City Africa
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, a country in North Africa. Its old town has hundreds of old buildings.
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, at the end of a wide bay on Africa's north coast. Its old town, the Medina, holds about 700 historic monuments and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tunisia's statistics institute estimated 599,368 people in the city at the start of 2023; the wider Tunis governorate counted more than a million in 2024.
Tunis began as a small town in the 4th century BC, became one of the first Arab-Muslim towns of the Maghreb in 698, and had its golden age as the Hafsid capital from 1229. Its medina was listed by UNESCO in 1979. The commune had an estimated 599,368 people on 1 January 2023; the Tunis governorate counted 1,075,306 in the 2024 census.
Photo: Citizen59 from Tunis, Tunisie, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Tunis
Tunis is the capital city of Tunisia. It is in North Africa, by a wide bay of the sea.
About 600,000 people live in the city.
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, on the north coast of Africa. The encyclopedia Universalis describes it nestled at the end of a wide bay, with a lagoon beside it.
Tunisia's statistics institute estimated 599,368 people in the city (the commune of Tunis) on 1 January 2023. The Tunis governorate around it counted 1,075,306 people in the census of November 2024.
City Population's tables from Tunisia's National Institute of Statistics give the commune of Tunis 596,654 people in 1984, 649,072 in 2004, 637,568 in 2014 and an estimated 599,368 on 1 January 2023, on about 104 km². The Tunis governorate (288 km²) counted 1,075,306 in the census of 6 November 2024.
Universalis writes that Tunis holds more than half of the country's urban population and more than half of its foreign direct investment, and that the city spread out greatly during the 20th century.
- Country
- Tunisia (its capital)
- People in the commune (estimate, 1 January 2023)
- 599,368
- People in Tunis governorate (2024 census)
- 1,075,306
- Area of the commune
- about 104 km²
The Medina
The old part of Tunis is called the Medina. It has markets, old houses and old gates.
There are about 700 old buildings, like palaces, mosques and fountains.
The Medina of Tunis is the old town. UNESCO lists about 700 historic monuments there, including palaces, mosques, schools called madrasas and fountains, and calls it one of the best-preserved towns of its kind.
Among them are the Zitouna Mosque, old markets (souqs) such as the Souq el-Attarine, noble houses and city gates such as Bab El Bhar and Bab Jedid. The Medina joined the World Heritage List in 1979.
UNESCO inscribed the Medina of Tunis in 1979 (boundary modified in 2010; criteria ii, iii and v), covering the central medina (8th century) and its northern and southern suburbs (13th century). Its some 700 historic monuments in seven areas include the Zitouna, Kasbah and Youssef Dey mosques, the gates Bab Jedid and Bab Bhar, the Souq el-Attarine, the Dar el-Bey, and noble houses such as Dar Hussein and Dar Ben Abdallah.
UNESCO calls the ensemble, with its souqs, residential quarters, monuments and gates, 'a prototype among the best conserved in the Islamic world', and Wikidata dates the Zitouna Mosque to 698.
- Medina of Tunis
- UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979
- Historic monuments
- about 700
- Bab El Bhar
- a city gate of the medina
From crossroads town to capital
Long ago, Tunis was a small town where roads met.
Later it became a rich city with markets and palaces, and then the capital of Tunisia.
Tunis began in the 4th century BC as a small town where important roads crossed a narrow strip of land between a lagoon and a salt lake. Arab armies took it in 698, and its golden age came after 1229, when the Hafsid rulers made it their capital. UNESCO says that from the 12th to the 16th century it was one of the greatest and wealthiest cities of the Arab world.
Under Ottoman influence (1574–1881) the city gained more palaces and mosques. In 1858 Tunis became the first city in the Arab world to set up a municipal institution, says Universalis. France ruled Tunisia as a protectorate from 1881, and Tunisia became independent in 1956.
Universalis says a small town formed in the 4th century BC at the crossing of important routes over the narrow isthmus between the Lake of Tunis and the Sebkha Sijoumi. Numidians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans ruled it before the Arab conquest of 698; long overshadowed by Carthage, Kairouan and Mahdia, it flourished after the Almohads took it in 1159 and above all after the Hafsids chose it as capital in 1229.
Under the French protectorate from 1881, a European-style 'modern' town grew east of the medina toward the port, on land reclaimed from marshes, and the population rose from 100,000 in 1880 to about 200,000 in the 1930s. At independence in 1956, Tunis and its suburbs had 500,000 people.
- Earliest town
- 4th century BC
- Hafsid capital
- from 1229
- First municipal institution in the Arab world
- 1858 (Universalis)
Light rail across the city
Tunis has light rail trains that run across the city.
A train line also goes to Carthage and La Marsa.
To save money and build quickly, Tunis chose a light rail system instead of an underground metro. Line 1 opened in 1985, after less than four years of building, and more lines followed in 1989 and 1990.
At Tunis Marine, the light rail meets the TGM, a suburban railway that runs to La Marsa by way of La Goulette and Carthage. Newer rapid rail lines opened in 2023 and 2025.
UrbanRail.Net says the Métro léger was built as a turnkey project led by Siemens: Line 1 (10 km) in 1985, Line 2 in 1989 and lines serving the western suburbs in 1990, for about 30 km. Line 6, a 6.8 km southern extension, followed in 2008, and Line 4 reached Kheireddine in 2009.
The Réseau Ferroviaire Rapide added Line A to Borj Cedria in June 2012 (23 km) and standard-gauge lines, partly on new alignments, from Gare de Tunis to Bougatfa (6.3 km, March 2023) and Gobâa (12 km, January 2025).
- Métro léger (light rail) Line 1
- opened 1985 (10 km)
- Light rail network
- about 30 km, plus later extensions
- Newest rapid rail section
- Gare de Tunis to Gobâa, 25 January 2025 (12 km)
Mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers
Summers in Tunis are hot and dry. Winters are mild and wetter.
July is the driest month of all.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for Tunis-Carthage (1961–1990) show daytime highs of about 33 °C in July and August and about 16 °C in January. January nights average about 7 °C.
About 466 millimeters of precipitation fall in an average year, mostly from October to March. July is almost dry, with about 3 millimeters.
The WMO table for Tunis-Carthage, from Tunisia's National Institute of Meteorology, gives 1961–1990 average highs from 15.7 °C in January to 32.7 °C in August (32.6 °C in July) and average lows from 7.2 °C in January to 20.8 °C in August; monthly means run from 11.5 to 26.8 °C.
The monthly precipitation averages add up to about 465.5 mm a year. December (66.8 mm) and October (65.5 mm) are wettest, and June to August together bring only 20.6 mm, with July lowest (3.1 mm).
- August, average high (WMO, 1961–1990)
- 32.7 °C
- January, average low (same period)
- 7.2 °C
- Precipitation in a year (sum of the monthly averages)
- about 466 mm
A city of trade and offices
Tunis has old markets in the Medina and many offices.
It has grown much bigger in the last hundred years.
Universalis says Tunis gathers the main functions that steer Tunisia's economy and links the country with the rest of the world. Under the Hafsids it was a center of trade and learning, open to Europe and Africa.
The city grew fast in the 20th century: about 100,000 people in 1880, about 200,000 in the 1930s and 500,000 with its suburbs in 1956.
Universalis describes Tunis as concentrating the main functions that steer the Tunisian economy and more than half of the country's foreign direct investment, acting as a relay between the national territory and the rest of the world. It notes that from the 1970s, families buying their own homes drove the growth of the city's outer districts.
UNESCO credits the medina's role as a relay between the Maghreb, southern Europe and the East with centuries of exchange in the arts and architecture.
- Population in 1880
- about 100,000
- Population in the 1930s
- about 200,000
- Tunis and suburbs at independence (1956)
- 500,000
Tunis on the map
Find Africa on the globe. Look at the top, where Africa comes close to Europe. Tunis is there, by the sea!
The country around it is Tunisia.
Tunis is on the north coast of Africa at about 37° north, at the end of a wide bay. UNESCO places the medina in a fertile plain in northeastern Tunisia, a few kilometers from the sea.
Measured from the medina gate of Bab El Bhar, the Zitouna Mosque is about 0.5 kilometers to the west-southwest, and the point Wikidata gives for the Lake of Tunis is about 7 kilometers to the east-northeast.
Tunis lies at about 36.8° N and 10.2° E. Measured from Bab El Bhar (Wikidata points), the Zitouna Mosque is about 0.46 km west-southwest and Wikidata's point for the Lake of Tunis about 6.9 km east-northeast.
The hero photo is an aerial view taken on 10 December 2008 at 16:41 by the camera's clock; Commons gives its camera location as above the center, about 3.2 km north of Bab El Bhar.
- Latitude
- about 36.8° north
- Longitude
- about 10.2° east
- Bab El Bhar to the Zitouna Mosque
- about 0.5 km west-southwest
Amazing facts
-
Tunis's old town has about 700 old buildings!
UNESCO lists some 700 historic monuments in the Medina of Tunis, in seven areas.
UNESCO lists some 700 historic monuments distributed in 7 areas of the Medina, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains.
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Long ago, Tunis was one of the richest cities around.
From the 12th to the 16th century, UNESCO says, Tunis was one of the greatest and wealthiest cities of the Arab world.
UNESCO's statement says that under the Almohads and the Hafsids, from the 12th to the 16th century, Tunis was considered one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in the Arab world.
-
Tunis chose light rail trains instead of an underground metro.
To save money and build faster, Tunis built a light rail system instead of an underground metro; Line 1 opened in 1985.
UrbanRail.Net notes that a light rail system was chosen over an underground metro to save costs and speed up building; Line 1 opened in 1985 after less than four years of construction.
-
July in Tunis is almost completely dry.
July in Tunis averages only about 3 millimeters of precipitation, but December about 67.
In the WMO's 1961–1990 averages, July brings 3.1 mm of precipitation and December 66.8 mm.
Words to know
- capital
- the city where a country's government is based
- medina
- the old town at the center of many North African cities
- souq
- a market street or covered market
- madrasa
- a school, often for older students, in the Islamic world
- lagoon
- a shallow lake of seawater, cut off from the sea by a strip of land
- light rail
- a city train system with lighter, tram-like trains
Discovery challenge
-
Tunis is the capital of which country?
Tunis is the capital of which country?
Tunis is the capital of which country, independent since 1956?
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Egypt
Show the answer
Tunisia
Tunisia!
Tunisia, in North Africa.
Tunisia.
-
What is the old part of Tunis called?
What is the name of Tunis's old town?
Which part of Tunis did UNESCO inscribe as a World Heritage Site in 1979?
- The Medina
- The Harbor
- The New Town
Show the answer
The Medina
The Medina!
The Medina.
The Medina of Tunis.
-
About how many old buildings are in the Medina?
About how many historic monuments does UNESCO list in the Medina?
How many historic monuments, distributed in seven areas, does UNESCO list in the Medina?
- About 70
- About 700
- About 7,000
Show the answer
About 700
About 700!
About 700.
Some 700.
-
What kind of trains did Tunis build?
What did Tunis build instead of an underground metro?
Which system opened its Line 1 in 1985 after less than four years of construction?
- A cable car
- A light rail system
- A monorail
Show the answer
A light rail system
Light rail trains!
A light rail system, the Métro léger.
The Métro léger de Tunis.
-
Which month is the driest in Tunis?
Which month brings Tunis the least precipitation, on average?
In the WMO's 1961–1990 averages, which month is driest at Tunis-Carthage (3.1 mm)?
- January
- July
- October
Show the answer
July
July, in summer!
July. December is the wettest.
July (3.1 mm); December is wettest (66.8 mm).
Nearby places
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Landmark
Dougga
Dougga, called Thugga in ancient times, is the ruin of a town on a hill in northwest Tunisia. It was a Numidian town for centuries before it became part of the Roman world, and its theater, market, baths and houses still stand. UNESCO calls it the best preserved Africo-Roman town in North Africa.
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Landmark
Great Mosque of Kairouan
The Great Mosque of Kairouan is in the old city of Kairouan, in Tunisia. It was rebuilt in the 800s. It has a square minaret three stories high, a wide stone courtyard and a prayer hall full of columns. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site listed in 1988.
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Landmark
Amphitheater of El Jem
The Amphitheater of El Jem is a Roman arena in Tunisia, built around the year 238. It stands on flat ground and is made entirely of stone blocks. UNESCO says it could hold about 35,000 spectators, which makes it one of the largest amphitheaters in the world.
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Landmark
Timgad
Timgad is the ruin of a Roman town in the mountains of Algeria. It was founded in 100 AD, and its streets crossed at right angles in a neat grid. Columns, an arch, baths and rows of stone seats still stand among its stone streets.
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Landmark
Djémila
Djémila, called Cuicul in Roman times, is the ruins of a Roman town in the mountains of northeastern Algeria, 900 meters above sea level. It was founded at the end of the 1st century AD and has a forum, a theater, baths, houses with mosaic floors and a stone arch. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1982.
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Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta. It was planned and built from 1566 by an order of knights, on a narrow peninsula between two harbors, with straight streets inside strong walls. UNESCO calls it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. Only about 5,200 people live in the city itself.
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Natural wonder
Mount Etna
Mount Etna is a huge, active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, in Italy. UNESCO calls it the most active stratovolcano in the world, and people have written about its eruptions for at least 2,700 years. Its height changes as eruptions build it up and crater rims collapse. Vineyards and orchards grow on its rich lower slopes, and scientists watch it every day.
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Natural wonder
Vulcano
Vulcano is the southernmost of the Aeolian Islands, about 20 kilometers off the north coast of Sicily. Its La Fossa cone last erupted from 1888 to 1890, and hot gases still rise from vents in its crater.
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Country
Tunisia
Tunisia is a small country in North Africa, with the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its green, rainy north turns into dry steppes and then Sahara desert in the south, and about 12 million people lived there in 2024, many of them in the capital, Tunis.
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Algiers
Algiers is the capital of Algeria, in North Africa, around a half-moon-shaped bay of the Mediterranean Sea. Its old town, the Kasbah, is a maze of narrow lanes and houses climbing a hill above the port, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 2008 census counted about 2.4 million people in the city.
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Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital of Libya and its main port, on the Mediterranean coast in the northwest of the country. In Roman times the town was called Oea, and a stone arch from the 160s still stands there. Libya's statistics bureau estimated 1,293,016 people in the Tripoli district in 2020.
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Rabat
Rabat is the capital of Morocco, on the Atlantic coast where the Bou Regreg river reaches the sea. It grew from a fortress built in the 1100s, now the Kasbah of the Udayas, and became the capital in 1912. Morocco's 2024 census counted 515,619 people in the city.
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Casablanca
Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco, on the Atlantic coast of North Africa. Long ago it was called Anfa. Rebuilt around 1780, it grew from about 20,500 people in 1900 into a great port and Morocco's business center, with 3,218,036 people at the 2024 census.
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Abidjan
Abidjan is the largest city of Côte d'Ivoire, with 5,616,633 people at the 2021 census. Spread around the Ébrié Lagoon, it grew from a colonial port: a canal finished in 1950 opened the lagoon to ships, and its Plateau district is a cluster of office towers, banks and government buildings.
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Abuja
Abuja is the capital of Nigeria, in the middle of the country. It was planned from the start: in 1976 the government decided to build a new capital on the savanna, and in 1991 it moved there from Lagos. Planners set aside land for parks and green spaces, and the huge Aso Rock rises at the city's edge.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Tunis on the north coast of Africa.
- Describe how a crossroads town became a rich capital over many centuries.
- Explain what a medina is and why UNESCO protects it.
- Read a Mediterranean pattern of hot, dry summers and mild, wetter winters.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Tunis began where roads crossed a narrow strip of land between a lagoon and a salt lake. Why are crossroads good places for towns?
- The Medina has souqs and old gates, and the newer town was built on land reclaimed from marshes. How might life feel different in each?
- Tunis chose light rail to save money and build faster. What else might a city think about when choosing trains?
Try at home or in class
- Climate chart: plot Tunis's monthly precipitation and color the dry summer months.
- Medina map: draw a town of winding streets with gates, a market street and a mosque.
- Crossroads town: on paper, draw two lakes with a strip of land between them and mark where roads would meet.
Key vocabulary: capital, medina, souq, madrasa, lagoon, light rail
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Tunisia: governorates, cities and communes (censuses 1984–2024, estimate 2023) , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from the Institut National de la Statistique, Tunisia
- Medina of Tunis , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Tunis , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- Tunis Métro léger , UrbanRail.Net (Robert Schwandl)
- World Weather Information Service: Tunis-Carthage climatological information , World Meteorological Organization (Institut National de la Météorologie, Tunisia)
- File:Panoramique du centre de Tunis (3197369985) (cropped).jpg (Citizen59, 10 December 2008) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.