FACTS

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya

Area (only Total) total: 163,610 sq km

Climate: temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south

Terrain: mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara

Population: 10,383,577 (July 2008 est.)

Main Language (only first): Arabic

Government type: republic

Capital (Name): Tunis

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+1

Independence: 20 March 1956 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day, 20 March (1956); also the anniversary of BEN ALI's assumption of the presidency, 7 November (1987)