The history of Tunisia

"It’s getting hot in here,… " My iPod is definitely playing the right song while alighting the plane in the Tunisian airport. When I left the airport, the heat immediately put a drop of sweat on my forehead. However, it has not always been so warm here. Ten thousand years ago, Tunisia had a humid climate and a lot of woods and vegetation. Then, the climate started changing and became dryer and dryer. People started to leave the dryer areas in the South and settled in the North. They started cultivating land and keeping cattle. The Phoenicians were the first inhabitants of Tunisia.

From then on, Tunisia has been influenced by many cultures: the French, the Turkish, the Arabic, the Ottomans,… You can still find some French influences in the Tunisian food and in the language. Tunisia has 2 official languages: French and Arabic. Therefore, it comes in handy to know some French while travelling through this country.

The French influence is due to their period under French protectorate. On 20 March 1956, France finally recognised the independence of Tunisia. In the following months, elections were held, the monarchy was abolished and Bourguiba was chosen as president of the Tunisian Republic. However, there were still some French troops in the country. When the French bombed a Tunesian village in 1958, Tunisia put a stop to their relations with France and demanded the withdrawal of their troops.

Bourguiba swore to eradicate poverty, and separate politics from religion, while ‘righting all the wrongs done to women’. He introduced liberal laws, instituted a secular state, established women’s rights, free education and the abolition of polygamy, and laid out the groundwork for the economical structure of today’s Tunisia. Despite all this, his politics could not be called democratic. He did not want to give up his power and in the end, his rule ended with a bloodless coup in 1987.

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali took over the steering wheel and continued down similar roads to Bourguiba, especially when it came to handing over leadership. His autocratic rule was ended in 2011 with mass street demonstrations,… known as the Arab Spring.

Now, Tunisia has strong links with Europe and therefore it is more prosperous than its neighbours. Since they have a modern outlook on religion, its popularity is increasing day by day. Though, recent events have shown Tunisia can not grant safety in every region of the country.

Sources:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tunisia/history

http://www.landenweb.net/tunesie/geschiedenis/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_modern_Tunisia

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac93

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/609229/Tunisia/257571/Media-and-publishing

http://www.infoplease.com/country/tunisia.html