DESTINATION TUNISIA

Facts at a Glance

Environment

Northern Tunisia has a typical Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers (June-August) and mild, wet winters (December-February). Tunis' high temperatures top out around 32°C (90°F) and drop no lower than 6°C (40°F). The mountains of the north-west occasionally get snow, while the farther south you go, the hotter and drier it gets. Annual rainfall ranges from 1000mm (40in) in the north down to 150mm (6in) in the south, though some Saharan areas go without rain for years on end. Tunisia's lowest point is at Chott el-Gharsa, at 17m (56ft) below sea level, and its highest point is at Jebel Chambi at 1544m (1785ft).

Rainfall dictates what grows where in Tunisia. The Kroumirie Mountains in the north-west receive the lion's share of the sprinkling and are densely forested with evergreen holm and cork oak. The strawberry tree is another common sight, named for its striking reddish fruit, which young boys can be seen hawking at the roadside in December. The trees are covered with dense panicles of fragrant white flowers in autumn. The small plains of the Tell contain small pockets of Aleppo pine, while Tunisia's last remnant of pre-Saharan savanna is found in the Acacia raddiana forest of Bou Hedma National Park. The treeless plains of the south support large areas of esparto grass, while farther south the vegetation gives way altogether to desert and the occasional oasis.

The fauna of Tunisia has had a hard time of it over the centuries. The war elephants employed by Hannibal and the Christian-fed lions of Rome, both now extinct, were two early casualties of foreign intervention. French hunters also trophy-shot a share of species to the brink of extinction, including Barbary deer and a few species of gazelle, though these are recovering now under government protection. Two antelope species, the addax and the oryx, have been reintroduced to Bou Hedma National Park, as have ostriches and maned mouflon (wild sheep). In the forests of the north, look for the reclusive wild boar, mongooses, porcupines and genets (spectacular arboreal cat-like carnivores). The mammals of the south include gerbils (they had to come from somewhere), foxes, hares and the squirrel-like suslik. The nocturnal radar-eared fennec - once common in the deserts - is now extremely rare in the wild. A relative of Australia's goanna and Indonesia's komodo dragon, the desert varanid is relatively common, as are horned vipers and scorpions.

Tunisia's feathered population is impressive, with more than 200 bird species on record. Sightings include migrating storks, hawks and eagles in spring and autumn, colourful bee-eaters and rollers, and a host of wading birds and waterfowl. There are no endemic species to draw the hardcore birder; rather, Tunisia is a place to enjoy a good variety of birds in a mild climate within comfortable distance from towns and other attractions. Ichkeul National Park - easily accessed from Tunis and the northern resorts - is a haven for water birds of all types.

History

The Phoenicians first set up shop in Tunisia at Utica in 1100 BC, using it as a staging post along the route from their home port of Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon) to Spain. They went on to establish a chain of ports along the North African coast, the most important of which included Hadrumètum (Sousse) and Hippo Diarrhytus (Bizerte). But the port that looms largest in history books is Carthage, arch enemy of Rome. It became the leader of the western Phoenician world in the 7th century and the main power in the Western Mediterranean in the early 5th century. The city's regional dominance lasted until the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, which began in 263 BC and ended in 146 BC with Carthage utterly razed and its people sold into slavery.

The Tunisian territory became Roman property after the war. The emperor Augustus refounded Carthage as a Roman city in 44 BC, naming it the capital of Africa Proconsularis, Rome's African holdings. Agriculture became all-important, and by the 1st century AD, the wheat-growing plains of Tunisia were supplying over 60% of the empire's requirements. The Romans went on to found cities and colonies across Tunisia's plains and coastline; today, they're Tunisia's principal tourist attractions.

By the beginning of the 5th century, with Rome's power in terminal decline, the Vandals decided the area was ripe for plucking. Within 10 years, they'd taken Carthage as their capital and began to, well, vandalise. Their exploitative policies alienated them from the native Berber population, who in turn formed small kingdoms and began raiding the Vandal settlements. The Byzantines of Constantinople, who pulled the territory from the Vandals in 533 and kept it for the next 150 years, fared no better.

Islam burst onto the scene in the 7th century, when the Arab armies swept out of Arabia, quickly conquering Egypt. The Arabs had taken all of North Africa by the start of the 8th century, and, with Kairouan as its capital, the region became a province of the fast-expanding Islamic empire controlled by the caliphs of Damascus.

The Berbers adopted Islamic religious teachings readily enough, but they riled under their harsh treatment by the Arabs. Their uprisings continued until 909, when a group of Berber Shiites, the Fatimids, glommed together disaffected Berber tribes and took North Africa back from the Arabs. Their capital was raised on the coast at Mahdia, but the unity was to be short-lived. When some of the tribes returned to the Sunni mainstream, the tribes began to fight one another and North Africa was slowly reduced to ruins.

Conflicts arose again when North Africa was caught in the middle of the rivalry between Spain and the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the 16th century. Tunis changed hands half a dozen times in some 50 years before the Turks took it 1574 and it became an Ottoman territory. Ottoman power lasted through to the 19th century, when France became the new power in the Western Mediterranean and Tunis came under increasing pressure to conform to their European ways.

In 1881, the French sent 30,000 troops into Tunisia under the pretext of countering border raids into French-occupied Algeria. They quickly occupied Tunis and forced the ruling bey to sign over his power to the French. Soon after, they had discretely nabbed the best of Tunisian land. The fall of France in WWII opened the door for Tunisian nationalists to step up their independence campaign, and one man in particular, Habib Bourguiba, set about bringing Tunisia's position into the international spotlight. By the early 1950s, the French were ready to make concessions.

Tunisia was formally granted independence on 20 March 1956, with Bourguiba as prime minister. The following year, the country was declared a republic and Bourguiba became its first president, instituting sweeping political and social changes. Regarding Islam as a force that was holding the country back, Bourguiba set about reducing its role in society by removing religious leaders from their traditional areas of influence, such as education and the law. The shari'a (Qur'anic law) courts were also abolished, and lands that had financed mosques and religious institutions were confiscated.

Bourguiba's presidency lasted through the 1987, when after years of working to squelch the Islamic-party pretenders to his throne, his own minister for the interior, Zine el-Abidine ben Ali, took advantage of the Islamic citizenry's unrest to have Bourguiba declared mentally unfit to rule and 'retired' to a palace outside Monastir.

Ben Ali quickly moved to appease the Islamic opposition, making a pilgrimage to Mecca and ordering that the Ramadan fast be observed. But still his party's stranglehold on the government held fast and the main opposition party remained disenfranchised through the 1994 elections, where they were awarded 10 seats in the National Assembly for their 1% market share of the vote (against Ben Ali's 97.7%). Today, politics is not a popular (or advisable) topic of conversation in Tunisia, but many Tunisians express what appears to be genuine admiration for Ben Ali's leadership. Tunisia's foreign policy has become steadily more pro-Western during his presidency, and the country has established a reputation for stability in a perennially volatile region.

Economic Profile

Culture

Islam is the state religion. Although while there has been a definite resurgence of religious adherence, particularly among the young and unemployed, the country remains fairly liberal. A small Jewish community practices in Tunis and on the island of Jerba, and there are also about 20,000 Roman Catholics.

Thanks largely to the efforts of the secular, socialist former president, Habib Bourguiba, conditions for women in Tunisia are better than just about anywhere in the Islamic world - to western eyes, at least. Bourguiba outlawed polygamy and divorce by renunciation, and also placed limits on the tradition of arranging marriages, setting a minimum marriage age of 17 for girls and giving them the right to refuse a proposed marriage. His calling the veil 'an odious rag' led to its present state of scarcity.

Still, ancient traditions die hard, and women travellers are well advised to keep their upper arms and shoulders covered and to opt for long skirts or trousers. Men wearing shorts are considered to be in the underwear and can sometimes incite indignation as well. Public displays of affection are frowned upon in most parts of the country.

Today, the country is virtually bilingual: Arabic is the language of government, but almost everyone speaks some French. French was the language of education in the early Bourguiba years and is still taught in schools from the age of six. English and German are also taught in schools, but it's rare to encounter either language outside the main tourist areas. The Berber language Chelha is heard only in isolated villages.

Hammams (public bathhouses) are one of life's focal points in Tunisia, as they are all across North Africa and the Middle East, and are seen as a place not just to clean up, but to unwind and socialise. Every town has at least one hammam, with separate areas for men and women - sometimes in separate buildings altogether. Men needn't bring anything with them - a fouta (cotton towel) is provided to wear around the hammam - though women are expected to bring their own towel (and to wear underpants while washing, so bring a dry pair to change into afterwards). The standard fee includes access to the bath and steam room and a kassa, a brisk rubdown with a coarse mitten.

The arts in Tunisia have been greatly influenced by the country's mix of cultures. Architectural styles, for instance, range from Punic and Roman ruins to the red-tiled 'Alpine' houses of 'Ain Draham, the Islamic architecture of the Arab medinas and the troglodytic Berber structures of the south.

Malouf, which means 'normal,' is the name given to a form of traditional Arab-style music that's become a sort of national institution in Tunisia. Among the principal styles of classical Tunisian music are nouba (the oldest, of Andalusian origin), chghoul and bachraf (of Turkish origin). The country's best known musicians, singers and composers include the El-Azifet ensemble (a rarity in this part of the world, it's an all-female group), Khemais Tarnane, Raoul Journou, Saliha, Saleh Mehdi, Ali Riahi, Hedi Jouini and Fethia Khairi, though you probably won't have much luck finding them outside of the country.

An astonishing number of floor mosaics have been discovered in Tunisia, where the country's warm, dry climate left many of them very well preserved. The mosaics date mainly from the 2nd to 6th centuries AD and come mostly from private houses and public baths. The Bardo Museum in Tunis has an impressive collection, as does the El-Jem Museum.

Introduced by the French, painting is a well-establish contemporary art medium in Tunis, with styles ranging from the geometric forms of Hédi Turki to the intricate, free-flowing Arabic calligraphy of Nja Mahdaoui. Under the French, many Europeans came to Tunisia to paint under the North African sun; perhaps the most famous was Paul Klee, who first visited in 1914. Modern galleries are mainly confined to the Tunis area, especially the artists' haven of Sidi Bou Saïd.

Events

'Eid al-Adha is the time of the pilgrimage to Mecca, which each Muslim is expected to make at least once in their lifetime. Streets are decorated with coloured lights and children play in their best clothes. The ritual of Mahmal is performed in each village as passing pilgrims are given carpets and shrouds to take on their journey. This all happens in March.

In terms of secular festivals, July and August are the months to remember. The main event on the Tunis calendar is the Carthage International Festival, which fills those months with music, dance and theatre performances at Carthage's heavily restored Roman theatre. The El-Jem International Symphonic Music Festival is held every July. The Dougga Festival of classical drama also takes place in July and August in, where else, Dougga. After the summer heat dies down, the biennial Carthage International Film Festival (concentrating on Middle Eastern and African cinema) takes place in October in odd-numbered years.

Public Holidays
1 January - New Year's Day
20 March - Independence Day
21 March - Youth Day
9 April - Martyr's Day
1 May - Labour Day
25 July - Republic Day
3 August - Public Holiday
13 August - Women's Day
15 October - Evacuation Day
7 November - Anniversary of Ben Ali's Takeover

Facts for the Traveller

Money & Costs

Relative costs: