Tunisia is a country in Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, having a western border with Algeria (965 km) and south-eastern border with Libya (459 km) where the width of land tapers to the south-west into the Sahara. The country has north, east and complex east-to-north coasts including the curved Gulf of Gabès, which forms the western part of Africa's Gulf of Sidra. Most of this greater gulf forms the main coast of Libya including the city of Sirte which shares its root name. The country's geographic coordinates are 34°00′N9°00′E. Tunisia occupies an area of 163,610 square kilometres, of which 8,250 are water. The principal and reliable rivers rise in the north of the country with a few notable exceptions from north-east Algeria and flow through the northern plain where sufficient rainfall supports diverse plant cover and irrigated agriculture.
Tunisia has a number of international airports to service its sizable tourist trade. Tunis is the center of the transport system as the largest city having the largest port and a light transit system.
el-Djerid, also al-Jarīd, or more precisely the South Western Tunisia Region is a semi-desert natural region comprising three southern Tunisian Governorates, Gafsa, Kebili and Tozeur with adjacent parts of Algeria and Libya.
Gafsa is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. With a population of 120,739, Gafsa is the ninth-largest Tunisian city and is 335 km from the country's capital, Tunis.
Gafsa Governorate is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is situated in central Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 7807 km2 and has a population of 337,331. The capital of the city is Gafsa - ruled by Nader Hamdouni - whom all the heads of local municipalities report to.
An Islamist insurgency is taking place in the Maghreb region of North Africa, followed on from the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002. The Algerian militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) allied itself with al-Qaeda to eventually become al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algerian and other Maghreb governments fighting the militants have worked with the United States and the United Kingdom since 2007, when Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara began.
The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens, abbreviated SNCFT, is the national railway of Tunisia and under the direction of the Ministry of Transport. SNCFT was founded on December 27, 1956 It Replaced the Tunisian Railway Farms Company (CFT). Headquartered in Tunis the company employs about 6000 people. SNCFT provides both passenger and freight services at a national level.
Algeria and the Tunisia are both predominantly Muslim nations in North Africa. Both countries have historic dynasties primarily focused in Algiers and Tunis that became specialized in piracy and global trade. Eventually these dynasties fell under the influence of the French in the 19th century. Both remained under French control until Tunisian independence became official in 1956 and Algeria became independent after the conclusion of the Algerian War in 1962. Since independence both countries have had periods of antagonism over issues such as border security and terrorism, however it appears that both countries are trending towards a positive relationship. The Algerian-Tunisian border is around 1034 km (642 mi) long and was officially agreed upon in 1960. Both countries are members of the African Union, Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Union for the Mediterranean and the United Nations.
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it is currently engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
The timeline of the Libyan civil war begins on 15 February 2011 and ends on 20 October 2011. The conflict began with a series of peaceful protests, similar to others of the Arab Spring, later becoming a full-scale civil war between the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi's government and the anti-Gaddafi forces. The conflict can roughly be divided into two periods before and after external military intervention authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.
The University of Gafsa is a public university located in Gafsa, Tunisia. The university is oriented primarily toward sciences and information technology
A political crisis evolved in Tunisia following the assassination of leftist leader Mohamed Brahmi in late July 2013, during which the country's mainly secular opposition organized several protests against the ruling Troika alliance that was dominated by Rashid al-Ghannushi's Islamist Ennahda Movement. The events came as part of the aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution which ousted the country's longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, followed by a general election which saw Ennahda win a plurality alongside Moncef Marzouki's allied Congress for the Republic (CPR). The crisis gradually subsided when Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh resigned and a new constitution was adopted in January 2014.
The Libyan civil war (2014–2020), also known as the Second Libyan Civil War, was a multilateral civil war which was fought in Libya among a number of armed groups, but mainly the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord (GNA), for six years from 2014 to 2020.
The Chaambi Operations, or Battle of Chaambi were part of the insurgency in the Maghreb. In December 2012, the Tunisian Army launched an offensive against the Salafist jihadists in Jebel ech Chambi near Kasserine. The conflict ended with the victory of the Tunisian Army in 2019.
On 18 March 2015, two militants attacked the Bardo National Museum in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis, and took hostages. Twenty-one people, mostly European tourists, were killed at the scene, and an additional victim died ten days later. Around fifty others were injured. The two gunmen, Tunisian citizens Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui, were killed by police. Police treated the event as a terrorist attack.
The Islamic State Insurgency in Tunisia referred to the low–level militant and terror activity of the Islamic State branch in Tunisia from 2015 to 2022. The activity of the Islamic State (IS) in Tunisia began in June 2015, with the Sousse attacks, though an earlier terror incident in Bardo Museum in March 2015 was claimed by ISIL, while the Tunisian government blamed Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade for the attack. Following massive border clashes near Ben Guerdane in March 2016, the activity of the IS group was described as an armed insurgency, switching from previous tactics of sporadic suicide attacks to attempts to gain territorial control. The armed insurgency was suppressed in 2022.
The history of Africa in the 2020s covers political events on the continent, other than elections, from 2020 onwards.
Gafsa Oases are date palm oases at Gafsa in southwestern Tunisia, near the northern edge of the Sahara Desert. The Gafsa Oases were known to the ancient Romans and cover approximately 700 hectares. The oases were designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2011. The individual oases are called Sakdoud, Ksar, Lela, Gafsa and El Guettar.
Habib Bourguiba 
Muammar Gaddafi 
Suliman Hoffman
