All information about TUNISIA

Geography

Tunisia, at the northernmost bulge of Africa, thrusts out toward Sicily to mark the division between the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea. Twice the size of South Carolina, it is bordered on the west by Algeria and by Libya on the south. Coastal plains on the east rise to a north-south escarpment that slopes gently to the west. The Sahara Desert lies in the southernmost part. Tunisia is more mountainous in the north, where the Atlas range continues from Algeria.

[color=green]History

Tunisia was settled by the Phoenicians in the 12th century B.C. By the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., the great city-state of Carthage (derived from the Phoenician name for “new city”) dominated much of the western Mediterranean. The three Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage (the second was the most famous, pitting the Roman general Scipio Africanus against Carthage's Hannibal) led to the complete destruction of Carthage by 146 B.C.
Except for an interval of Vandal conquest in A.D. 439–533, Carthage was part of the Roman Empire until the Arab conquest of 648–669. It was then ruled by various Arab and Berber dynasties, followed by the Turks, who took it in 1570–1574 and made it part of the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century. In the late 16th century, it was a stronghold for the Barbary pirates. French troops occupied the country in 1881, and the bey, the local Tunisian ruler, signed a treaty acknowledging it as a French protectorate.
Nationalist agitation forced France to recognize Tunisian independence and sovereignty in 1956. The constituent assembly deposed the bey on July 25, 1957, declared Tunisia a republic, and elected Habib Bourguiba as president. Bourguiba maintained a pro-Western foreign policy that earned him enemies. Tunisia refused to break relations with the U.S. during the Arab-Israeli War in June 1967. Concerned with Islamic fundamentalist plots against the state, the government stepped up efforts to eradicate the movement, including censorship and frequent detention of suspects.
In 1987, the aged Bourguiba was declared mentally unfit to continue as president and was removed from office in a bloodless coup. He was succeeded by Gen. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, whose tenure has been marked by repression, a poor human rights record, the rise in Islamic fundamentalism, and growing anti-Western sentiments among the populace. Ben Ali was reelected in Oct. 1999 with 99% of the vote in an election criticized by many human rights observers. In May 2000 Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Assembly Party swept local elections with 92% of the vote, in a contest many opposition leaders boycotted. However, Tunisia's economy continued to improve in the late 1990s, making the country one of the most attractive in Africa for foreign investors. In May 2002, a referendum passed that ended the three-term limit for the presidency. It permitted Ben Ali, who has served as president for more than 15 years, to run for two more terms. Opposition parties protested. In Oct. 2004, the president was reelected with 94% of the vote.

CLIMATE

The two main climatic influences are the Mediterranean Sea, which reduces temperature and produces rainfall, and the Sahara Desert with its dry, hot winds, such as the Sirocco. In addition, the Tunisia consists of two regional climatic belts, with Mediterranean influences in the north and Saharan in the south. Temperature are moderate along the coast, with an average annual temperature of 20°C (68°F), and hot in the interior south. The summer season in the north, from May through September, is hot and dry, the winter from October to April is mild and characterised by frequent rains.

MONEY

Monetary unit: Tunisian dinar
Official Currency: Tunisian Dinar=1000 millimes
Exchange rates: Tunisian dinars (TD) per US$1 - 1.2455 (January 2000), 1.2546 (December 1999), 1.1387 (1998), 1.1059 (1997), 0.9734 (1996), 0.9458 (1995)

All banks and most hotels change money and travellers cheques, which are best taken in Pounds Sterling to avoid additional commission charges. Credit cards are very widely accepted.

LOCAL TIME

Tunisia is one hour ahead of GMT

Population (2006 est.): 10,175,014 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 15.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 23.8/1000; life expectancy: 75.1; density per sq mi: 170
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tunis, 1,660,300 (metro. area), 699,700 (city proper)
Languages: Arabic (official), French (commerce)
Ethnicity/race: Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%
Religions: Islam (Sunni) 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish and other 1%
Literacy rate: 74% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $76.99 billion; per capita $7,600. Real growth rate: 4.8%. Inflation: 3.2%. Unemployment: 13.5%. Arable land: 17%. Agriculture: olives, olive oil, grain, tomatoes, citrus fruit, sugar beets, dates, almonds; beef, dairy products. Labor force: 3.41 million; note: shortage of skilled labor; services 55%, industry 23%, agriculture 22% (1995 est.). Industries: petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron ore), tourism, ****iles, footwear, agribusiness, beverages. Natural resources: petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt. Exports: $10.3 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): ****iles, mechanical goods, phosphates and chemicals, agricultural products, hydrocarbons. Imports: $12.86 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): ****iles, machinery and equipment, hydrocarbons, chemicals, food. Major trading partners: France, Italy, Germany, Spain (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 654,000 (1997); mobile cellular: 50,000 (1998). Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 20, shortwave 2 (1998). Radios: 2.06 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 26 (plus 76 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 920,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000). Internet users: 400,000 (2002).
International disputes: none

Economy of Tunisia

Tunisia is in the process of economic reform and liberalization after decades of heavy state direction and participation in the economy. Prudent economic and fiscal planning have resulted in moderate sustained growth for over a decade. Tunisia's economic growth historically has depended on oil, phosphates, agriculture, and tourism. The government's economic policies had limited success during the early years of independence. During the 1960s, a drive for collectivization caused unrest, and farm production fell sharply. Higher prices for phosphates and oil and growing revenues from tourism stimulated growth in the 1970s, but an emphasis on protectionism and import substitution led to inefficiencies. Tunisia received considerable economic assistance during this period from the United States and European and Arab countries and is one of the few developing countries in the region to have moved into the "middle income" category.


Historical trend

Current GDP per capita soared by 380% in the Seventies. But this proved unsustainable and growth collapsed to a paltry 10% in the turbulent Eighties rising to a modest 36% in the Nineties signifying the impact of successful diversification.
This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Tunisia at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Tunisian Dinars.
For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US Dollar is exchanged at 0.44 Tunisian Dinars only.
Growing foreign debt sparked a foreign exchange crisis in the mid-1980s. In 1986, the government launched a structural adjustment program to liberalize prices, reduce tariffs, and reorient Tunisia toward a market economy.
Tunisia's economic reform program has been lauded as a model by international financial institutions. The government has liberalized prices, reduced tariffs, lowered debt-service-to-exports and debt-to-GDP ratios, and extended the average maturity of its $10 billion foreign debt. Structural adjustment brought additional lending from the World Bank and other Western creditors. In 1990, Tunisia acceded to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In 1996 Tunisia entered into an "Association Agreement" with the European Union (EU) which removes tariff and other trade barriers on most goods by 2008. In conjunction with the Association Agreement, the EU is assisting the Tunisian government's Mise A Niveau (upgrading) program to enhance the productivity of Tunisian businesses and prepare for competition in the global marketplace.
The government has totally or partially privatized about 160 state-owned enterprises since the privatization program was launched in 1987. Although the program is supported by the GATT, the government has had to move carefully to avoid mass firings. Unemployment continues to plague Tunisia's economy and is aggravated by a rapidly growing work force. An estimated 55% of the population is under the age of 25. Officially, 15% of the Tunisian work force is unemployed, but the real numbers of jobless or underemployed are higher.
In 1992, Tunisia reentered the private international capital market for the first time in 6 years, securing a $10-million line of credit for balance-of-payments support. In January 2003 Standard & Poor's affirmed its investment grade credit ratings for Tunisia. The World Economic Forum 2002-03 ranked Tunisia 34th in the Global Competitiveness Index Ratings (two places behind South Africa, the continent's leader). In April 2002, Tunisia's first US dollar-denominated sovereign bond issue since 1997 raised $458 million, with maturity in 2012.
The Bourse de Tunis is under the control of the state-run Financial Market Council and lists nearly 50 companies. The government offers substantial tax incentives to encourage companies to join the exchange, but expansion is still slow.
The Tunisian government adopted a unified investment code in 1993 to attract foreign capital. More than 1,600 export-oriented joint venture firms operate in Tunisia to take advantage of relatively low labor costs and preferential access to nearby European markets. Economic links are closest with European countries, which dominate Tunisia's trade. Tunisia's currency, the dinar, is not traded outside Tunisia. However, partial convertibility exists for bonafide commercial and investment transaction. Certain restrictions still limit operations carried out by Tunisian residents.

Economic data

GDP: purchasing power parity - $68.23 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.1% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,900 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13.9%
industry: 32.2%
services: 53.9% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 7.6% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 31.8% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.7% (2003 est.)
Labor force: 3.461 million (2003 est.)
note: shortage of skilled labor
Labor force - by occupation: services 55%, industry 23%, agriculture 22% (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate: 14.3% (2003 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $6.101 billion
expenditures: $6.855 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (2003 est.)
Industries: petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron ore), tourism, ****iles, footwear, food, beverages
Industrial production growth rate: -0.1% (2003 est.)

Electricity

Production: 10,480 GWh (2001)
Production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.5%
hydro: 0.5%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)
Consumption: 9,748 GWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 1 GWh (2001)

[color:63f4=green:63f4]Agriculture

Agriculture - products: olives, grain, dairy products, tomatoes, citrus fruit, beef, sugar beets, dates, almonds
Exports and imports
Exports: $8.035 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities: ****iles, mechanical goods, phosphates and chemicals, agricultural products, hydrocarbons
Exports - partners: France 32.6%, Italy 21.9%
Germany 10.7%, Spain 4.7%, Libya 4.4% (2003)
Imports: $10.3 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, hydrocarbons, chemicals, fuel, food
Imports - partners: France 26.1%, Italy 19.8%, Germany 8.9%, Spain 5.2% (2003)
Debt - external: $14.39 billion (2003 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $378 million (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year






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