Tunisia
The compact crossroads of the Mediterranean and the Sahara
Tunisia is the smallest country in North Africa, a slim wedge thrust toward Sicily that has long served as a gateway between Europe, the Arab world, and sub-Saharan Africa. Its fertile northern coast, sun-baked interior, and Saharan south are packed into a manageable scale, and its roughly 12 million people enjoy one of the region's most educated and secular societies. The cradle of ancient Carthage and the spark of the Arab Spring, Tunisia carries an outsized weight in Mediterranean history relative to its modest size.
The Atlas Mountains taper into Tunisia as the Tell and Dorsale ranges, where the country's highest point, Jebel ech Chambi, reaches about 1,544 meters near the Algerian border. North of the mountains lie well-watered plains and the Medjerda, Tunisia's only major river, while to the south stretch the salt lakes of the Chott el Djerid and the dunes of the Sahara. The economy leans on tourism along the beaches and ancient sites, phosphate mining, olive oil, of which Tunisia is a leading exporter, textiles, and a growing services sector, though youth unemployment remains stubbornly high.
Phoenician Carthage rose here to challenge Rome before its destruction in 146 BC, after which the region became a wealthy Roman province whose amphitheater at El Djem still stands. Arab armies founded Kairouan, one of Islam's holiest cities, and Tunisia later passed through Ottoman and French hands before independence in 1956. Under Habib Bourguiba it pursued an unusually progressive course on women's rights and education. In 2011 the self-immolation of a street vendor ignited a revolution that ousted a dictator and set off the wider Arab Spring, making Tunisia a fragile but notable experiment in democracy.