| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Tunisia conventional short form: Tunisia local long form: Al Jumhuriyah at Tunisiyah local short form: Tunis etymology: the country name derives from the capital city of Tunis |
| Government type | parliamentary republic |
| Capital | name: Tunis geographic coordinates: 36 48 N, 10 11 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: three possibilities exist for the derivation of the name; originally a Berber settlement (earliest reference 4th century B.C.), the strategic site fell to the Carthaginians (Phoenicians) and the city could be named after the Punic goddess Tanit, since many ancient cities were named after patron deities; alternatively, the Berber root word "ens," which means "to lie down" or "to pass the night," may indicate that the site was originally a camp or rest stop; finally, the name may be the same as the city of Tynes, mentioned in the writings of some ancient authors |
| Administrative divisions | 24 governorates (wilayat, singular - wilayah); Beja (Bajah), Ben Arous (Bin 'Arus), Bizerte (Banzart), Gabes (Qabis), Gafsa (Qafsah), Jendouba (Jundubah), Kairouan (Al Qayrawan), Kasserine (Al Qasrayn), Kebili (Qibili), Kef (Al Kaf), L'Ariana (Aryanah), Mahdia (Al Mahdiyah), Manouba (Manubah), Medenine (Madanin), Monastir (Al Munastir), Nabeul (Nabul), Sfax (Safaqis), Sidi Bouzid (Sidi Bu Zayd), Siliana (Silyanah), Sousse (Susah), Tataouine (Tatawin), Tozeur (Tawzar), Tunis, Zaghouan (Zaghwan) |
| Independence | 20 March 1956 (from France) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 20 March (1956); Revolution and Youth Day, 14 January (2011) |
| Constitution | history: several previous; latest approved by Constituent Assembly 26 January 2014, signed by the president, prime minister, and Constituent Assembly speaker 27 January 2014 amendments: proposed by the president of the republic or by one third of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People membership; following review by the Constitutional Court, approval to proceed requires an absolute majority vote by the Assembly and final passage requires a two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly; the president can opt to submit an amendment to a referendum, which requires an absolute majority of votes cast for passage |
| Legal system | mixed legal system of civil law, based on the French civil code and Islamic (sharia) law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session |
| International law organization participation | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Tunisia dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
| Suffrage | 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: President Kais SAIED (elected 13 October, sworn in 23 October 2019) head of government: prime minister (vacant); on 25 July 2021, President SAIED removed Prime Minister Hichem MECHICHI from office cabinet: selected by the prime minister and approved by the Assembly of the Representatives of the People elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); last held on 15 September 2019 with a runoff on 13 October 2019 (next to be held in 2024); following legislative elections, the prime minister is selected by the winning party or winning coalition and appointed by the president election results: first round - Kais SAIED (independent) 18.4%, Nabil KAROUI (Heart of Tunisia) 15.6%, Abdelfattah MOUROU (Nahda Movement) 12.9%, Abdelkrim ZBIDI(independent) 10.7%,Youssef CHAHED (Long Live Tunisia) 7.4%, Safi SAID (independent) 7.1%, Lotfi MRAIHI (Republican People's Union) 6.6%, other 21.3%; runoff - Kais SAIED elected president; Kais SAIED 72.7%, Nabil KAROUI 27.3%
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| Legislative branch | description: note: on 25 July 2021, President SAIED suspended the Assembly for 30 days unicameral Assembly of the Representatives of the People or Majlis Nuwwab ash-Sha'b (Assemblee des representants du peuple) (217 seats; 199 members directly elected in Tunisian multi-seat constituencies and 18 members in multi-seat constituencies abroad by party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: initial election held on 6 October 2019 (next to be held in October 2024) election results: percent of vote by party - Ennahdha 19.6%, Heart of Tunisia 14.6%, Free Destourian Party 6.6%, Democratic Current 6.4%, Dignity Coalition 5.9%, People's Movement 4.5%, TahyaTounes 4.1%, other 35.4%, independent 2.9%;seats by party - Ennahdha 52, Heart of Tunisia 38, Free Destourian Party 17, Democratic Current 22, Dignity Coalition 21, People's Movement 16, Tahya Tounes 14, other 25, independent 12; composition - men 139, women 78, percent of women 35.9% |
| Judicial branch | highest courts: Court of Cassation (consists of the first president, chamber presidents, and magistrates and organized into 27 civil and 11 criminal chambers) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges nominated by the Supreme Judicial Council, an independent 4-part body consisting mainly of elected judges and the remainder legal specialists; judge tenure based on terms of appointment; Constitutional Court; note -court was established in the constitution but establishment has been delayed subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; administrative courts; Court of Audit; Housing Court; courts of first instance; lower district courts; military courts note: the new Tunisian constitution of January 2014 called for the creation of a constitutional court by the end of 2015, but as of November 2018, the court had not been appointed; the court to consist of 12 members - 4 each to be appointed by the president, the Supreme Judicial Council (an independent 4-part body consisting mainly of elected judges and the remainder are legal specialists), and the Chamber of the People's Deputies (parliament); members are to serve 9-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years |
| Political parties and leaders | Afek Tounes [Yassine BRAHIM]Al Badil Al-Tounisi (The Tunisian Alternative) [Mehdi JOMAA] Call for Tunisia Party (Nidaa Tounes) [Hafedh CAID ESSEBSI] Congress for the Republic Party or CPR [Imed DAIMI] Current of Love [Hachemi HAMDI] (formerly the Popular Petition party) Democratic Alliance Party [Mohamed HAMDI] Democratic Current [Mohamed ABBOU] Democratic Patriots' Unified Party [Zied LAKHDHAR] Dignity Coalition [Seifeddine MAKHIOUF] Free Destourian Party [Abir MOUSSI] Free Patriotic Union (Union patriotique libre) or UPL [Slim RIAHI] Green Tunisia Party [Abdelkader ZITOUNI] Heart of Tunisia (Qalb Tounes) Irada Movement Long Live Tunisia (Tahya Tounes) [Youssef CHAHED] Machrou Tounes (Tunisia Project) [Mohsen MARZOUK] Movement of Socialist Democrats or MDS [Ahmed KHASKHOUSSI] Ennahda Movement (The Renaissance) [Rachid GHANNOUCHI] National Destourian Initiative or El Moubadra [Kamel MORJANE] Party of the Democratic Arab Vanguard [Ahmed JEDDICK, Kheireddine SOUABNI] People's Movement [Zouheir MAGHZAOUI] Popular Front (coalition includes Democratic Patriots' Unified Party, Workers' Party, Green Tunisia, Tunisian Ba'ath Movement, Party of the Democratic Arab Vanguard) Republican Party [Maya JRIBI] Tunisian Ba'ath Movement [OMAR Othman BELHADJ] Tunisia First (Tunis Awlan) [Ridha BELHAJ] Workers' Party [Hamma HAMMAMI] |
| International organization participation | ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BSEC (observer), CAEU, CD, EBRD, FAO, G-11, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OIF, OPCW, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Nejmeddin LAKHAL (since 18 January 2021) chancery: 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 862-1850 FAX: [1] (202) 862-1858 email address and website: AT.Washington@Tunisiaembassy.org https://www.tunisianembassy.org/ |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Donald A. BLOME (since 7 February 2019) embassy: Les Berges du Lac, 1053 Tunis mailing address: 6360 Tunis Place, Washington DC 20521-6360 telephone: [216] 71-107-000 FAX: [216] 71-107-090 email address and website: tunisacs@state.gov https://tn.usembassy.gov/ |
| Flag description | 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: the flag is based on that of Turkey, itself a successor state to the Ottoman Empire |
| National symbol(s) | encircled red crescent moon and five-pointed star; national colors: red, white |
| National anthem | name: "Humat Al Hima" (Defenders of the Homeland) lyrics/music: Mustafa Sadik AL-RAFII and Aboul-Qacem ECHEBBI/Mohamad Abdel WAHAB note: adopted 1957, replaced 1958, restored 1987; Mohamad Abdel WAHAB also composed the music for the anthem of the United Arab Emirates |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
