Mahdia Governorate ( Tunisian Arabic : ولاية المهدية ; French : Gouvernorat de Mahdia ) is in central-eastern Tunisia, named after its largest town and administrative centre. It comprises an area of coastal relative lowland, but extends further inland than its coastal length. It is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces). It covers an area of 2,966 km², and has a population of 410,812 (as at the 2014 census). Four other governorates are its neighbours - clockwise from south, Sfax , Kairouan , Sousse and Monastir Governorates .
7-599: Chebba ( La Chebba , Ash Shabbah , aš-Šābbah , Sheba ) is a small city in the Mahdia Governorate of Tunisia in North Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea . The city of Chebba derives its name from the headland 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the east, which was classically known as Caput Vada ( headland above the shoals ). The Byzantine general Belisarius landed here in 533 and went on to inflict
14-505: A bay. Ksour Essef is midway between these towns and approximately 2.5 km inland. El Djem is 13 km inland and a mid-sized town on a major crossroads of roads in the district and having Tunisia's main north-south railway. The nearest international airport is connected by road and rail and is 15 km north of Mahdia (the town), Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport . The two main coastal cities are of historic note to Greek, Roman, and early Muslim societies. They include
21-479: A devastating defeat on the Vandals . The town of Chebba was founded by Justinian about 534 CE after the defeat of the Vandals , and named Justinianopolis . The headland (Caput Vada) is now known as Ras Kaboudia and is site of the ruins of the bordj (harbor fortress) of Bordj Khadidja, which was built upon Byzantine foundations. The fortress guarded the harbor entrance and was one of a chain of similar forts built by
28-558: Is divided into eleven delegations ( mutamadiyat ), listed below with their populations at the 2004 and 2014 Censuses: Eighteen municipalities are in Mahdia Governorate: Bou Merdes, Bradaa, Chebba, Chorbane, Eljem, Essouassi, Hebira, Hkaima, Kerker, Ksour Essef, Mahdia, Melloulèche, Ouled Chamekh, Rejiche, Sidi Alouane, Sidi Zid, Tlelsa and Zelba. Electorally and for some more national purposes, Mahdia has eleven delegations , most boundaries of which are similar to
35-500: The Abbasids along the coast of North Africa in the 8th century. It was later renamed after Khadija Ben Kalthoum, a poet of the eleventh century, who was born in Chebba. Mahdia Governorate Mahdia , the administrative centre, is a coastal resort with prominent weaving and fish processing industries. The other coastal urban centre is the small town of Chebba , on the headland of
42-511: The Mahdia shipwreck – a sunken ship found off Mahdia's shore, containing Greek art treasures – dated to about 80 BC, the early part of Roman rule in this region. The old part of Mahdia corresponds to the Roman city called Aphrodisium and, later, called Africa (a name perhaps derived from the older name), or Cape Africa . The climate is semiarid throughout particularly in the summer and due to
49-457: The high albedo effects compared to provinces of the far north, nighttime temperatures tend to fall more, to a similar temperature to average upland parts of the north. Much of the developed area benefits from the Sousse area's advanced water distribution network from dammed rivers and lakes including those hundreds of miles to the west which provides water for domestic use and pools. The governorate
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