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Religion
Religious practises : Muslims 98%
Christians 1%
Jews 1%.

Tunisia is a republic state having a strong presidential form of government. Tunisia (official name: Tunisian Republic) was a French colony up to 1956 and is now having strong economic ties with the European Union.
President is the chief of the state and is elected by popular vote for a five-year term (with no limit to the number of terms). The constitution of the country gives President immense powers, including all executive powers. President selects the Prime Minister (who acts as head of the government) and the Cabinet, rules by decree when the legislature is not in session, and appoints the governors of Tunisia's 23 provinces. Prime Minister mainly helps in the execution of the policies set by the President.
The legislature is bicameral in Tunisia. The Parliament consists of two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) having 89 seats with its members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms and the Chamber of Advisors (the upper house) having 126 seats with 85 of its members elected by municipal counsellors, professional associations and trade unions and 41 members are presidential appointees, to serve six-year terms. The legislature serves as a rubber stamp for the President's policies and does not provide a check on executive power. President can dissolve the Parliament if he wishes so. The people of Tunisia have very limited political rights.
Judiciary is not independent in Tunisia. The government has always used courts to convict and imprison critics. The main source of the law is the constitution of 1959 (amended in 1988, 2002). The country's legal system is based on French civil law system and Shari'a (Islamic law); in addition to judicial reviews of the various legislative acts. Arabic is the judicial language used in the country, though French is also widely used in business.
Tunisia is not ruled by law. There is highest restriction on freedom of press in Tunisia when compared to other Arab world countries. The government refuses to legalize even highly independent human rights organizations. Foreign nationals cannot expect an impartial trial from the country's judicial system. A considerable degree of corruption exists in the country, especially in the government including petty corruption and bribe taking by security forces.

Tunisia is a one party dominant state with RCD (Democratic Constitutional Rally, a socialist democratic party linked with trade unions) in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. The two main opposition parties are:
- MDS (Movement of Socialist Democrats) - a social democratic party, pro-Islamic,
- PUP (Party of People's Unity) - a socialist party, advocates nationalism.

President: Zine el Abidine BEN ALI (since November 1987, re-elected fourth time in October 2004) - RCD
Prime Minister: Mohamed GHANNOUCHI (since November 1999) - RCD

For more information about tourism in Tunisia , check out the following web site(s) :
Tunisian National Tourism Office.

Food

Traditional dishes
The Tunisian food is famous for its lamb-based dishes. The following specialties can be found:
Couscous
Tajines (kind of meat stews)
Bric: mutton-based dishes
The Tunisian dishes are very flavoured: caraway, coriander, saffron, cinnamon, anisee, mint, orange, rose water.

Food-related taboos
Eating pork is prohibited and the sale of alcohol is limited.

Last modified on January 2008