What is the capital of Tunisia?
Country Name | Tunisia |
Full Country Name | Republic of Tunisia |
Local - Long | Al Jumhuriyah at Tunisiyah |
Local - Short | Tunis |
Etymology- history of name | the country name derives from the capital city of Tunis |
Government Type | parliamentary republic |
Capital Name | Tunis |
Capital - geographic coordinate | 36 48 N, 10 11 E |
Capital Time Difference | UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Independence | 20 March 1956 (from France) |
National Holiday | Independence Day, 20 March (1956); Revolution and Youth Day, 14 January (2011) |
Constitution | several previous; latest approved by Constituent Assembly 26 January 2014, signed by president on 27 January 2014 |
Who is the president of Tunisia?
Executive Branch: |
chief of state: President Kais SAIED (elected 13 October, sworn in 23 October 2019) head of government: Prime Minister-designate Habib JEMLI (appointed by President Kais SAIED on 15 November 2019; on 10 January 2020, the vote of confidence by the Assembly of the Representatives of the People rejected the new government; on 20 January, President SAIED asked Elyes FAKHFAKH to form a new government ) 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% |
Citizenship Criteria: |
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 |
Legal System: | mixed legal system of civil law, based on the French civil code, and Islamic law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session |
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 |
Legislative Branch: |
description: 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 court(s): Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation (organized into 1 civil and 3 criminal chambers); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 members) note: the new Tunisian constitution of January 2014 called for the creation of a constitutional court by the end of 2015; the court will consist of 12 members - 4 each appointed by the president, Supreme Judicial Council or SJC (an independent 4-part body consisting mainly of elected judges and the remainder legal specialists), and the Chamber of the People's Deputies (parliament); members will serve 9-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years; in late 2015, the International Commission of Jurists called on Tunisia's parliament to revise the draft on the constitutional court to ensure compliance with international standards judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges nominated by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a body of elected and appointed judges and specialized staff, after consultation with the prime minister; judge tenure based on terms of appointment; Constitutional Court members appointed 3 each by the president of the republic, the Chamber of the People's Deputies, and the SJC; members serve 9-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; administrative courts; Court of Audit; Housing Court; courts of first instance; lower district courts; military courts |
Regions or States: | 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) |
Political Parties and Leaders: |
Afek Tounes [Yassine BRAHIM] Congress for the Republic or CPR [Imed DAIMI] Current of Love [Mohamed HAMDI] (formerly the Popular Petition party) Democratic Alliance Party [Mohamed HAMDI] Democratic Current [Mohamed ABBOU] Democratic Patriots' Unified Party Ennahda Movement (The Renaissance) [Rachid GHANNOUCHI] Free Patriotic Union or UPL (Union patriotique libre) [Slim RIAHI] Green Tunisia Party [Abdelkader ZITOUNI] Movement of Socialist Democrats or MDS [Ahmed KHASKHOUSSI] National Destourian Initiative or El Moubadra [Kamel MORJANE] Party of the Democratic Arab Vanguard People's Movement [Zouheir MAGHZAOUI] Popular Front (a coalition of 9 parties including Democractic Patriots' Unified Party, Workers' Party, Green Tunisia, Tunisian Ba'ath Movement, and Party of the Democractic Arab Vanguard) Popular Petition (Aridha Chaabia) [Hachemi HAMDI] Republican Party [Maya JRIBI] The Initiative [Kamel MORJANE] (formerly the Constitutional Democratic Rally or RCD) Tunisian Ba'ath Movement [Omar Othman BEKHADJ, secretary general] Tunisia's Call (Nidaa Tounes) [Mohamed ENNACEUR] Workers' Party [Hamma HAMMAMI] |
International Law Organization Participation: | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
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 Hanene TAJOURI BESSASSI (since 1 December 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 US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Natasha FRANCESCHI (since April 2022) 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/ |