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History Tunisia

Tunisia
Tunisia

Our expert Tunisia

Neil Kreeger Section editor

only a third of the story is completed, watch this space!

map of Tunisia

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Tunisia : Discover the country's history

 Historical dates

850 BC: Founding of Carthage.
216 AD: Hannibal conquers the Romans.
146 AD: in the 3rd Punic Wars, Carthage is annexed by the Romans.
439: the Vandals landed and attacked Carthage.
647: Arab invasion of Tunisian territory by Okba ibn Nafi.
10th to 16th century: Tunisia is successively invaded by the Genoese, the Pisans, the Normans and plundered by countless pirates.
1574: Tunisia is ruled by the Ottoman Empire till the end of the 19th century.
1869: declared bankrupt, the country is placed under Italian and British trusteeship.
1881: institution of French protectorate.
1934: formation of an independence party, the Neo-Destour, by Habib Bourguiba.
1942: landing of German troops followed in 1943 by the English and Americans.
1956: country gains independence and a year later, a Republic is declared.
1987: Ben Ali becomes president.
1994: confirmation of Ben Ali in power after winning the presidential elections.
1998: Parliamentary votes amendment tabled in 1997 by Ben Ali, allowing opposition party chairpersons or secretary generals to run for elections once they have been in office for at least five years.
1999: Ben Ali is re-elected. He is still in power.
1 January 2005: Tunisian government removes VAT of 6% on health treatment for foreigners to promote the development of health tourism.