the
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, the
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
and the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
. It maintains close relations with the United States, France and the European Union, with which it entered an
Association Agreement
A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU), its Member States and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by su ...
in 1995. Tunisia's favorable relations with the United States and the European Union were earned following years of successful economic cooperation in the private sector and infrastructure modernization."Tunisian Partnership with Europe" Defense Technical Information Center, 2004
putting it in the same category as the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Tunisia is considered the only democracy in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
.
Tunisia's first democratically elected president
Beji Caid Essebsi
Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; ar, الباجي قائد السبسي, translit=Muhammad al-Bājī Qā’id as-Sibsī, ; 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019) was a Tunisian politician who served as the 6th president of Tunisia from 31 December 20 ...
died in July 2019. After him
Kais Saied
Kais Saied ( ar, قَيس سَعيد; born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian politician, jurist, and retired law professor, and currently the 8th President of Tunisia since October 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutiona ...
became Tunisia's president after a landslide victory in the
2019 Tunisian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Tunisia on 15 September 2019, the second direct vote for the presidency since the 2011 revolution. The elections had originally been planned for 17 and 24 November, but were brought forward after the death of ...
s in October 2019. He had a reputation of not being corruptible. However, on 25 July 2021 he suspended Parliament, fired the prime minister and consolidated power in what opponents called a "coup."
Government
Tunisia was a
representative democracy
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...
with an executive president, a legislature and judiciary, starting with elections in 2014 until the president suspended parliament and began ruling by decree on 25 July 2021. Since then, all the trappings of an authoritarian state have returned. The military is neutral and does not play any role in national politics.
Executive branch
In Tunisia, the President was directly elected for a five-year term. The President nominates the candidate of the party that gained the most votes in legislative elections to form a government within a month. The nominee must submit his program to the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and get the trust of the majority of its members before being appointed Prime Minister. Regional governors and local administrators are appointed by the central government. Mayors and municipal councils are directly elected.
Legislative branch
Tunisia's legislative branch consists of the
Assembly of the Representatives of the People
The Assembly of the People's Representatives ( ar, مجلس نواب الشعب ', french: Assemblée des représentants du peuple; ARP) is Tunisia's legislative branch of government. The unicameral Assembly replaced the Constituent Assembly and ...
, with 217 seats. The first elections for the Assembly of the Representative of the People occurred on 26 October 2014.
Before the 2011 revolution the parliament was
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
. The lower house was the
Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia
The Chamber of Deputies ( ar, مجلس النواب ''Majlis an-Nuwwāb'', french: Chambre des députés) was the lower chamber of the Parliament of Tunisia, the bicameral legislative branch of the government of Tunisia. It has 214 seats and mem ...
(''Majlis al-Nuwaab''), which had 214 seats. Members were elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. At least 25% of the seats in the House of Deputies were reserved for the opposition. More than 27% of the members of the Chamber of Deputies were women. The Lower House played a growing role as an arena for debate on national policy, especially as it hosted representatives from six opposition parties. Opposition members often voted against bills or abstained. However, because the governing party enjoyed a comfortable majority, bills usually passed with only minor changes.
The upper house was the Chamber of Advisors, which had 112 members, including representatives of governorates (provinces), professional organizations and national figures. Of these, 41 were appointed by the Head of State while 71 were elected by their peers. About 15% of the members of the Chamber of Advisors were women.
Judicial branch
The Tunisian legal system is based on
French civil law
The Law of France refers to the legal system in the French Republic, which is a civil law legal system primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with case law also playing an important role. The most influential of the French legal codes is t ...
system. Some judicial review of legislative acts takes place in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in joint session. The judiciary is independent, although the Supreme Judicial Council is chaired by the President of the Republic.
The
Tunisian Order of Lawyers french: Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie
, native_name_lang =
, named_after =
, image = Tunisian Order of Lawyers logo.png
, image_size =
, alt = Logo of the Tunisian Order of Lawyers
, ...
is a non-profit
bar association
A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...
. All Tunisian lawyers are members of the Order, which does not have any political affiliations.
The Constitution of 2014 provides for a newly constituted
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
. It consists of 12 members, each of whom must have 20 years' experience in order to serve for a single term of nine years. Two thirds are specialized in law. The President of the Republic, the President of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and the Supreme Judicial Council each propose four candidates; the Assembly of the Representatives of the People approves nominations with a three-fifths majority. The Constitutional Court appoints its own President and Vice President, both specialized in law.
Political parties and elections
Since 1987 Tunisia has reformed its political system several times, abolishing life-term presidencies and opening up the parliament to opposition parties. The number of new political parties and associations has increased since the beginning of Ben Ali's presidency in 1987. Shortly before the revolution of 2011 there were eight recognized national parties, six of which held national legislative seats. President Ben Ali's party, known as the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), commanded majorities in local, regional, and national elections. Although the party was renamed (in President Bourguiba's days it was the Socialist Destourian Party), its policies were still considered to be largely secular and conservative. However, the
Tunisian Revolution
The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...
in 2011 saw its removal from power.
2009 national elections
The Tunisian national elections of 2009, overseen by the Interior Ministry and held on October 25, 2009, elected candidates for president and legislative offices. During the campaign, speeches by candidates were aired on Tunisian radio and television stations. Participation was 89% of resident citizens and 90% of citizens living abroad. In the presidential vote, Ben Ali soundly defeated his challengers, Mohamed Bouchiha (PUP), Ahmed Inoubli (UDU) and Ahmed Ibrahim (Ettajdid Movement) for a fifth term in office. His 89% of the vote was slightly lower than in the 2004 election. In the parliamentary elections, the RCD received 84% of the vote for 161 constituency seats. The MDS won 16 seats under the proportional representation system, followed by the PUP with 12 seats. 59 women were elected to legislative seats.
The election was criticized by opposition parties and some international observers for limitations placed on non-incumbents. In one instance, the Ettajdid party's weekly publication, Ettarik al-Jadid, was seized by authorities for violating campaign communications laws. Meanwhile, a delegation from the African Union Commission praised the election for taking place with "calm and serenity" Prior to the 2009 election, Tunisia amended its constitution to allow more candidates to run for president, allowing the top official from each political party to compete for the presidency regardless of whether they held seats in parliament.
2011 Constituent Assembly election
Following the 2010–2011 protests and the vacation of the Presidency by President Ben Ali, elections for a Constituent Assembly were held on 23 October 2011. Results were announced on 25 October 2011 with the center-right and moderately Islamist
Ennahda
The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia.
Fou ...
winning a plurality with 37% of the vote.
2014 parliamentary elections
Parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on 26 October 2014. Results were announced on 27 October 2014 with secularist
Nidaa Tounes
Nidaa Tounes ( ar, حركة نداء تونس ', french: Appel de la Tunisie; usually translated as "Call of Tunisia", "Call for Tunisia", or "Tunisia's Call") is a big tent secularist political party in Tunisia. After being founded in 2012, ...
winning a plurality with 38% of the vote.
2019 parliamentary and presidential elections
In the parliamentary
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
, the
Ennahda
The Ennahda Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة, Ḥarakatu n-Nahḍah; french: link=no, Mouvement Ennahdha), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia.
Fou ...
became the biggest party with 52 seats, the
Heart of Tunisia
Heart of Tunisia ( ar, قلب تونس, Berber: Ul en Tunest, french: Au cœur de la Tunisie) is a Tunisian political party founded on 20 June 2019 by lawyer Houda Knani, a former member of the Free Patriotic Union. The party's candidate for the ...
became the second with 38 seats. In the presidential
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
, independent candidate Kais Saied got a landslide victory with 72.5% of the vote in the second round.
2022 constitutional referendum
In July 2022, Tunisians approved a new constitution in a referendum. The reform gave more powers to Tunisia’s president, meaning the role of President Kais Saied strengthened significantly.
Politics and society
Women's equality
The now-defunct Chamber of Deputies had 23% women members in 2009, outpacing the percentage of women serving at the time in the
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
, which stood at 17% in the 111th Congress. More than one-fifth of the seats in both chambers of parliament were held by women, an exceptionally high level in the Arab world.
Tunisia is the only country in the Arab world where polygamy is forbidden by law. This is part of a provision in the country's Code of Personal Status which was introduced by President Bourguiba in 1956.
Revolution
Ben Ali regime
President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
was criticized for the low levels of democracy and freedom of expression in the country by
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
and various other organizations. which documented restrictions of basic human rights and obstruction of human rights organizations. ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
s 2008
Democracy Index
The ''Democracy Index'' is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper ''The Economist''. Akin to a Human Development I ...
ranked Tunisia 141 out of 167 countries studied and 143 out of 173 regarding freedom of the press.
Later in his rule repression became more brutal, corruption more visible and the economy more stagnant.
2010–2011 revolution
The Tunisian Revolution overthrew President Ben Ali in 2011—marking the beginning of the
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
.
On 14 January 2011, president
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
officially resigned after fleeing to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, ending 23 years in power, following the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades.
Street protests and civil disobedienceTunisian parliamentary speaker becomes acting president: officials Ahramonline 2011-01-15 against high
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
, food
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, a lack of
political freedom
Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...
s like
freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
and poor
living conditions
Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...
, were sparked by the
self-immolation
The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself o ...
of
Mohamed Bouazizi
Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi ( ar, طارق الطيب محمد البوعزيزي, Ṭāriq aṭ-Ṭayib Muḥammad al-Būʿazīzī; 29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) was a street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 in Sidi Bo ...
on 17 December 2010
A
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
was elected on 23 October 2011, and a new constitution was adopted on 26 January 2014. It was passed on 10 February 2014
Media
Under the Ben Ali regime, freedom of the press was officially guaranteed, but the press was highly restricted, as was a substantial amount of web content. Journalists were often obstructed from reporting on controversial events. Prior to the Jasmine Revolution, Tunisia practiced internet censorship against popular websites such as
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. In 2010
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
included Tunisia in the country list of “Enemies of the Internet". Despite this, Tunisia hosted the second half of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
-sponsored
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a two-phase United Nations-sponsored summit on information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis. WSIS Forums have ...
in 2005, which endorsed the freedom of the internet as a platform for political participation and human rights protection. By 2010, Tunisia had more than 3.5 million regular internet users and 1.6 million
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
users and hundreds of internet cafes, known as ‘publinet.’
Five private radio stations have been established, including Mosaique FM,
Express FM
Express FM is a private Tunisian radio station specializing in economics which was founded on October 21, 2010 by Mourad Gueddiche and Naoufel Ben Rayana, co-founders of Maghreb Productions Communication (MPC). Express FM is the fifth-launched pri ...
,
Shems FM
Shems FM (Arabic: شمس أف أم) is the fourth-launched private radio station in Tunisia. It was launched on September 27, 2010, by 12 p.m. local time and it is owned by Cyrine Ben Ali Mabrouk, the daughter of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali -the form ...
and private television stations such as
Hannibal TV
Hannibal TV (Tunisian Arabic: ) is a Tunisian television network. It has been broadcasting since 2005. The channel ceased operations on July 3, 2019. The channel resumed operations on October 2, 2020, but it was ceased operations again on Octobe ...
and
Nessma TV
Nessma El Jadida ( ar, الجديدة نسمة, translation: New Breeze), formerly known as Nessma TV ( ar, قناة نسمة, translation: "Breeze TV") and Nessma Rouge ( ar, نسمة روج, translation: Red Breeze) was a commercial TV channel ...
Ariana Governorate
Ariana Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia, approximately triangular, having as one of its sides part of the Gulf of Tunis, it covers an area of 482 km² and has a popu ...
(
Aryanah
Ariana ( ar, أريانة ') is a coastal city in north-eastern Tunisia, part the agglomeration of Tunis, also called "Grand Tunis". It is located at the north of Tunis city center, around . It is the capital of Ariana Governorate and the country' ...
)
*
Béja Governorate
Béja Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia and has a brief coastline relative to its size. It covers an area of 3,740 km² and had a population of 303,032 as at the 2014 census.
Ben Arous Governorate
Ben Arous Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is in the north-east of Tunisia and adjoins smaller Tunis Governorate. It covers an area of 761 km² and had a population of 712,172 as at the 2019 census.
Bizerte Governorate
Bizerte Governorate ( ar, ولاية بنزرت ' ) is the northernmost of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia, approximately rectangular and having a long north coast. It covers an area of 3,750 km² including two larg ...
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.Qabis)
*
Gafsa Governorate
Gafsa Governorate ( ') is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is situated in central Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 7807 km2 and has a population of 337,331 (2014 census).Qafsah)
*
Jendouba Governorate
Jendouba Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is predominantly in the high hills of the Tell Atlas north-western Tunisia, bordering Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea. It covers an area of 3,102 km2 and h ...
Kairouan Governorate
Kairouan Governorate ( ') is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is landlocked and in the centre-east of the country. It covers an area of 6,712 km2 and has a population of 570,559 (2014 census). The narrower province of Sou ...
Kasserine Governorate
Kasserine Governorate ( ar, ولاية الڨصرين ' ), sometimes spelt ''Casrein'', is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is in west-central Tunisia on the frontier with Algeria, wholly north of the true centre lin ...
Kebili Governorate
Kebili Governorate ( ' ) is the second largest of the 24 governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is situated in south-western Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of and had a population of 156,961 at the 2014 census.Qibili)
*
Kef Governorate
Kef Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It comprises chiefly part of the dorsal Atlas Mountains and their foothills in north-western Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 4,965 km2 and has a popul ...
Mahdia Governorate
Mahdia Governorate () is in central-eastern Tunisia, named after its largest town and administrative centre. It comprises an area of coastal relative lowland, but extends further inland than its coastal length. It is one of the twenty-four gover ...
Manouba Governorate
Manouba Governorate ( ar, ولاية منوبة ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia and is in inland, northern Tunisia. It has a population of 379,518 (as at the 2014 census),Manubah)
*
Medenine Governorate
Medenine ( ') is one of the 24 governorates (provinces) of Tunisia.
Geography
The governorate encompasses the south-easternmost coastal strip, totalling 9167 km2 and had a population of 479,520 at the 2014 census. The capital is Medenine. Th ...
Monastir Governorate
Monastir Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is situated in north-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of 1,019 km2 (393 mi2) and has a population of 548,828 (2014 census). The capital is Monastir.
A ...
Nabeul Governorate
Nabeul Governorate ( aeb, ولاية نابل ' Tunisian pronunciation: ) is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is situated in north-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of 2,788 km2 and has a population of 787,920 (2014 census). T ...
Sfax Governorate
The Sfax Governorate ( ') is one of the governorates of Tunisia. The governorate has a population of 955,421 (2014) and an area of 7,545 km². Its capital is Sfax. It is along the east coast of Tunisia, and includes the Kerkennah Islands.
...
Sidi Bouzid Governorate
Sidi Bouzid Governorate ( aeb, ولاية سيدي بوزيد), sometimes spelt ''Sidi Bou Zid'', is one of the 24 Governorates of Tunisia, governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is in central Tunisia and landlocked. It covers an area of 7405&nbs ...
Siliana Governorate
Siliana Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia, is landlocked and is in the north of the country. It covers an area of 4,631 km2 and has a population of 223,087 (2014 census). The capital is Sili ...
Sousse Governorate
Sousse Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is beside the eastern coast of Tunisia in the north-east of the country and covers an area of 2,621 km2 and has a population of 674,971 (2014 census). ...
(
Sousse
Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...
)
*
Tataouine Governorate
Tataouine Governorate ( ') is the southernmost of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia, the only one to border both Algeria and Libya. It is also the largest, covering an area of 38,889 km². It had a population of 149,453 (at the 2014 ce ...
Tozeur Governorate
Tozeur ( ') is the westernmost of the 24 governorates (provinces) of Tunisia and as such bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 4,719 km2 and has a population of 107,912 (2014 census) making it the least populated province. The capital is To ...
Tunis Governorate
Tunis Governorate ( ' ) is the smallest and most populated of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It covers an urban and suburban area on the Gulf of Tunis on the north-east coast covering and has a population of 1,056,247 (2014 ...
Zaghouan Governorate
Zaghouan Governorate ( ar, ولاية زغوان ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia and is in north-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of and its population was 176,945 at the 2014 census. The capital is the town o ...
Tunisia is a participant in the following international organizations:
*
ABEDA
The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) (Banque Arabe pour le Développement Economique en Afrique) (المصرف العربي للتنمية الاقتصادية في أفريقيا) was established pursuant to the resolution o ...
AFESD
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) is a Kuwait-based pan-Arab development finance institution. All member-states of the Arab League are members of the AFESD. As of 2003, it held around US$7.3 billion in assets.
The AFESD ...
BSEC
The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is a regional international organization focusing on multilateral political and economic initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation, peace, stability and prosperity in the Black Sea ...
FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
*
IBRD
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...
*
ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
IDA
Ida or IDA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter
*243 Ida, an asteroid
*International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station
Computing
*Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
IFAD
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to addres ...
IHO
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States.
A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters a ...
*
ILO
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
*
IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
*
ITU
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
MICAH
Micah (; ) is a given name.
Micah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and means "Who is like God?" The name is sometimes found with Theophoric name, theophoric extensions. Suffix theophory in ''Jah, Yah'' and in ''Y ...
*
MONUC
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...
OAPEC
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) is a multi-governmental organization headquartered in Kuwait which coordinates energy policies among oil-producing Arab nations. OAPEC's primary objective is safeguarding the cooperati ...
*
OAS
OAS or Oas may refer to:
Chemistry
* O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis
Computers
* Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards
* OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
OPCW
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...
*
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
UNCTAD
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...
*
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
*
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
*
UNIDO
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...
*
UNMEE
The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) was established by the United Nations Security Council in July 2000 to monitor a ceasefire in the border war that began in 1998 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. First military troops Nethe ...
*
UNMIK
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...
*
UPU
Upu or Apu, also rendered as Aba/Apa/Apina/Ubi/Upi, was the region surrounding Damascus of the 1350 BC Amarna letters. Damascus was named ''Dimašqu'' / ''Dimasqu'' / etc. (for example, "Dimaški"-(see: Niya (kingdom)), in the letter correspon ...
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
*
WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
*
WMO
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
The WMO originated from the Internat ...
*
WToO
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internati ...
*
WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
See also
*
Human rights in Tunisia
The issue of human rights in Tunisia, is complex, contradictory, and, in some regards, confusing in the wake of the Tunisian revolution that began in January 2011 and overthrew the longstanding dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. While the i ...
*
Tunisia Monitoring Group
The Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) is a coalition of 21 free-expression organisations that belong to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the rig ...
*
Sihem Bensedrine
Sihem Bensedrine ( ar, سهام بن سدرين) (born October 28, 1950) is a Tunisian journalist and human rights activist. In 2005, she was honored with the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award.
Biography
She was born in La Marsa, near Tunis and went to Fran ...
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...