Country Name
Tunisia or officially the Republic of Tunisia.
Location
Tunisia is an Arab Country, and is a part of the Maghreb region of North Africa and is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Italy also shares a maritime border with Tunisia.
Capital
Tunis.
Reason for Naming the country
Tunisia was called Ifrīqiyyah in the early centuries of the Islamic period. That name, in turn, comes from the Roman word for Africa, and the name was also given by the Romans to their first African colony. The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis; a central urban hub and the capital of modern-day Tunisia. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, evolved from French Tunisie, in turn generally associated with the Berber root, transcribed tns, which means "to lay down".
Flag
The flag of Tunisia was adopted on 20 October 1827, it has not changed much since then. The flag has a red background with a white circle in the middle, the white circle containing a five-pointed star surrounded by a red crescent. The red color represents the blood of martyrs killed during the Ottoman conquest of Tunisia in 1574. The white color represents peace, and the circle represents the sun, while the crescent and five-pointed star represent the unity of all Muslims and the Five Pillars of Islam, These symbols also point to the historical ties to the Ottoman Empire.
* Flag fact:
- The flag may resemble the flag of Turkey, as Tunisia was for several centuries controlled by Turkish, but in the Turkish flag, there is no white circle.
Language
Arabic is the official language, and Tunisian Arabic, known as Tounsi, is the national language. There is also a small minority that speaks the Berber language known as Jebbali or Shelha.
French also plays a major role in Tunisian society, despite having no official status. It is widely used in education, the press, and business.
Italian is understood and spoken by a small part of the Tunisian population.
Shop signs, menus, and road signs in Tunisia are generally written in both Arabic and French.
Religion
The majority of Tunisia's population are Muslims while about 2% follow Christianity and Judaism or other religions.
Judaism is the third largest religion in Tunisia, There is also a small Baha’i population in Tunisia,
The majority of Tunisians belong to the Maliki School of Sunni Islam and their mosques are easily recognizable by square minarets. However, the Turks brought with them the teaching of the Hanafi School during Ottoman rule, which still survives among Turkish-descended families today, and their mosques traditionally have octagonal minarets. Sunnis form the majority with non-denominational Muslims being the second largest group of Muslims, followed by Ibadite Amazighs.
Also, Tunisia has a minority Christian community mainly Catholics and a small number of Protestants.
Currency
Tunisian dinar (TND)
Time Zone
+01:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic.
Climate
In Tunisia, the climate is the Mediterranean on the northern coast, with mild, rainy winters and hot, sunny summers, while it is semi-desert or desert in inland areas.
The east coast, from the Gulf of Hammamet towards the south, receives little rainfall, which decreases from north to south, to the point that the southernmost part (from the Gulf of Gabès to the border with Libya) is desert. However, temperatures along the whole coast are typical of the Mediterranean climate, with highs around 16/18 °C (61/64 °F) in winter and 32/33 °C (89/91 °F) in summer. In contrast, in the inland areas of the center-south, occupied by the desert, summer is very hot. The coastal and mountainous regions of Tunisia can be affected by the desert wind, which causes a strong increase in temperature, but also a drop in relative humidity, and may also bring sandstorms. During these periods, it can be hot, especially from June to September, when the temperature can exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in Tunis and along the east coast.
If you want to visit Tunis and the northern coast, and also the northern hills and mountains, you can choose spring and autumn (April, May, and October).
For a beach holiday, you can go from June to September. The favorable season for a beach holiday is quite long, especially on the east coast, which is usually sheltered from Atlantic disturbances, and where it can easily last until mid-October.
International Phone Code
+216
Internet Code
.tn
.تونس
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