Tunis Governorate (Tunisian Arabic: ولاية تونس Wilāyat Tūnis pronounced [ˈtuːnɪs]; French: Gouvernorat de Tunis) is the smallest and most populated of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It covers an urban and suburban area on the Gulf of Tunis on the north-east coast covering 346 square kilometres (134 sq mi) and has a population of 1,056,247 (2014 census) with some agriculture and amenity land including parts of national parks.[3] Its capital is that of the country, Tunis.

Tunis Governorate
ولاية تونس
Map of Tunisia with Tunis highlighted
Map of Tunisia with Tunis highlighted
Coordinates: 36°48′0″N 10°10′12″E / 36.80000°N 10.17000°E / 36.80000; 10.17000
Country Tunisia
Created21 June 1956
CapitalTunis
Government
 • GovernorImed Boukhris (since 2024) [2]
Area
 • Total346 km2 (134 sq mi)
 • RankRanked 24th of 24
Population
 (2014)
 • Total1 056 247 [1]
 • RankRanked 1st of 24
Demonym(s)Tunisois
(Tunisian Arabic: تونسي, Tounsi)
Time zoneUTC+01 (CET)
Postal prefix
10xx
Calling code71
ISO 3166 codeTN-11

Physical geography and economy

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The Tunis Governorate is the largest industrial center in the country. Opening on the Mediterranean Sea, the governorate has a Mediterranean climate with annual rainfall reaching 470 mm. The area tapers towards the port and forms a narrow alluvial belt stretching westward, a distance of approximately 20 km2, taking in much farmland and two small freshwater lakes. The Medjerda River rising in Algeria has its much-diverted mouths in this area and its natural mouth would have discharged into the saltwater harbour around which neighbouring provinces have quarters of the central metropolitan area of Tunis. To the immediate south-west of the city centre is large freshwater lake, exceeding the size of the city centre fed by a distributive canal of the Medjerda. Its banks includes cultivated land to the west and the small Foret de Sijoumi to the east, with suburbs largely to the other sides. The urban area reaches over half of the length of the province. A very large market and hospitals area in the west of the capital is supplemented by wide roads and flyovers as well as three of the country's largest railway stations to make for a highly developed city centre in terms of trade and connectivity.

The area includes a container-handling port including large ferries to Salerno, Civitavecchia, Genoa, Palermo and Trapani in Italy and to Marseille in France. Its international airport and railway hub support its status as an established hub in hosting the government departments, stock exchange and major business headquarters of Tunisia. Culturally its national and international museum, the Bardo Museum hosts relics from each of the historic periods of western Mediterranean civilization and important works of art often in the manner of the classics or early Islamic tradition. This along with themed smaller museums and galleries, its mosques, souqs, traditional hotels, restaurants and nearby headlands, national parks and beaches make Tunis itself a major tourist destination.

Administrative divisions

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Tunis Governorate is divided into twenty-one delegations, listed below with their populations at the 2004 and 2014 Censuses.[4][5]

Delegation Area
in km2
Pop'n
2004
Census
Pop'n
2014
Census
Bab El Bhar 7.97 39,806 36,210
Bab Souika 2.18 33,284 29,185
Carthage 8.20 20,715 24,216
Cité El Khadra 21.70 36,818 35,173
Djebel Djelloud 5.25 26,490 23,638
El Hraïria 24.12 96,245 110,184
El Kabaria 10.15 81,261 86,024
El Menzah 10.02 43,320 41,830
El Omrane 4.97 40,801 42,208
El Omrane Supérieur 3.25 62,138 55,513
El Ouardia 3.93 33,734 32,147
Ettahrir 1.67 21,956 21,709
Ezzouhour 2.81 40,434 40,728
La Goulette 12.35 28,407 45,711
La Marsa 30.62 77,890 92,987
Le Bardo 6.78 70,244 71,961
Le Kram 9.63 58,152 74,132
Medina 1.50 26,703 21,400
Sijoumi 2.00 36,171 33,870
Sidi El Béchir 2.71 29,911 27,749
Sidi Hassine 64.36 79,381 109,672

It includes eight municipalities:

Code Municipality Population
(2014)[6]
1111 Tunis 638,845
1112 Le Bardo 71,961
1113 Le Kram 74,132
1114 La Goulette 45,711
1115 Carthage 17,010
1116 Sidi Bou Said 5,911
1117 La Marsa 92,987
1118 Sidi Hassine 109,690


References

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  1. ^ (in French) Census 2014 (National Institute of Statistics) Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ https://www.tap.info.tn/en/Portal-Top-News-EN/17861830-president-of-the
  3. ^ (in French) Census 2014 (National Institute of Statistics) Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Institut National de la Statistique Tunisie (web).
  5. ^ "Tunis (Governorate, Tunisia) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  6. ^ Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat 2014 – Population, logements et ménages par commune et arrondissement [Census 2014 results – population, accommodation and households per municipality and delegation] (Report) (in French). National Institute of Statistics. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2016.