Tunisia is in North Africa, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, wedged between Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. It is the smallest country of the Maghreb and the northernmost in Africa: Cape Angela, an hour’s drive from the capital, is the continent’s most northerly point, and Sicily lies only 140 kilometres across the strait. If you drew a line from Rome straight down the map, you would land in Tunisia.
That position explains almost everything about the place. It is why Carthage was founded here, why Rome wanted it so badly, why the food tastes of Italy as much as of the Arab world, and why a flight from most of Europe takes less time than crossing the United States. This guide answers the map questions first, then the ones that follow from them.
Tunisia on the Map
Tunisia occupies the bulge of North Africa where the coast turns south toward Libya. Its northern and eastern coasts face the Mediterranean; its only land borders are with Algeria, 965 kilometres of mountain and steppe to the west, and Libya, 459 kilometres of desert to the southeast. The country lies between roughly 30° and 37° north, the same latitudes as Seville, Athens and the southern tip of Japan, which is why its north has a climate like Sicily’s and its south has the Sahara.
The shape is a long wedge: about 800 kilometres from Bizerte on the north coast to the Borj El Khadra border post in the far south, but never more than 250 kilometres wide. You can drive from the capital to the edge of the dunes in a day, and the seven-day itinerary crosses the whole country without ever feeling rushed.
How Far Is Tunisia from Europe?
Closer than most people guess. Tunis to Rome is a flight of about an hour and a quarter; to Marseille or Nice under two hours; to Paris two and a half; to London and Frankfurt around three. Palermo is nearer to Tunis than it is to Milan. The island of Pantelleria, which is Italian, sits 70 kilometres off the Cap Bon coast and is visible from the cliffs at El Haouaria on a clear winter day.
That proximity is also why Tunisia has ferries. Car ferries sail year-round from Genoa, Marseille and Civitavecchia, and seasonally from Palermo, into La Goulette, the port of Tunis; the ferries guide covers the crossings, and the flights guide explains which European cities have direct routes and when the seasonal ones run.
How Big Is Tunisia?
Tunisia covers 163,610 square kilometres, which makes it a little larger than England and Wales combined and about the size of Florida or Wisconsin. By African standards it is small; its neighbours are both enormous, Algeria fifteen times its size and Libya ten. Within those borders the coastline runs for 1,148 kilometres, from the cork-oak cliffs of the northwest round Cap Bon and down the long sandy sweep of the Sahel to the Libyan frontier.
The population is about twelve million, two-thirds of it living in the northern third of the country and along the eastern coast, which is where the cities, the farms and the resorts are. The deep south is nearly empty.
Tunisia’s Map, Region by Region
Read the map from north to south and the country sorts itself into bands.
The Tell, in the north, is Mediterranean Tunisia: the forested Kroumirie mountains around Ain Draham and Tabarka, the wheat plains of the Medjerda, the country’s only year-round river, and the ridge of the Dorsale, the last outlier of the Atlas, running northeast to end in the Cap Bon peninsula. Tunis, Carthage, Bizerte and the great Roman sites of Dougga and Bulla Regia are all here.
The Sahel, on the east coast, is the olive belt: Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia and Sfax, the beach resorts, the amphitheatre of El Jem, and the low, dry steppe behind them where Kairouan sits.
The Jerid and the Nefzaoua, in the southwest, are the land of the chotts, the vast salt lakes that fill briefly in winter and shimmer white the rest of the year. Chott el Jerid is the largest, and the oases of Tozeur, Nefta and Douz sit on its rim where the Sahara begins. Below the chotts the map turns to sand: the Grand Erg Oriental, the dune sea that spills over from Algeria, covered in the Sahara guide.
The southeast is the Berber south: the Matmata hills, the fortified granaries of Tataouine, the Gulf of Gabès and, off its coast, Djerba, the largest island in North Africa.
The highest point is Jebel Chambi, 1,544 metres, on the Algerian border near Kasserine. The lowest is the bed of Chott el Jerid, 17 metres below sea level.
Where Is Tunis?
The capital is on the north coast, at the head of the Gulf of Tunis, about 36.8° north and 10.2° east, which puts it on roughly the same latitude as Seville, Athens and Tokyo. The city sits on a lagoon, the Lake of Tunis, with Carthage and Sidi Bou Said on the gulf’s northern shore and the port of La Goulette at the lagoon’s mouth. Tunis-Carthage airport is eight kilometres from the centre.
From Tunis, distances by road are modest: Hammamet 65 km, Sousse 140, Kairouan 155, El Jem 210, Sfax 270, Tozeur 450, Djerba 500. The Tunis guide and the getting around guide have the practicalities.
Governorates of Tunisia
Tunisia is divided into 24 governorates, each named for its capital: Ariana, Béja, Ben Arous, Bizerte, Gabès, Gafsa, Jendouba, Kairouan, Kasserine, Kébili, Le Kef, Mahdia, La Manouba, Médenine, Monastir, Nabeul, Sfax, Sidi Bouzid, Siliana, Sousse, Tataouine, Tozeur, Tunis and Zaghouan.
Tataouine is the largest by area and almost entirely desert; Tunis is the smallest and the most populous. For a visitor the governorate names matter mainly on road signs and louage stations, where destinations are grouped by governorate rather than by town.
Islands
Tunisia’s coast is studded with islands, most of them small. Djerba, 514 square kilometres and joined to the mainland by a Roman causeway, is the one with hotels, an airport and a UNESCO listing.
The Kerkennah archipelago off Sfax is flat, palm-covered and reached by ferry. La Galite, 60 kilometres out from Tabarka, is uninhabited and a marine reserve. Zembra, off Cap Bon, and the Kuriat islands, off Monastir, are protected nature reserves with restricted access.
Tunisia Time Zone, Climate and the Rest
Tunisia keeps Central European Time, UTC+1, all year round, with no summer-time change, so it is level with Paris and Rome in winter and an hour behind them in summer. The climate follows the map: Mediterranean in the north, with wet winters and dry summers; semi-arid across the centre; and true desert in the south. The weather guide has the month-by-month figures by region.
If the map has made you curious, the facts about Tunisia page carries the numbers, the planning guide turns them into a trip, and the comparisons with Morocco and Egypt answer the question that usually comes next.
Key Facts
- Official name: Republic of Tunisia
- Capital: Tunis
- Location: North Africa, Mediterranean coast, between Algeria and Libya
- Area: 163,610 km² (land 155,360 km², water 8,250 km²)
- Coastline: 1,148 km
- Borders: Algeria (965 km), Libya (459 km)
- Highest point: Jebel Chambi, 1,544 m
- Lowest point: Chott el Jerid, −17 m
- Northernmost point of Africa: Cape Angela
- Distance to Sicily: about 140 km
- Population: about 12 million
- Time zone: UTC+1, no daylight saving
- Currency: Tunisian dinar (TND)
From the Carthage Magazine Bookshelf
Once you know where Tunisia is, these three are how you get to know it.
- All About Tunisia — the definitive English-language traveler’s guide. 572 pages, 27 chapters, all nine regions, every UNESCO inscription, five thematic trails — and the practical answers (visa, currency, transport, etiquette) most travelers wish they’d had on the plane. $24.99 · PDF & EPUB.
- Speak Like a Local — 200+ Tunisian Arabic phrases with native audio recorded in Tunis. The phrases for the taxi, the souk, the café, and the dinner table. $14.99 · PDF, EPUB, MP3.
- The Authentic Tunisian Cookbook — sixty traditional recipes from the heart of North Africa. For when you get home and find yourself missing the food. $9.99 · PDF & EPUB.
All three available as a bundle for $39.99 — guide, language, and food, delivered together.
