"text":"Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following World War I was finally successful in convincing the French to recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. In November 1987, BOURGUIBA was removed from office and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless coup. Street protests that began in Tunis in December 2010 over high unemployment, corruption, widespread poverty, and high food prices escalated in January 2011, culminating in rioting that led to hundreds of deaths. On 14 January 2011, the same day BEN ALI dismissed the government, he fled the country, and by late January 2011, a \"national unity government\" was formed. Elections for the new Constituent Assembly were held in late October 2011, and in December, it elected human rights activist Moncef MARZOUKI as interim president. The Assembly began drafting a new constitution in February 2012 and, after several iterations and a months-long political crisis that stalled the transition, ratified the document in January 2014. Parliamentary and presidential elections for a permanent government were held at the end of 2014. Beji CAID ESSEBSI was elected as the first president under the country's new constitution."
"text":"toxic and hazardous waste disposal is ineffective and poses health risks; water pollution from raw sewage; limited natural freshwater resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"Marine Life Conservation"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"strategic location in central Mediterranean; Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil exploration"
}
},
"People and Society":{
"Nationality":{
"noun":{
"text":"Tunisian(s)"
},
"adjective":{
"text":"Tunisian"
}
},
"Ethnic groups":{
"text":"Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%"
"text":"Independence Day, 20 March (1956); Revolution and Youth Day, 14 January (2011)"
},
"Constitution":{
"text":"several previous; latest approved by Constituent Assembly 26 January 2014, signed by president on 27 January 2014 (2014)"
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"mixed legal system of civil law, based on the French civil code, and Islamic law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal except for active government security forces (including the police and the military), people with mental disabilities, people who have served more than three months in prison (criminal cases only), and people given a suspended sentence of more than six months"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"President Beji CAID ESSEBSI (since 31 December 2014)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Habib ESSID (since 6 February 2015)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"selected by the prime minister and approved by the Constituent Assembly"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 23 November and 21 December 2014 (next to be held in 2019); following legislative elections, the prime minister is selected by the majority party or majority coalition and appointed by the president"
"text":"Beji CAID ESSEBSI elected president; percent of vote in runoff - Beji CAID ESSEBSI (Tunisia's Call) 55.7%, Moncef MARZOUKI (CPR) 44.3%"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"unicameral Chamber of the People's Deputies (217 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"initial election held on 26 October 2014 (next to be held in 2019)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote by party - Tunisia's Call 39.6%, al-Nahda 31.8%, UPL 7.4%, Popular Front 6.9%, Afek Tounes 3.7%, CPR 1.8%, other 8.8%; seats by party - Tunisia's Call 86, al-Nahda 69, UPL 16, Popular Front 15, Afek Tounes 8, CPR 4, other 17, independent 2"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest court(s)":{
"text":"Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation (organized into civil and criminal chambers and consists of NA judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges nominated by the Higher Magistracy Council (also called the Superior Council of the Judiciary), a 7-member body of judges and prosecutors; judges appointed by presidential decree; judge tenure NA"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Administrative Court; Courts of Appeal; Housing Court; courts of first instance; lower district courts; military courts"
"text":"Afek Tounes [Emna MINF] ++ Congress for the Republic or CPR [Imed DAIMI] ++ Current of Love [Mohamed HAMDI] (formerly the Popular Petition party) ++ Democratic Alliance Party [Mohamed HAMDI] ++ Democratic Current [Mohamed ABBOU] ++ Ennahda Movement (The Renaissance) [Rachid GHANNOUCHI] ++ Free Patriotic Union or UPL (Union patriotique libre) [Slim RIAHI] ++ Movement of Socialist Democrats or MDS [Ahmed KHASKHOUSSI] ++ National Destourian Initiative or El Moubadra [Kamel MORJANE] ++ People's Movement [Zouheir MAGHZAOUI] ++ Popular Front (a coalition of 9 parties including Democractic Patriots' Movement, Workers' Party, Green Tunisia, Tunisian Ba'ath Movement, and Party of the Democractic Arab Vanguard) ++ Popular Petition (Aridha Chaabia) [Hachemi HAMDI] ++ Republican Party [Maya JRIBI] ++ The Initiative [Kamel MORJANE] (formerly the Constitutional Democratic Rally or RCD) ++ Tunisia's Call (Nidaa Tounes) [Beji CAID ESSEBSI] ++ Tunisian Workers' Communist Party or PCOT [Hamma HAMMAMI]"
"text":"18 October Group [collective leadership] ++ Tunisian League for Human Rights or LTDH [Mokhtar TRIFI] ++ Tunisian General Labor Union or UGTT [Hassine ABASSI]"
"text":"red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; resembles the Ottoman flag (red banner with white crescent and star) and recalls Tunisia's history as part of the Ottoman Empire; red represents the blood shed by martyrs in the struggle against oppression, white stands for peace; the crescent and star are traditional symbols of Islam",
"note":{
"text":"the flag is based on that of Turkey, itself a successor state to the Ottoman Empire"
}
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"encircled red star and crescent; national colors: red, white"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Humat Al Hima\" (Defenders of the Homeland)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Mustafa Sadik AL-RAFII and Aboul-Qacem ECHEBBI/Mohamad Abdel WAHAB"
},
"note":{
"text":"adopted 1957, replaced 1958, restored 1987; Mohamad Abdel WAHAB also composed the music for the anthem of the United Arab Emirates"
}
}
},
"Economy":{
"Economy - overview":{
"text":"Tunisia's diverse, market-oriented economy has long been cited as a success story in Africa and the Middle East, but it faces an array of challenges following the 2011 revolution. Following an ill-fated experiment with socialist economic policies in the 1960s, Tunisia embarked on a successful strategy focused on bolstering exports, foreign investment, and tourism, all of which have become central to the country's economy. Key exports now include textiles and apparel, food products, petroleum products, chemicals, and phosphates, with about 80% of exports bound for Tunisia's main economic partner, the European Union. Tunisia's liberal strategy, coupled with investments in education and infrastructure, fueled decades of 4-5% annual GDP growth and improving living standards. Former President (1987-2011) Zine el Abidine BEN ALI continued these policies, but as his reign wore on cronyism and corruption stymied economic performance and unemployment rose among the country's growing ranks of university graduates. These grievances contributed to the January 2011 overthrow of BEN ALI, sending Tunisia's economy into a tailspin as tourism and investment declined sharply. During 2012 and 2013, security and political upheaval during transition led to a deterioration of the economy and resulted in several downgrades of Tunisia’s credit rating. Tunisia's government faces challenges reassuring businesses and investors, bringing budget and current account deficits under control, shoring up the country's financial system, bringing down high unemployment, and reducing economic disparities between the more developed coastal region and the impoverished interior."
"Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy":{
"text":"20.27 million Mt (2012 est.)"
}
},
"Communications":{
"Telephones - fixed lines":{
"total subscriptions":{
"text":"950,000"
},
"subscriptions per 100 inhabitants":{
"text":"9 (2014 est.)"
}
},
"Telephones - mobile cellular":{
"total":{
"text":"14.3 million"
},
"subscriptions per 100 inhabitants":{
"text":"131 (2014 est.)"
}
},
"Telephone system":{
"general assessment":{
"text":"above the African average and continuing to be upgraded; key centers are Sfax, Sousse, Bizerte, and Tunis; telephone network is completely digitized; Internet access available throughout the country"
},
"domestic":{
"text":"in an effort to jumpstart expansion of the fixed-line network, the government has awarded a concession to build and operate a VSAT network with international connectivity; rural areas are served by wireless local loops; competition between the two mobile-cellular service providers has resulted in lower activation and usage charges and a strong surge in subscribership; a third mobile, fixed, and ISP operator was licensed in 2009 and began offering services in 2010; expansion of mobile-cellular services to include multimedia messaging and e-mail and Internet to mobile phone services has also lead to a surge in subscribership; overall fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity has reached about 125 telephones per 100 persons"
},
"international":{
"text":"country code - 216; a landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Algeria and Libya; participant in Medarabtel; 2 international gateway digital switches (2011)"
}
},
"Broadcast media":{
"text":"broadcast media is mainly government-controlled; the state-run Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment (ERTT) operates 2 national TV networks, several national radio networks, and a number of regional radio stations; 1 TV and 3 radio stations are privately owned and report domestic news stories directly from the official Tunisian news agency; the state retains control of broadcast facilities and transmitters through L'Office National de la Telediffusion; Tunisians also have access to Egyptian, pan-Arab, and European satellite TV channels (2007)"
},
"Radio broadcast stations":{
"text":"AM 7, FM 38, shortwave 2 (2007)"
},
"Television broadcast stations":{
"text":"26 (plus 76 repeaters) (1995)"
},
"Internet country code":{
"text":".tn"
},
"Internet users":{
"total":{
"text":"5 million"
},
"percent of population":{
"text":"45.5% (2014 est.)"
}
}
},
"Transportation":{
"Airports":{
"text":"29 (2013)"
},
"Airports - with paved runways":{
"total":{
"text":"15"
},
"over 3,047 m":{
"text":"4"
},
"2,438 to 3,047 m":{
"text":"6"
},
"1,524 to 2,437 m":{
"text":"2"
},
"914 to 1,523 m":{
"text":"3 (2013)"
}
},
"Airports - with unpaved runways":{
"total":{
"text":"14"
},
"1,524 to 2,437 m":{
"text":"1"
},
"914 to 1,523 m":{
"text":"5"
},
"under 914 m":{
"text":" ++ 8 (2013)"
}
},
"Pipelines":{
"text":"condensate 68 km; gas 3,111 km; oil 1,381 km; refined products 453 km (2013)"
},
"Railways":{
"total":{
"text":"2,173 km (1,991 in use)"
},
"standard gauge":{
"text":"471 km 1.435-m gauge"
},
"dual gauge":{
"text":"8 km 1.435-1.000-m gauge"
},
"narrow gauge":{
"text":"1,694 km 1.000-m gauge (65 km electrified) (2014)"
}
},
"Roadways":{
"total":{
"text":"19,418 km"
},
"paved":{
"text":"14,756 km (includes 357 km of expressways)"
},
"unpaved":{
"text":"4,662 km (2010)"
}
},
"Merchant marine":{
"total":{
"text":"9"
},
"by type":{
"text":"bulk carrier 1, cargo 2, passenger/cargo 4, roll on/roll off 2 (2010)"
}
},
"Ports and terminals":{
"major seaport(s)":{
"text":"Bizerte, Gabes, Rades, Sfax, Skhira"
}
}
},
"Military":{
"Military branches":{
"text":"Tunisian Armed Forces (Forces Armees Tunisiens, FAT): Tunisian Army (includes Tunisian Air Defense Force), Tunisian Navy, Republic of Tunisia Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Jamahiriyah At'Tunisia) (2012)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"20-23 years of age for compulsory service, 1-year service obligation; 18-23 years of age for voluntary service; Tunisian nationality required (2012)"
},
"Manpower available for military service":{
"males age 16-49":{
"text":"2,846,572"
},
"females age 16-49":{
"text":"2,952,180 (2010 est.)"
}
},
"Manpower fit for military service":{
"males age 16-49":{
"text":"2,397,716"
},
"females age 16-49":{
"text":"2,484,097 (2010 est.)"
}
},
"Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually":{
"male":{
"text":"90,436"
},
"female":{
"text":"87,346 (2010 est.)"
}
},
"Military expenditures":{
"text":"1.55% of GDP (2012) ++ 1.34% of GDP (2011) ++ 1.55% of GDP (2010)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"none"
},
"Trafficking in persons":{
"current situation":{
"text":"Tunisia is a source, destination, and possible transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Tunisia’s increased number of street children, children working to support their families, and migrants who have fled unrest in neighboring countries are vulnerable to human trafficking; Tunisian women have been forced into prostitution domestically and elsewhere in the region under false promises of legitimate work; East and West African women may be subjected to forced labor as domestic servants"
},
"tier rating":{
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List – Tunisia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; prior commitments to enact draft anti-trafficking legislation have not been fulfilled, but a slightly increased number of trafficking offenders were prosecuted and convicted in 2013 under existing trafficking-related laws; the government instituted victim identification procedures and developed a victim referral mechanism, although it was not utilized during the reporting period; anti-trafficking awareness campaigns continued to be implemented, and the government worked with an international organization to produce a baseline study on human trafficking in Tunisia (2014)"
