251 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
251 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
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.)
|
||
|
||
|