In the 12th century B.C., Tunisia was settled by the Phoenicians. Carthage, a great city-state that dominated much of the western Mediterranean during the sixth and fifth centuries, then was led to complete destruction by the three Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. Carthage was part of the Roman Empire until the Arab conquest of 648-669. Then, it was ruled by the Arab and Berber dynasties, followed by the Turks, who took it in 1570-1574 and made part of the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century. In 1881, French troops occupied Tunisia, and the bey. In 1956, nationalist agitation forced France to recognize Tunisian independence.

On July 25, 1957, the bey was oust from position by the constituent assembly. Tunisia was declared a republic and Habib Bourguiba was elected as president. He earned enemies because of the pro-Western foreign policy that he maintained.

In 1987, Bourguiba was declared mentally unfit to continue as president of Tunisia and was removed from office. He was succeeded by Gen. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose tenure has been marked by repression, a poor human rights record, the rise in Islamic fundamentalism, and growing anti-Western sentiments among the populace. Ben Ali was reelected in October 1999 with 99% of the vote in an election criticized by many human rights observers. In May 2000 Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Assembly Party swept local elections with 92& of the vote, in a contest many opposition leaders boycotted. However, Tunisia's economy continued to improve in the late 1990s, making the country one of the most attractive in Aftica for foreign investors. In May 2002, a referendum passed that ended the three-term limit for the presidency. It permitted Ben Ali, who has served as president for more than 15 years, to run for two or more terms. Opposition parties protested. In October 2004, the president was reelected with 94% of the vote. Ali won a fifth term in October 2009 taking 89.6% of the vote.

When President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came into office in 1987, about 22 percent of the Tunisian population was living below the poverty line, impelling him to declare an all-out war on poverty in his inaugural speech. In 1992 he created the National Solidarity Fund whose goal was to promote 1,144 disadvantaged regions throughout the country, at an estimated cost of US$500 million. Since 1996, more than US$300 million has already been raised. Created in 1998, the Tunisian Solidarity Bank has also offered thousands of loans of very small amounts to help get a small business started called micro-credit loans, to young graduates and small business owners. Currently, 6% of the population who are under the poverty line receive heavy subsidies, financial assistances, from the government.

Health specialists have begun warning of an increase in the obesity rate among children and middle-aged people in Tunisia. This obesity causes illness such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which in turn lead to heart and kidney diseases and cancer. Obesity can also contribute to incidents of sexual disorders in men. Tunisia has has seen one of the world's greatest increases in obesity among women. Nutritionists recommend a daily regimen of walking, and meals based on what they call the Mediterranean diet, based on fish, fresh vegetables, and whole wheat and olive oil, all of which are available in abundance in Tunisia.




Read more about Tunisia: Tunisia: History, U.S. Department of State, Tunisia: History