Tunisia

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Country summary

Capital

Tunis

Borders

Algeria 965 km, Libya 459 km

Government type

republic

Population

10,486,339 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

0.98% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

75.78 years[1]

Unemployment

14.7% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

95[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

65[3]

Doing Business ranking

69[4]


Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following World War I was finally successful in getting the French to recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. In November 1987, BOURGUIBA was removed from office and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless coup. BEN ALI is currently serving his fifth consecutive five-year term as president. Tunisia has long taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in its foreign relations. Domestically, it has sought to defuse rising pressure for a more open political society.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Tunisian dinar (ISO code: TND)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA%[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $10.07 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $16.55 billion (31 December 2009)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 20 799 19 443 19 988 21 047 24 992 28 129 28 968 30 962 35 020 40 309
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 61.376 62.643 62.337 61.500 60.439 59.682 58.420 53.920 50.889 48.176
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 29.044 29.241 29.433 29.885 29.427 29.385 29.146 29.324 29.985 32.463
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 27.508 27.634 27.414 28.223 27.868 28.574 29.144 28.703 29.092 30.389
Debt to revenue (years) 2.113 2.142 2.118 2.058 2.054 2.031 2.004 1.839 1.697 1.484

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Tunisia", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Tunisia", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  3. Transparency International. "Tunisia", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  4. Doing Business. "Tunisia", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 386. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  6. Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 111. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  7. World Bank. "Tunisia: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  8. World Bank. "Tunisia: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  9. World Bank. "Tunisia: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05.
  10. World Bank. "Tunisia: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05.

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