ETHNIC DIVISIONS: 98% Arab, 1% European, less than 1% Jewish
RELIGION: 98% Muslim, 1% Christian, less than 1% Jewish
LANGUAGE: Arabic (official); Arabic and French (commerce)
LITERACY: 62% (est.)
LABOR FORCE: 2,250,000; 32% agriculture; 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 OF TUNISIA
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)
BRANCHES: executive dominant; 141-seat unicameral legislative (National Assembly), largely advisory; judicial, patterned on French and Koranic systems
CHIEF OF STATE: Zine el Abidine BEN ALI, President (since 8 November 1987)
SUFFRAGE: universal over age 21
ELECTIONS: national election held every five years; last held 2 April 1989
POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS: Constitutional Democratic Rally Party, President Ben Ali (official ruling party); Movement of Democratic Socialists (MDS), Ahmed Mestiri; five other political parties are legal, including the Communist Party
VOTING STRENGTH: (2 April 1989) presidential election--99.3% of 2.1 million votes; legislative election--Constitutional Democratic Rally Party 80.7% (141 seats--all seats in National Assembly), Independents/Islamists 13.7%, MDS 3.2%, other 1.9%
DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION: Ambassador Abdelaziz HAMZAOUI; Chancery at 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005; telephone (202) 862-1850
U.S. FOREIGN SERVICE POST: Ambassador Robert H. PELLETREAU, Jr.; Embassy at 144 Avenue de la Liberte, 1002 Tunis-Belvedere; telephone d 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 OF TUNISIA
OVERVIEW: The economy depends primarily on petroleum, phosphates, and tourism for continued growth. Agriculture suffered severely in 1988 from the worst drought in years, accentuated by an invasion of locusts, with the grain crop down to roughly one-fourth of normal. At the same time, tourism spurted because of the opening of the Libyan border. Tunisia remains in a weak foreign financial position, its external debt approaching the GNP in size. A series of economic reforms improving the business climate and sizable infusions of aid from the IMF and the World Bank have helped stabilize the situation. Unemployment continues high, in part because of workers coming back from other oil-producing countries.
GDP: $9.6 billion, per capita $1,270; real growth rate 5.8% (1987 est.)
INFLATION RATE (CONSUMER PRICES): 7.2% (1987)
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 18% (1987 est.)
BUDGET: revenues $3.08 billion; expenditures $3.42 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.0 billion (1987) EXPORTS: $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 1987); commodities-- hydrocarbons 40%, agricultural products 18%, phosphates and chemicals 18%; partners-- EC 73%, Middle East 9%, US 1%, Turkey, USSR
IMPORTS: $3.0 billion (c.i.f., 1987); 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: $6.8 billion (December 1988)
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION: growth rate 1% (1986)
ELECTRICITY: 1,493,000 kW capacity; 4,209 million kWh produced, 540 kWh per capita (1988)
INDUSTRIES: petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron ore), textiles, footwear, food, beverages
AGRICULTURE: cereals (barley and wheat), olives, grapes, citrus, vegetables; not self-sufficient in food
AID: NA
CURRENCY: Tunisian dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes
EXCHANGE RATES: Tunisian dinars (TD) per US$1--0.9000 (February 1990), 0.9210 (1989), 0.8578 (1988), 0.8287 (1987), 0.7940 (1986), 0.8345 (1985)
FISCAL YEAR: calendar year
.COMMUNICATIONS IN TUNISIA
RAILROADS: 2,051 km (1,273 mi) total; 465 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 1,586 km 1.000-meter gauge
HIGHWAYS: 17,700 km (10,991 mi) total; 9,100 km bituminous; 8,600 km improved and unimproved earth
PIPELINES: 797 km (494 mi) crude oil; 86 km (53 mi) refined products; 742 km (461 mi) natural gas
PORTS: Bizerte, Gabes, Sfax, Sousse, Tunis, La Goulette
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: 17 major transport aircraft
AIRPORTS: 30 total, 28 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways; 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; 1 ARABSAT satellite station and back-up control station; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT station; coaxial cable to Algeria; radio relay to Algeria, Libya, and Italy
.DEFENSE FORCES OF TUNISIA
BRANCHES: Army, Navy, Air Force
MILITARY MANPOWER: males 15-49, 1,923,241; 1,107,087 fit for military service; 86,539 reach military age (20) annually
MILITARY BUDGET: $269 million, 7.7% of central government budget (1988)
.TRAVEL IN TUNISIA
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS: Passport required. Visas not required for tourist stay up to 4 months. Vaccination certificate not required unless arriving from an area infected with yellow fever.
HEALTH: No particular health hazards, but tapwater is not potable in certain seasons in Tunis. Health requirements change; check latest information.
TOURIST OFFICE: Tunisian National Tourist Office, 1 Avenue Mohamed V, Tunis, Tunisia; Tel 341-077.
WEATHER AND CLOTHING: Clothing needs are similar to Washington, D.C.
TELEPHONE: When direct dialing to Tunisia from the U.S., dial 011 (international access code) + 216 [country code] + (city code) + local number.
TIME: 6 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time, and 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
ELECTRIC CURRENT: 220V
NATIONAL HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day (Jan 1); Remembrance Day (Jan 18); Independence Day (Mar 20); Martyrs' Day (Apr 9); Labor Day (May 1); Victory Day (Jun 1); Republic Day (Jul 25); President Bourguiba's Birthday (Aug 3); Womens's Day (Aug 13); Memorial Day (Sep 3); Evacuation Day (Oct 15); Id al-Kebir, Id al-Seghr, Mouloud, Ras El Am El Hejri (variable).
IMPORTANT!! All requirements/recommendations are subject to change. Be sure to check latest information.
