Tunisia
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Tunis
- Population
- 11,962,995 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 163,610 sq km
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Religions
- Muslim (official; Sunni) 99%, other (includes Christian, Jewish, Shia Muslim, and Baha'i) <1%
- Ethnic Groups
- Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%
- Currency
- Tunisian dinars (TND)
- Life Expectancy
- 77.3 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .tn
- Climate
- temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south
- Terrain
- mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara
- Natural Resources
- petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt
- Major Exports
- garments, insulated wire, olive oil, refined petroleum, crude petroleum (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Many empires have controlled Tunisia, including the Phoenicians (as early as the 12 century B.C.), Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, various Arab and Berber kingdoms, and Ottomans (16th to late-19th centuries).