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Tunisia
Home of the ancient city of Carthage, Tunisia has long been an important player in the Mediterranean, placed as it is in the centre of North Africa, close to vital shipping routes.
In their time, the Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and French realised its strategic significance, making it a hub for control over the region.
Overview
French colonial rule ended in 1956, and Tunisia was led for three decades by Habib Bourguiba, who advanced secular ideas. These included emancipation for women - women's rights in Tunisia are among the most advanced in the Arab world - the abolition of polygamy and compulsory free education.
Mr Bourguiba insisted on an anti-Islamic fundamentalist line, while increasing his own powers to become a virtual dictator.
In 1987 he was dismissed on grounds of senility and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali became president. He continued with a hard line against Islamic extremists, but inherited an economically-stable country.
Although Tunisia has introduced some press freedoms and has freed a number of political prisoners, human rights groups say the authorities tolerate no dissent, harassing government critics and rights activists.
Mr Ben Ali faced reproach at home and abroad for his party's three "99.9%" election wins. The opposition condemned changes to the constitution which allowed him to run for re-election in 2004, and in 2009.
Tunisia is more prosperous than its neighbours and has strong trade links with Europe. Agriculture employs a large part of the workforce, and dates and olives are cultivated in the drier regions. Millions of European tourists flock to Tunisian resorts every year.
Political violence was rare until recently, but militant Islamists have become an issue of concern for the authorities. A suicide bomb attack on an historic synagogue in the resort of Djerba in 2002 killed 21 people and led to a dramatic drop in tourist numbers.
A dozen suspected Islamists were killed in shoot-outs with security forces in and around Tunis at the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007. Lawyers say hundreds of people were arrested on suspicion of links with terrorist groups since 2003, when the authorities gained new powers of arrest.
Violent repression of protests over unemployment and lack of political freedom in the winter of 2010-2011 left tens of people dead and prompted the government to pledge reforms, although it blamed the demonstrations on Islamist and left-wing "extremists".
Facts
· Full name: Tunisian Republic
· Population: 10.4 million (UN, 2010)
· Capital: Tunis
· Area: 164,150 sq km (63,378 sq miles)
· Major languages: Arabic (official); French
· Major religion: Islam
· Life expectancy: 73 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
· Monetary unit: 1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes
· Main exports: Agricultural products, textiles, oil
· GNI per capita: US $3,720 (World Bank, 2009)
· Internet domain: .tn
· International dialling code: +216
Leaders
President: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Home of the ancient city of Carthage, Tunisia has long been an important player in the Mediterranean, placed as it is in the centre of North Africa, close to vital shipping routes.
In their time, the Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and French realised its strategic significance, making it a hub for control over the region.
Overview
French colonial rule ended in 1956, and Tunisia was led for three decades by Habib Bourguiba, who advanced secular ideas. These included emancipation for women - women's rights in Tunisia are among the most advanced in the Arab world - the abolition of polygamy and compulsory free education.
Mr Bourguiba insisted on an anti-Islamic fundamentalist line, while increasing his own powers to become a virtual dictator.
In 1987 he was dismissed on grounds of senility and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali became president. He continued with a hard line against Islamic extremists, but inherited an economically-stable country.
Although Tunisia has introduced some press freedoms and has freed a number of political prisoners, human rights groups say the authorities tolerate no dissent, harassing government critics and rights activists.
Mr Ben Ali faced reproach at home and abroad for his party's three "99.9%" election wins. The opposition condemned changes to the constitution which allowed him to run for re-election in 2004, and in 2009.
Tunisia is more prosperous than its neighbours and has strong trade links with Europe. Agriculture employs a large part of the workforce, and dates and olives are cultivated in the drier regions. Millions of European tourists flock to Tunisian resorts every year.
Political violence was rare until recently, but militant Islamists have become an issue of concern for the authorities. A suicide bomb attack on an historic synagogue in the resort of Djerba in 2002 killed 21 people and led to a dramatic drop in tourist numbers.
A dozen suspected Islamists were killed in shoot-outs with security forces in and around Tunis at the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007. Lawyers say hundreds of people were arrested on suspicion of links with terrorist groups since 2003, when the authorities gained new powers of arrest.
Violent repression of protests over unemployment and lack of political freedom in the winter of 2010-2011 left tens of people dead and prompted the government to pledge reforms, although it blamed the demonstrations on Islamist and left-wing "extremists".
Facts
· Full name: Tunisian Republic
· Population: 10.4 million (UN, 2010)
· Capital: Tunis
· Area: 164,150 sq km (63,378 sq miles)
· Major languages: Arabic (official); French
· Major religion: Islam
· Life expectancy: 73 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
· Monetary unit: 1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes
· Main exports: Agricultural products, textiles, oil
· GNI per capita: US $3,720 (World Bank, 2009)
· Internet domain: .tn
· International dialling code: +216
Leaders
President: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Details to be updated following Political Uprising in January 2011)
President Ben Ali, who has been in power since 1987, won a fifth term in office in multi-party elections in 2009.
The elections were criticised by human rights groups and the opposition as unfair. Official results gave him ninety per cent of the vote and his party also won the majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Mr Ben Ali, from the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), had been due to retire in 2004 but changes to the constitution allowed him to run for two more terms.
Born in 1936 in Hammam Sousse, Mr Ben Ali was Tunisia's ambassador in Warsaw in 1980 and became prime minister in October 1987.
He was sworn in as the new president in 1987, after doctors declared President Habib Bourguiba unfit to govern because of senility. The takeover is sometimes described as a palace coup.
Rights groups and some political opponents say Tunisia's government is authoritarian with a veneer of pluralism. They say it stifles free speech and beats and jails opponents, something the government denies.
President Ben Ali, who has been in power since 1987, won a fifth term in office in multi-party elections in 2009.
The elections were criticised by human rights groups and the opposition as unfair. Official results gave him ninety per cent of the vote and his party also won the majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Mr Ben Ali, from the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), had been due to retire in 2004 but changes to the constitution allowed him to run for two more terms.
Born in 1936 in Hammam Sousse, Mr Ben Ali was Tunisia's ambassador in Warsaw in 1980 and became prime minister in October 1987.
He was sworn in as the new president in 1987, after doctors declared President Habib Bourguiba unfit to govern because of senility. The takeover is sometimes described as a palace coup.
Rights groups and some political opponents say Tunisia's government is authoritarian with a veneer of pluralism. They say it stifles free speech and beats and jails opponents, something the government denies.