TUNISIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 163,610 km2; land area: 155,360 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Georgia
Land boundaries: 1,424 km total; Algeria 965 km, Libya 459 km
Coastline: 1,148 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Libya
Climate: temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry
summers; desert in south
Terrain: mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south
merges into the Sahara
Natural resources: crude oil, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc,
salt
Land use: arable land 20%; permanent crops 10%; meadows and
pastures 19%; forest and woodland 4%; other 47%; includes irrigated
1%
Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;
desertification
Note: strategic location in central Mediterranean; only
144 km from Italy across the Strait of Sicily; borders Libya on east
PEOPLE
Population: 8,276,096 (July 1991), growth rate 2.1% (1991)
Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 38 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 74 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Tunisian(s); adjective--Tunisian
Ethnic divisions: Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish less than 1%
Religion: Muslim 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish less than 1%
Language: Arabic (official); Arabic and French (commerce)
Literacy: 65% (male 74%, female 56%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,250,000; agriculture 32%; shortage of skilled labor
Organized labor: about 360,000 members claimed, roughly 20% of
labor force; General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), quasi-independent
of Constitutional Democratic Party
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Tunisia; note--may be changed to
Tunisian Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Tunis
Administrative divisions: 23 governorates (wilayat,
singular--wilayah); Al Kaf, Al Mahdiyah, Al Munastir,
Al Qasrayn, Al Qayrawan, Aryanah, Bajah, Banzart,
Bin Arus, Jundubah, Madanin, Nabul, Qabis, Qafsah,
Qibili, Safaqis, Sidi Bu Zayd, Silyanah, Susah,
Tatawin, Tawzar, Tunis, Zaghwan
Independence: 20 March 1956 (from France)
Constitution: 1 June 1959
Legal system: based on French civil law system and Islamic law;
some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint
session
National holiday: National Day, 20 March (1956)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Chamber of Deputies (Majlis
al-Nuwaab)
Judicial branch: Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI
(since 7 November 1987);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Hamed KAROUI (since 26 September
1989)
Political parties and leaders:
Constitutional Democratic Rally Party (RCD), President BEN ALI (official
ruling party);
Movement of Democratic Socialists (MDS), Ahmed Mestiri;
five other political parties are legal, including the Communist Party
Suffrage: universal at age 20
Elections:
President--last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994);
results--Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI was reelected without opposition;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 2 April 1989
(next to be held April 1994);
results--RCD 80.7%, independents/Islamists 13.7%, MDS 3.2%, other 2.4%;
seats--(141 total) RCD 141
Communists: a small number of nominal Communists, mostly students
Member of: ABEDA, ACCT, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CCC, ECA, FAO,
G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM,
OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Habib LAZREG;
Chancery at 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005;
telephone (202) 862-1850;
US--Ambassador Robert H. PELLETREAU, Jr.; Embassy at
144 Avenue de la Liberte, 1002 Tunis-Belvedere; telephone 216 (1)
782-566
Flag: red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent
nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; the crescent and star are
traditional symbols of Islam
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy depends primarily on petroleum, phosphates,
tourism, and exports of light manufactures for continued growth.
Following two years of drought-induced economic decline, the economy
made a strong recovery in 1990 as a result of a bountiful harvest,
continued export growth, and higher domestic investment. Continued
high inflation and unemployment have eroded popular support for the
government, however, and forced Tunis to slow the pace of economic
reform. Nonetheless, the government appears committed to implementing
its IMF-supported structural adjustment program and to servicing
its foreign debt.
GDP: $10 billion, per capita $1,235; real growth rate 6.5% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.4% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 15.4% (1989)
Budget: revenues $3.8 billion; expenditures $4.9 billion,
including capital expenditures of $970 million (1991 est.)
Exports: $3.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--hydrocarbons, agricultural products, phosphates and
chemicals;
partners--EC 73%, Middle East 9%, US 1%, Turkey, USSR
Imports: $4.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--industrial goods and equipment 57%, hydrocarbons
13%, food 12%, consumer goods;
partners--EC 68%, US 7%, Canada, Japan, USSR, China, Saudi Arabia,
Algeria
External debt: $7.4 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1989); accounts for
38% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity: 1,493,000 kW capacity; 4,210 million kWh produced,
530 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron
ore), textiles, footwear, food, beverages
Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GDP and one-third of labor force;
output subject to severe fluctuations because of frequent droughts;
export crops--olives, dates, oranges, almonds; other products--grain,
sugar beets, wine grapes, poultry, beef, dairy; not self-sufficient in
food; fish catch of 99,200 metric tons (1987)
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $730
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $4.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $684 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $410 million
Currency: Tunisian dinar (plural--dinars);
1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes
Exchange rates: Tunisian dinars (TD) per US$1--0.8408 (January
1991), 0.8783 (1990), 0.9493 (1989), 0.8578 (1988), 0.8287 (1987), 0.7940
(1986), 0.8345 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 2,154 km total; 465 km 1.435-meter standard gauge;
1,689 km 1.000-meter gauge
Highways: 17,700 km total; 9,100 km bituminous; 8,600 km improved
and unimproved earth
Pipelines: 797 km crude oil; 86 km refined products; 742 km natural
gas
Ports: Bizerte, Gabes, Sfax, Sousse, Tunis, La Goulette, Zarzis
Merchant marine: 21 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 160,172
GRT/218,970 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 4 cargo, 2
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6
chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 5 bulk
Civil air: 13 major transport aircraft
Airports: 29 total, 28 usable; 14 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: the system is above the African average;
facilities consist of open-wire lines, multiconductor cable, and radio
relay; key centers are Safaqis, Susah, Bizerte, and Tunis;
233,000 telephones; stations--18 AM, 4 FM, 14 TV; 4 submarine cables;
earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT with
back-up control station; coaxial cable to Algeria; radio relay to
Algeria, Libya, and Italy
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary forces
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,052,191; 1,180,614 fit for
military service; 90,218 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $315 million, 2.6% of GDP (1990 est.)