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88-516: 37°06′14″N 8°58′51″E  /  37.1039°N 8.9808°E  / 37.1039; 8.9808 This Tunisia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Africa protected areas related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Republic of Tunisia , is the northernmost country in Africa . It

176-750: A liturgical language . Even within Northern Arabia, Arabization occurred to non-Arab populations such as the Hutaym in the northwestern Arabia and the Solluba in the Syrian Desert and the region of Mosul. On the eve of the Rashidun Caliphate conquest of the Levant, 634 AD, Syria's population mainly spoke Aramaic; Greek was the official language of administration. Arabization and Islamization of Syria began in

264-592: A Latin-speaking Christian Berber society to a Muslim and mostly Arabic-speaking society took over 400 years (the equivalent process in Egypt and the Fertile Crescent took 600 years) and resulted in the final disappearance of Christianity and Latin in the 12th or 13th century. The majority of the population were not Muslim until quite late in the 9th century; a vast majority were during the 10th. Also, some Tunisian Christians emigrated; some richer members of society did so after

352-584: A governor, usually a near relative of the Caliph. Despite the prestige of the new masters, the country was still unruly, with continuous rioting and fighting between the townsfolk and wandering Arabs and Turks, the latter being subjects of the Muslim Armenian adventurer Karakush. Also, Tunisia was occupied by Ayyubids between 1182 and 1183 and again between 1184 and 1187. The greatest threat to Almohad rule in Tunisia

440-511: A pantheon of Middle Eastern gods including Baal and Tanit . Tanit's symbol, a simple female figure with extended arms and long dress, is a popular icon found in ancient sites. The founders of Carthage also established a Tophet , which was altered in Roman times. A Carthaginian invasion of Italy led by Hannibal during the Second Punic War , one of a series of wars with Rome , nearly crippled

528-481: Is Nomad and indeed the people were semi-nomadic until the reign of Masinissa of the Massyli tribe. At the beginning of recorded history, Tunisia was inhabited by Berber tribes. Its coast was settled by Phoenicians starting as early as the 12th century BC ( Bizerte , Utica ). The city of Carthage was founded in the 9th century BC by Phoenicians. Legend says that Dido from Tyre, now in modern-day Lebanon, founded

616-573: Is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arab , meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic language , culture , literature , art , music , and ethnic identity as well as other socio-cultural factors. It is a specific form of cultural assimilation that often includes a language shift . The term applies not only to cultures, but also to individuals, as they acclimate to Arab culture and become "Arabized". Arabization took place after

704-518: Is a part of the Maghreb region of North Africa , bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares maritime borders with Italy through the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the north and Malta to the east. It features the archaeological sites of Carthage dating back to the 9th century BC, as well as

792-570: Is celebrated annually as Tunisian Independence Day. A year later, Tunisia was declared a republic, with Bourguiba as the first President . From independence in 1956 until the 2011 revolution, the government and the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), formerly Neo Destour and the Socialist Destourian Party , were effectively one. Following a report by Amnesty International , The Guardian called Tunisia "one of

880-763: Is rated a hybrid regime . It is one of the few countries in Africa ranking high on the Human Development Index , with one of the highest per capita incomes on the continent, ranking 129th in GDP per capita income. Tunisia is well integrated into the international community. It is a member of the United Nations , Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , the Arab League , the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation ,

968-502: Is sometimes also associated with the Carthage goddess Tanith (or Tunit), and the ancient city of Tynes. The French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications, introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages have left the name untouched, such as the Russian Туни́с ( Tunís ) and Spanish Túnez . In this case,

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1056-413: Is the most spoken, and French also serves as an administrative and educational language in some contexts, but it has no official status. Beginning in early antiquity, Tunisia was inhabited by the indigenous Berbers . The Phoenicians , a Semitic people , began to arrive in the 12th century BC, settling on the coast and establishing several settlements , of which Carthage emerged as the most powerful by

1144-595: Is up for debate. In 1945 after escaping French surveillance, Tunisian nationalist Habib Bourguiba arrived in Cairo . While there, he was able to make contact with the Arab League . Later in 1946, after traveling to other Middle Eastern countries, he made his way to the United States to speak to both the United Nations at their headquarters at Lake Success and U.S. State Department officials in Washington D.C. , pleading

1232-582: Is written with the Arabic script . The South Arabian alphabet which was used to write it also fell out of use. A separate branch of South Semitic , the Modern South Arabian languages still survive today as spoken languages in southern of present-day Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Dhofar in present-day Oman. Although Yemen is traditionally held to be the homeland of the Qahtanite Arabs who, according to Arab tradition, are pure Arabs; however, most of

1320-764: The African Union , the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , the Non-Aligned Movement , the International Criminal Court , the Group of 77 , among others. It maintains close economic and political relations with some European countries, particularly with France and Italy , due to their geographical proximity. Tunisia also has an association agreement with the European Union and has attained

1408-671: The Arabic language . The Arab Ghassanids were the last major non-Islamic Semitic migration northward out of Yemen in late classic era. They were Greek Orthodox Christian , and clients of the Byzantine Empire . They arrived in Byzantine Syria which had a largely Aramean population. They initially settled in the Hauran region, eventually spreading to the entire Levant (modern Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan), briefly securing governorship of parts of Syria and Transjordan away from

1496-758: The Greek alphabet , was spoken in most of Egypt prior to the Islamic conquest. Arabic, however, was already being spoken in the eastern fringes of Egypt for centuries prior to the arrival of Islam. By the Mameluke era, the Arabization of the Egyptian populace alongside a shift in the majority religion going from Christianity to Islam, had taken place. Neither North Africa nor the Iberian Peninsula were strangers to Semitic culture :

1584-651: The Muslim conquest of the Middle East and North Africa , as well as during the more recent Arab nationalist policies toward non-Arab minorities in modern Arab states , such as Algeria , Iraq , Syria , Egypt , Bahrain , and Sudan . After the rise of Islam in the Hejaz and subsequent Muslims conquests , Arab culture and language spread outside the Arabian Peninsula through trade and intermarriages between members of

1672-839: The Nabataeans . The Arab Lakhmid Kingdom was founded by the Lakhum tribe that emigrated from Yemen in the 2nd century and ruled by the Banu Lakhm , hence the name given it. They adopted the religion of the Church of the East , founded in Assyria / Asōristān , opposed to the Ghassanids Greek Orthodox Christianity, and were clients of the Sasanian Empire . The Byzantines and Sasanians used

1760-564: The Ottoman Porte appointed directly for Tunis a governor called the Pasha supported by janissary forces. Before long, however, Tunisia became in effect an autonomous province, under the local bey . Under its Turkish governors, the beys, Tunisia attained virtual independence. The Hussein dynasty of beys, established in 1705, lasted until 1957. This evolution of status was from time to time challenged without success by Algiers. During this era,

1848-733: The Phoenicians and later the Carthaginians dominated parts of the North African and Iberian shores for more than eight centuries until they were suppressed by the Romans and by the following Vandal and Visigothic invasions, and the Berber incursions. From the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century, Arabs began to migrate to the Maghreb in several waves. Arab migrants settled in all parts of

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1936-555: The Qedarite Kingdom , extended into these regions. Inscriptions and other archeological remains, such as bowls bearing inscriptions identifying Qedarite kings and Nabatean Arabic inscriptions, affirm the Arab presence in the region. Egypt was conquered from the Romans by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century CE. The Coptic language , which was written using the Coptic variation of

2024-852: The Second World War , the protectorate of Tunisia was controlled by the collaborationist Vichy government in Metropolitan France. The antisemitic Statute on Jews enacted by the Vichy government was also implemented in Vichy-controlled Northwest Africa and other overseas French territories. Thus, the persecution and murder of the Jews from 1940 to 1943 was part of the Holocaust in France. From November 1942 until May 1943, Vichy-controlled Tunisia

2112-624: The Tunisian constitution . The anniversary of Ben Ali's succession, 7 November, was celebrated as a national holiday. He was consistently re-elected with enormous majorities every five years (well over 80 percent of the vote), the last being 25 October 2009, until he fled the country amid popular unrest in January 2011. Ben Ali and his family were accused of corruption and plundering the country's money. Economic liberalisation provided further opportunities for financial mismanagement, while corrupt members of

2200-778: The Visigothic or Mozarabic Rite . Most of the Mozarabs were descendants of Hispano – Gothic Christians and were primarily speakers of the Mozarabic language under Islamic rule. Many were also what the Arabist Mikel de Epalza calls "Neo-Mozarabs" , that is Northern Europeans who had come to the Iberian Peninsula and picked up Arabic, thereby entering the Mozarabic community. Besides Mozarabs, another group of people in Iberia eventually came to surpass

2288-649: The largest imperial expanses in history . South Arabia is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir, which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and the Dhofar of present-day Oman. Old South Arabian was driven to extinction by the Islamic expansion, being replaced by Classical Arabic which

2376-652: The 19th century, the rulers of Tunisia became aware of the ongoing efforts at political and social reform in the Ottoman capital . The Bey of Tunis then, by his own lights but informed by the Turkish example, attempted to effect a modernizing reform of institutions and the economy. Tunisian international debt grew unmanageable. This was the reason or pretext for French forces to establish a protectorate in 1881. In 1869, Tunisia declared itself bankrupt and an international financial commission took control over its economy. In 1881, using

2464-401: The 2nd century, olive oil rivaled cereals as an export item. In addition to the cultivations and the capture and transporting of exotic wild animals from the western mountains, the principal production and exports included textiles, marble, wine, timber, livestock, pottery such as African Red Slip , and wool. There was even a huge production of mosaics and ceramics, exported mainly to Italy, in

2552-401: The 7th century AD, Arab Muslims conquered all of Tunisia (finally succeeding in 697 after several attempts starting in 647) and settled with their tribes and families , bringing Islam and Arab culture to the local inhabitants. A later large-scale Arab migration of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes in the 11th-12th centuries rapidly accelerated this process. By around the 15th century,

2640-667: The 7th century BC. The descendants of the Phoenician settlers came to be known as the Punic people . Ancient Carthage was a major mercantile empire and a military rival to the Roman Republic until 146 BC when it was defeated by the Romans who occupied Tunisia for most of the next 800 years. The Romans introduced Christianity and left architectural legacies like the Amphitheatre of El Jem . In

2728-475: The 7th century, and it took several centuries for Islam, the Arab identity, and language to spread; the Arabs of the caliphate did not attempt to spread their language or religion in the early periods of the conquest, and formed an isolated aristocracy. The Arabs of the caliphate accommodated many new tribes in isolated areas to avoid conflict with the locals; caliph Uthman ordered his governor, Muawiyah I , to settle

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2816-646: The Arabization of Christians was completed before the First Crusade . By the thirteenth century, Arabic language achieved dominance in the region and its speakers became Arabs. Prior to the Islamic conquests, Arabs had been inhabiting the Sinai Peninsula , the Eastern desert and eastern Delta for centuries. These regions of Egypt collectively were known as "Arabia" to the contemporary historians and writers documenting them. Several pre-Islamic Arab kingdoms, such as

2904-415: The Arabs to migrate to the Maghreb in search of security and stability. After establishing Cairo in 969, the Fatimids left rule over Tunisia and eastern Algeria to the local Zirid dynasty (972–1148). In response to the Zirids later declaring independence from the Fatimids, the Fatimids dispatched large Bedouin Arab tribes, mainly the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym , to defeat the Zirids and settle in

2992-569: The Berber, Arab, and other ( Saqaliba and Zanj ) Muslims who became collectively termed in Christian Europe as " Moors ". The Andalusian Arabic was spoken in Iberia during Islamic rule. A similar process of Arabization and Islamization occurred in the Emirate of Sicily ( as-Siqilliyyah ), Emirate of Crete ( al-Iqritish ), and Malta ( al-Malta ), during this period some segments of the populations of these islands converted to Islam and began to adopt elements of Arabic culture , traditions , and customs . The Arabization process also resulted in

3080-414: The French State prosecutor of having stolen two mega-yachts from a French marina. According to Le Monde , Ben Ali's son-in-law was being primed to eventually take over the country. Independent human rights groups, such as Amnesty International , Freedom House , and Protection International, documented that basic human and political rights were not respected. The regime obstructed in any way possible

3168-465: The Ghassanids and Lakhmids to fight proxy wars in Arabia against each other. The most significant wave of "Arabization" in history followed the early Muslim conquests of Muhammad and the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates . These Arab empires were the first to grow well beyond the Arabian Peninsula, eventually reaching as far as Iberia in the West and Central Asia to the East, covering 11,100,000 km (4,300,000 sq mi), one of

3256-417: The Great Mosque of Kairouan . Known for its ancient architecture, souks , and blue coasts, it covers 163,610 km (63,170 sq mi), and has a population of 12.1 million. It contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert; much of its remaining territory is arable land . Its 1,300 km (810 mi) of coastline includes the African conjunction of

3344-413: The Maghreb by Maqil and Beni Hassan in the 13th-15th century and by Andalusi refugees in the 15th-17th century. The migration of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in the 11th century had a much greater influence on the process of Arabization of the population than did the earlier migrations. It played a major role in spreading Bedouin Arabic to rural areas such as the countryside and steppes, and as far as

3432-472: The Maghreb, coming as peaceful newcomers who were welcomed everywhere, establishing large Arab settlements in many areas. In addition to changing the population's demographics, the early migration of Arab tribes resulted in the Arabization of the native Berber population. This initial wave contributed to the Berber adoption of Arab culture . Furthermore, the Arabic language spread during this period and drove local Latin ( African Romance ) into extinction in

3520-415: The Maghreb. The invasion of Ifriqiya by the Banu Hilal, a warlike Arab Bedouin tribe, sent the region's urban and economic life into further decline. The Arab historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert. The Fatimid caliph instructed the Bedouin tribes to rule the Maghreb instead of the Zirid emir Al-Mu'izz and told them "I have given you

3608-402: The Maghrib and the rule of al-Mu'izz ibn Balkīn as-Sanhājī the runaway slave. You will want for nothing." and told Al-Mu'izz "I have sent you horses and put brave men on them so that God might accomplish a matter already enacted". Sources estimated that the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century was at around 1 million Arabs. There were later Arab migrations to

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3696-412: The Mozarabs both in terms of population and Arabization. These were the Muladi or Muwalladun , most of whom were descendants of local Hispano-Basques and Visigoths who converted to Islam and adopted Arabic culture, dress, and language. By the 11th century, most of the population of al-Andalus was Muladi, with large minorities of other Muslims, Mozarabs, and Sephardic Jews . It was the Muladi, together with

3784-423: The Roman historian Sallust , the demigod Hercules died in Spain and his polyglot eastern army was left to settle the land, with some migrating to Africa. Persians went to the West and intermarried with the Gaetulians and became the Numidians. The Medes settled and were known as Mauri, later Moors. The Numidians and Moors belonged to the race from which the Berbers are descended. The translated meaning of Numidian

3872-461: The Roman period, the area of what is now Tunisia enjoyed a huge development. The economy, mainly during the Empire, boomed: the prosperity of the area depended on agriculture. Called the Granary of the Empire , the area of actual Tunisia and coastal Tripolitania , according to one estimate, produced one million tons of cereals each year, one quarter of which was exported to the Empire. Additional crops included beans, figs, grapes, and other fruits. By

3960-443: The Trabelsi family, most notably in the cases of Imed Trabelsi and Belhassen Trabelsi , controlled much of the business sector in the country. The First Lady Leila Ben Ali was described as an "unabashed shopaholic " who used the state airplane to make frequent unofficial trips to Europe's fashion capitals. Tunisia refused a French request for the extradition of two of the President's nephews, from Leila's side, who were accused by

4048-409: The US feared political change in North Africa due to the looming presence of possible Soviet Union communist expansion. Bourguiba continued to plead to foreign leaders when he traveled to Italy on 6 November 1951. His contacts included Alberto Mellini Ponce De León , Mario Toscano , and Licinio Vestri . De León was an old friend of Bourguiba who had helped free him from German captivity, Toscano

4136-405: The broader Arab Spring movement across the region. Free multiparty parliamentary elections were held shortly thereafter; the country again voted for parliament on 26 October 2014, and for president on 23 November 2014. From 2014 to 2020, it was considered the only democratic state in the Arab world , according to the The Economist Democracy Index . After a democratic backsliding , Tunisia

4224-461: The case of the Tunisian nationalists. As part of postwar Tunisia, a new all-Tunisian labor organization was formed, the Union Générale des Travailleurs (UGTT) . This was one of the stronger components of the nationalist group Neo-Destour . Habib Bourguiba made his way to the United States on 13 September 1949. He attended the American Federation of Labor meeting in San Francisco , California. The French were opposed to his presence there, and

4312-419: The central area of El Djem (where there was the second biggest amphitheater in the Roman Empire). Berber bishop Donatus Magnus was the founder of a Christian group known as the Donatists . During the 5th and 6th centuries (from 430 to 533 AD), the Germanic Vandals invaded and ruled over a kingdom in Northwest Africa that included present-day Tripoli. The region was easily reconquered in 533–534 AD, during

4400-420: The cities. The Arabization took place around Arab centres through the influence of Arabs in the cities and rural areas surrounding them. Arab political entities in the Maghreb such as the Aghlabids , Idrisids , Salihids and Fatimids , were influential in encouraging Arabization by attracting Arab migrants and by promoting Arab culture. In addition, disturbances and political unrest in the Mashriq compelled

4488-420: The city in 814 BC, as retold by the Greek writer Timaeus of Tauromenium . The settlers of Carthage brought their culture and religion from Phoenicia, now present-day Lebanon and adjacent areas. After the series of wars with Greek city-states of Sicily in the 5th century BC, Carthage rose to power and eventually became the dominant civilization in the Western Mediterranean . The people of Carthage worshipped

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4576-477: The command of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha , the younger brother of Oruç Reis, who was the Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman Fleet during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent . However, it was not until the final Ottoman reconquest of Tunis from Spain in 1574 under Kapudan Pasha Uluç Ali Reis that the Ottomans permanently acquired the former Hafsid Tunisia , retaining it until the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881. Initially under Turkish rule from Algiers, soon

4664-586: The conquest in 698 and others were welcomed by Norman rulers to Sicily or Italy in the 11th and 12th centuries – the logical destination because of the 1200 year close connection between the two regions. The Arab governors of Tunis founded the Aghlabid dynasty , which ruled Tunisia, Tripolitania and eastern Algeria from 800 to 909. Tunisia flourished under Arab rule when extensive systems were constructed to supply towns with water for household use and irrigation that promoted agriculture (especially olive production). This prosperity permitted luxurious court life and

4752-928: The country on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power. Protests continued for banning of the ruling party and the eviction of all its members from the transitional government formed by Mohammed Ghannouchi . Eventually the new government gave in to the demands. A Tunis court banned the ex-ruling party RCD and confiscated all its resources. A decree by the minister of the interior banned the "political police", special forces which were used to intimidate and persecute political activists. Arabization Features Types Types Features Clothing Genres Art music Folk Prose Islamic Poetry Genres Forms Arabic prosody National literatures of Arab States Concepts Texts Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities Arabization or Arabicization ( Arabic : تعريب , romanized :  taʻrīb )

4840-409: The development of the now extinct Siculo-Arabic language, from which the modern Maltese language derives. By contrast, the present-day Sicilian language , which is an Italo-Dalmatian Romance language , retains very little Siculo-Arabic, with its influence being limited to some 300 words. Contacts between Nubians and Arabs long predated the coming of Islam, but the Arabization of the Nile Valley

4928-409: The end of the war in Africa. After the liberation of Tunisia from the Germans, the French regained control over the government and made participation in a nationalist party illegal once more. Moncef Bey , who was popular amongst Tunisians, was deposed by the French. The French claimed that his removal was due to him being sympathetic to the Axis countries during German occupation, but the real reason

5016-430: The formal language of the state prompted the cultural and linguistic assimilation of Syrian converts. Those who remained Christian also became Arabized; it was probably during the Abbasid period in the ninth century that Christians adopted Arabic as their first language; the first translation of the gospels into Arabic took place in this century. Many historians, such as Claude Cahen and Bernard Hamilton, proposed that

5104-471: The governing councils controlling Tunisia remained largely composed of a foreign elite who continued to conduct state business in the Turkish language . Attacks on European shipping were made by corsairs , primarily from Algiers, but also from Tunis and Tripoli , yet after a long period of declining raids the growing power of the European states finally forced its termination. The plague epidemics ravaged Tunisia in 1784–1785, 1796–1797 and 1818–1820. In

5192-429: The help of activists such as Chedly Kallala, Farhat Hached , and Salah Ben Youssef . Today, Tunisia's culture and identity are rooted in this centuries-long intersection of different cultures and ethnicities. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution , which was triggered by dissatisfaction with the lack of freedom and democracy under the 24-year rule of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali , overthrew his regime and catalyzed

5280-458: The influence of the earlier Aramaic culture, the neighbouring Hebrew culture of the Hasmonean kingdom, as well as the Hellenistic cultures in the region (especially with the Christianization of Nabateans in the 3rd and 4th centuries). The pre-modern Arabic language was created by Nabateans, who developed the Nabataean alphabet which became the basis of modern Arabic script . The Nabataean language , under heavy Arab influence, amalgamated into

5368-421: The interests of the French and French citizens in Tunisia, at the Cercle Republicain d'outre Mer in Paris. The Neo-Destour group was not in favor of these reforms if they themselves were not involved in their creation. They also demanded the freedom of Bourguiba who was imprisoned on the Isle of Galete. Tunisia achieved independence from France on 20 March 1956 with Habib Bourguiba as Prime Minister. 20 March

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5456-450: The lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert. The main Tunisian cities were conquered by the Normans of Sicily under the Kingdom of Africa in the 12th century, but following the conquest of Tunisia in 1159–1160 by the Almohads the Normans were evacuated to Sicily. Communities of Tunisian Christians would still exist in Nefzaoua up to the 14th century. The Almohads initially ruled over Tunisia through

5544-438: The most modern but repressive countries in the Arab world". On 12 May 1964, Tunisia nationalized foreign farmlands. Immediately after, France canceled all financial assistance for the country, which was to amount to more than $ 40 million. This led to the Tunisian National Assembly passing a bill that required all residents of the country to subscribe to a "popular loan" in proportion to their income. From 1977 until 2005, Tunisia

5632-423: The new tribes away from the original population. Syrians who belonged to Monophysitic denominations welcomed the peninsular Arabs as liberators. The Abbasids in the eighth and ninth century sought to integrate the peoples under their authority, and the Arabization of the administration was one of the tools. Arabization gained momentum with the increasing numbers of Muslim converts; the ascendancy of Arabic as

5720-436: The non-Arab local population and the peninsular Arabs. The Arabic language began to serve as a lingua franca in these areas and various dialects were formed. This process was accelerated by the migration of various Arab tribes outside of Arabia, such as the Arab migrations to the Maghreb and the Levant . The influence of Arabic has been profound in many other countries whose cultures have been influenced by Islam. Arabic

5808-513: The pretext of a Tunisian incursion into Algeria , the French invaded with an army of about 36,000 and forced the Bey of Tunis, Muhammad III as-Sadiq , to agree to the terms of the 1881 Treaty of Bardo . With this treaty, Tunisia was officially made a French protectorate , over the objections of Italy. European settlements in the country were actively encouraged; the number of French colonists grew from 34,000 in 1906 to 144,000 in 1945. In 1910 there were also 105,000 Italians in Tunisia . During

5896-441: The previous adjectival form was "Tunisine". Farming methods reached the Nile Valley from the Fertile Crescent region about 5000 BC, and spread to the Maghreb by about 4000 BC. Agricultural communities in the humid coastal plains of central Tunisia then were ancestors of today's Berber tribes. It was believed in ancient times that Africa was originally populated by Gaetulians and Libyans, both nomadic peoples. According to

5984-550: The protests. The protests inspired the Arab Spring , a wave of similar actions throughout the Arab world. The catalyst for mass demonstrations was the death of Mohamed Bouazizi , a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor, who set himself afire on 17 December 2010 in protest at the confiscation of his wares and the humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official named Faida Hamdy . Anger and violence intensified following Bouazizi's death on 4 January 2011, ultimately leading longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to resign and flee

6072-404: The region of modern-day Tunisia had already been almost completely Arabized , establishing Arabs as the demographic majority of the population. Then, in 1546, the Ottoman Empire established control there, holding sway for over 300 years, until 1881, when the French conquered Tunisia . In 1956, Tunisia gained independence as the Tunisian Republic under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba with

6160-400: The rise of Roman power. From the conclusion of the Second Punic War in 202 BC, Carthage functioned as a client state of the Roman Republic for another 50 years. Following the Battle of Carthage which began in 149 BC during the Third Punic War , Carthage was conquered by Rome in 146 BC. Following its conquest, the Romans renamed Carthage to Africa , incorporating it as a province. During

6248-428: The rule of Emperor Justinian I , by the Eastern Romans led by General Belisarius , preluding a 165-year era of Byzantine rule . Sometime between the second half of the 7th century and the early part of the 8th century, Arab Muslim conquest occurred in the region . They founded the first Islamic city in Northwest Africa, Kairouan . It was there in 670 AD that the Mosque of Uqba , or the Great Mosque of Kairouan,

6336-453: The same name is used for both country and city, as with the Arabic تونس , and only by context can one tell the difference. In English, Tunisia before independence was also often called simply "Tunis", a name that persisted until the 1940s; under French influence, the neologism "Tunisia", adapted from Tunisie , gradually took hold. The adjective "Tunisian" first appeared in English in 1825;

6424-548: The sedentary Yemeni population did not speak Old Arabic prior to the spread of Islam , and spoke the extinct Old South Arabian languages instead. Before the 7th century CE , the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of Christian Arabs , Zoroastrian Arabs, Jews , and Aramaic -speaking agriculturalists. Some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit Akkadian , Aramaic and Syriac features. The sedentary people of ancient Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, while Syriac functioned as

6512-585: The son of Abu Hafs declared himself independent. During the reign of the Hafsid dynasty from their capital Tunis, fruitful commercial relationships were established with several Christian Mediterranean states. In the late 16th century the coast became a pirate stronghold. In the last years of the Hafsid dynasty , Spain seized many of the coastal cities, but these were recovered by the Ottoman Empire . The first Ottoman conquest of Tunis took place in 1534 under

6600-796: The southern areas near the Sahara . It also heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant. After the Umayyad conquest of Hispania , under the Arab Muslim rule Iberia ( al-Andalus ) incorporated elements of Arabic language and culture. The Mozarabs were Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus . Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam , but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture and dress. They were mostly Roman Catholics of

6688-454: The status of a major non-NATO ally of the United States . 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 ⵜⵏⵙ , transcribed tns , which means "to lay down" or "encampment". It

6776-467: The western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin . Tunisia is home to Africa's northernmost point, Cape Angela . Located on the northeastern coast, Tunis is the capital and largest city of the country, which is itself named after Tunis. The official language of Tunisia is Modern Standard Arabic . The vast majority of Tunisia's population is Arab and Muslim . Vernacular Tunisian Arabic

6864-419: The work of local human rights organizations. In 2008, in terms of press freedom , Tunisia was ranked 143rd out of 173. The Tunisian Revolution was an intensive campaign of civil resistance that was precipitated by high unemployment , food inflation , corruption , a lack of freedom of speech and other political freedoms and poor living conditions . Labour unions were said to be an integral part of

6952-637: Was a major source of vocabulary for various languages . This process reached its zenith between the 10th and 14th centuries, widely considered to be the high point of Arab culture, during the Islamic Golden Age . After Alexander the Great , the Nabataean Kingdom emerged and ruled a region extending from north of Arabia to the south of Syria. The Nabataeans originated from the Arabian peninsula, who came under

7040-479: Was a gradual process that occurred over a period of nearly one thousand years. Arab nomads continually wandered into the region in search of fresh pasturage, and Arab seafarers and merchants traded at Red Sea ports for spices and slaves. Intermarriage and assimilation also facilitated Arabization. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestry of the Nile valley's area of Sudan mixed population to Arab tribes that migrated into

7128-544: Was a shooting location for five films of the Star Wars film franchise. In 1982, Tunisia became the center of the Palestinian Liberation Organization , a militant and political organization based in the capital Tunis. In November 1987, doctors declared Bourguiba unfit to rule and, in a bloodless coup d'état, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumed the presidency in accordance with Article 57 of

7216-633: Was connected to the decline of Tunisian trade and agriculture. The depredation of the Tunisian campaigns by the Banu Hilal , a warlike Arab tribe encouraged by the Fatimids of Egypt to seize Northwest Africa, sent the region's rural and urban economic life into further decline. Consequently, the region underwent rapid urbanisation as famines depopulated the countryside and industry shifted from agriculture to manufactures. The Arab historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that

7304-538: Was constructed. This mosque is the oldest and most prestigious sanctuary in the Muslim West with the oldest standing minaret in the world; it is also considered a masterpiece of Islamic art and architecture. The Arab migration to the Maghreb began during this time. The region in its entirety was taken in 695, retaken by the Byzantine Eastern Romans in 697, but lost permanently in 698. The transition from

7392-467: Was marked by the construction of new palace cities such as al-Abbasiya (809) and Raq Adda (877). After conquering Cairo , the Fatimids abandoned Tunisia and parts of Eastern Algeria to the local Zirids (972–1148). Zirid Tunisia flourished in many areas: agriculture, industry, trade, and religious and secular learning. Management by the later Zirid emirs was neglectful though, and political instability

7480-695: Was occupied by Germany. SS Commander Walter Rauff continued to implement the "Final Solution" there. From 1942 to 1943, Tunisia was the scene of the Tunisia Campaign , a series of battles between the Axis and Allied forces. The battle opened with initial success by the German and Italian forces, but the massive supply and numerical superiority of the Allies led to the Axis surrender on 13 May 1943. The six-month campaign of Tunisia's liberation from Axis occupation signalled

7568-673: Was replaced by Pierre Voizard . Voizard had previously been the French Minister to Monaco . A month after his arrival in Tunis on 26 September 1953, Voizard made many changes to ease tensions in Tunisia. He lifted press censorship and freed several political prisoners. He also restored the full powers of civil authorities and raised the state of siege in the Sahel . On 26 January 1954, Voizard announced that there would soon be new reforms in favor of granting more sovereignty to Tunisians while insuring

7656-669: Was the Banu Ghaniya , relatives of the Almoravids , who from their base in Mallorca tried to restore Almoravid rule over the Maghreb. Around 1200 they succeeded in extending their rule over the whole of Tunisia until they were crushed by Almohad troops in 1207. After this success, the Almohads installed Walid Abu Hafs as the governor of Tunisia. Tunisia remained part of the Almohad state, until 1230 when

7744-736: Was the head of the Ufficio Studi e Documentazione in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , and Vestri was an Africanist scholar. Despite his best efforts, the Italians remained neutral as they did not want to ruin relations with NATO ally France, nor did they want to hamper any possibility of future relations with Tunisia as it served as a key part of the Mediterranean . The French Resident General in Tunisia, Jean de Hautecloque  [ de ; fr ] left Tunis to go to Paris on 25 August 1953, when he

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