Tunisia is the northernmost country on the African continent, and the smallest of the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range. The south of the country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and a 1,300 km coastline. Both played a prominent role in ancient times, first with the famous Phoenician city of Carthage, then as the Africa Province which was known as the bread basket of the Roman Empire. Today Tunisia is an export oriented country, in the process of liberalising its economy .

Tunisia has a close relation to both the European Union, which it has an association agreement with, and the Arab world. Tunisia is also a member of the Arab League and the African union.

Etymology

The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis; a city and capital of modern-day Tunisia. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, evolved from French Tunisie. This name was introduced by French geographers and historians as part of their efforts to give names to their new occupied territories and protectorates. The French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages remained untouched such as the Spanish Túnez. In this case, the same name is used for both country and city as in Arabic : تونس and only by context, one can tell the difference.

The name Tunis can be attributed to different origins. It can be associated with the Phoenician goddess Tanith (aka Tunit), ancient city of Tynes or to the Berber root ens which means "to lie down".

History