Land area

162,155 sq km

Population

10.4m (July 2009, Institut national de la statistique); 10.33m (mid-2007 IMF estimate)

Main towns

Population in '000s, excluding suburbs (2004 census)

Tunis (capital): 728

Sfax: 271

Sousse: 173

Kairouan: 118

Gabès: 116

Bizerte: 114

Climate

Mediterranean on the northern and north-eastern coasts, semi-arid inland and in the south

Weather in Tunis

Hottest month, August, 21-33°C (average daily minimum and maximum); coldest month, January, 6-14°C; driest month, July, 3 mm average rainfall; wettest month, January, 563 mm average rainfall

Languages

Arabic and French

Measures

Metric system. The quintal (100 kg) is used to measure crop weights

Currency

The Tunisian dinar (TD) is made up of 1,000 millimes

Time

1 hour ahead of GMT

Public holidays

New Year's Day (January 1st 2011); Mouled, or Prophet's Birthday (February 15th); Independence Day (March 20th); Youth Day (March 21st); Martyrs' Day (April 9th); Labour Day (May 1st); Republic Day (July 25th); Women's Day (August 13th); Eid al-Fitr, or end of Ramadan (August 30th); New Era Day (November 7th); Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice (November 6th); Hijara, or Islamic New Year (November 26th)