In 2004, it had a population of over 700,000 and the population of greater Tunis is approximately two million people. It is situated on the Gulf of Tunis in the Mediterranean and is associated with the port of La Goulette. The city extends along the coastal plain and is surrounded by small hills.

At the center of the more modern aspect of the city lies the old medina and beyond this section are the suburban cities of Carthage, La Marsa and Sidi Bou Said.

The medina is a dense group of alleyways and covered passages in which travelers and locals can buy goods from the many shops within the area.

See also

• History of Tunis
• Visiting Tunies

The Romans destroyed both Tunis and Carthage in 146 BC. The city was rebuilt under Augustus’ rule and became an important Roman town.

Later, in the 7th century, the city came under control of Arab Muslims. It was at this time that the medina of Tunis was first built. From the 12th to the 16th century, the city of Tunis was controlled by Arab dynasties and was one of the richest cities in the Islamic world.

The Ottoman Empire took control of the city in 1534. There was a lot of turmoil in the city over the next fifteen years until the Ottomans took official control in 1574. The French occupied Tunis from 1881 to 1956 after establishing a protectorate there.

Eventually Tunis was turned over to Islamic Rule. It was occupied by the Arab League from 1979 to 1990 and by the Palestine Liberation organization from 1982 to 1993.

Besides the medina itself, it contains more than seven hundred monuments, ancient palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating back from the Almohad and Hafsid periods.

Some places to visit are the Great Mosque with its Muslim University and library, the Mosque of the Olive, built in 723, and Bey’s palace, with architecture and decorative styles from many different periods and believed to stand on the remains of an old Roman theater. The tenth century palace of Zia dib-Allah II al Aghlab is another place to visit.

Visitors may wish to take in the Bardo Museum which was originally a 13th century Hafsid palace located in what were once the suburbs of Tunis. It contains a major collection of Roman antiquities as well as antiquities from ancient Greece, Tunisia and from the Arab-occupied period.