|
||||||
Tunisia
Relevant information about Tunisia.Tunisia is a country located in north of the African continent. It borders Libya to the southeast, Algeria to the west, and Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its capital and largest city is Tunis, in the north-east of the republic. The Sahara desert is part of the south of Tunisia. It is divided into 24 governorates, which are: Ariana, Béja, Ben Arous, Bizerte, Gabès, Gafsa, Jendouba, Kairouan, Kasserine, Kebili, Kef, Mahdia, Manouba, Medenine, Monastir, Nabeul, Sfax, Sidi Bou Zid, Siliana, Sousse, Tataouine, Tozeur, Tunis, Zaghouan. These are subdivided into 264 districts, and further divided into sectors and municipalities. The Tunisian republic was proclaimed in July 1956, and Habib Bourguiba became its first president leading the path to modernization. Today Tunisia has an authoritarian regime disguised as a democracy, under the management of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who is the president since the year 1987, and has restricted freedom of press and political pluralism, in addition to violating human rights. Illegal immigration is a serious issue, since every year a vast number of Tunisians try to reach to European countries, Italy for example. Some are successful at arriving to the country, but are obliged to return and are repatriated. Many of them die when the small boats or rafts sink or go adrift at sea.
Tunisia has a population of 10,383,577: the 98% are Arab, Arabized Punics, and Berbers and they speak Tunisian Arabic. Among the small European population (1%), French and Italians are the majority. There is a Jewish community also established which in the year 2003 were approximately 1,500. The Berbers were the first people in what today is Tunisia. A number of civilizations, such as Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and Phoenicians invaded the Tunisian territory and have settled and assimilated into the population. French and Italians, in the late 1800s, have also made of Tunisia their home, as well as the Jews, but most part of them left after Tunisia declared its independency. The birth rate is of 15.42 births per 1,000 women, and the death rate is of 5.2 deaths per 1,000 men, estimated in 2009. The official state religion is Islam and the constitution requires the president to be Muslim. Tunisia is a strong enthusiast of acceptance of other religions and practices and tolerates religious freedom, respecting a person’ personal beliefs. The 98% of Tunisians are Muslims, 1% are Christians (20,000 mainly Catholics and to a lesser extent Protestants), and the other 1% practice Judaism (1,500 Jews) or other religions. In relation to language, Tunic Arabic is the official, and it is closely related to the Maltese language. French is also an important language that the Tunisians have the ability to speak it, because of the French occupation in the 1800s. The French protectorate in Tunisia introduced a number of educational institutions which were an effective device of dissemination. Nevertheless, since the country declared its independency, the Arabic language has slowly spread, in the administration as well as in the education. Regarding sports, the most popular is football. Tunisia has a professional football league and its national football team has participated in four World Cup Championships. Handball and swimming are also practiced. The musical production is extremely supported in Tunisia: every year the state destines approximately 40,000 dinars to it, which resulted in a qualitative leap. The Centre of Arab and Mediterranean Music is an important institution that collects, cares and spreads Tunisia’s musical heritage, and it is also in charge of highlighting the wealth and diversity of it. A wide number of international festivals are held every year in Tunisia: music and theatre are the main events in the national cultural scene. Some of the most important festivals are: Sahara International Festival, the Carthage Film Festival and the Tabarka Jazz Festival. In regards to cuisine, Tunisia has a strong influence of Mediterranean cuisine and desert dweller’s traditions. A wide variety of ingredients are used and in different ways. Among them, you can find aniseed, olive oil, coriander, caraway, cinnamon, saffron, orange, blossom and rose water. Couscous is the main dish: small grains are cooked, accompanied with meat and vegetables; it is known as the best in North Africa and served on all occasions. Tunisia offers a “sun cuisine”, basically made with spices, olive oil, varied seafood, tomatoes and meat (particularly lamb).
The Tunisian economy is widely diverse: its activities involve from agriculture, mining, manufacturing, to petroleum products and tourism. Tunisia is a member of the World Trade organization and the first one to have sealed a cooperation agreement with the European Union. The industry is primarily built on clothing manufacturing, electric machinery and equipment and production of car parts. Social policies have helped improve living conditions. However Tunisia suffers a high rate of unemployment, particularly among youth. Due to economic contraction and crisis, economic growth has declined to 4.6% in 2008 and to 0.3% in 2009. Nevertheless, manufacturing, agricultural production and positive growth in the sector of services have had a strong development. The leading exports include minerals, manufactured goods, crude oil and agricultural products. France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Maghreb countries are the main trading partners. The promotion of human resources have been specially attended thanks to reforms of the educational system, which will fulfill the conditions that are necessary for improving and upgrading economy and productivity. Among the measures and policies Tunisia needs to take, there are: the privatization of industry, liberalizing the investment code in order to increase foreign investment, ameliorate government efficiency, and eliminate socioeconomic disparities.
Tunisia has recently started to become a medical tourism destination. In the year 2005, only 500 tourists arrived for cosmetic procedures. However, the industry is slowly developing: medical structure and personnel are upgrading, therefore Tunisia has a strong potential. In 2009, 250,000 foreign patients were registered to have arrived in order to receive treatment, mainly due to Tunisian plastic surgeons (most of them have been trained in Europe or America, so they achieve the Western standards), the geographical location of the country, and the cost of surgery. In comparison to prices in the UK or in the USA, the prices are much lower: for instance, breast augmentation or liposuctions are almost 50% cheaper than in Western Europe.
|
?
