TUNISIA PAST AND PRESENT Fathi Neifar TUNISIA Tunisia
- Slides: 5
TUNISIA – PAST AND PRESENT Fathi Neifar
TUNISIA Tunisia is a country in North Africa. It is bordered in the north and east by the Mediterranean Sea, in the west by Algeria, and in the south by Libya. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Tunisia has four physical regions: The Atlas Mountains. The highest mountain is 1, 550 metres, near the Algerian border. The central plateau: flat but with low mountains, not more than 760 m high. The Sahel The Sahara: the desert in the south. It occupies nearly one third of Tunisia. The area of Tunisia is about 164, 000 square kilometres. The Medjerda is Tunisia’s only river with a year-round flow. The north has hot dry summers (in coastal areas the average temperature is about 30 degrees C) and moderately rainy winters (about 15 degrees on the coast). In the south it is hot and dry: the tem[perature there often exceeds 43 degrees C.
ECONOMY Tunisia has various but limited resources: Tourism: Thanks to Tunisia’s warm climate, seaside and desert resorts and Roman ruins, it attracts many tourists, especially in the warm season. Besides, Tunisia has phosphate mining. Petroleum was found in 1964 and since then has contributed to Tunisia’s economy. Besides, there is a big banking activity and many Tunisians work abroad and bring in money. About half the inhabitants work in agricultture. Only large estates and cooperatives use modern farming methods. Tunisia exports fine dates, olive oil and oranges. The basic currency unit is thev dinar (less than one US $).
THE PEOPLE Tunisia has about 10, 500, 000 inhabitants at the present time. They are descendants of the ancient Phoenicians, of the Romans, of the Arabs and Berbers. 98 % of tunisians are Muslims. The first language is Arabic, French is widely spoken; and now English is common and popular. GOVERNMENT Tunisia has a presedent, a Prime Minister and a Parliament. The country is divided into 24 provinces called ’gouvernorates’ HISTORY: Phoenicians: from 1200 BC The Roman and Christian era: from 146 BC The Vandals: from 432 The Byzantines: from 533 The Arab Conquest: 647 Turkish rule: from 1574 The French Protectorate: 1881 -1956 We had monarchs, called ‘BEYS’ up to 1957, then Tunisia became a republic. THANK YOU
