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Tunisia /
Religions & Peoples
Islam is the totally dominant religion in Tunisia, and the second largest group in the country are atheists, of which Tunisia probably has the largest group among any North African country (but not more than 3%). Virtually all Muslims are Sunni. There are tiny communities of Christians in the largest cities, these are often descendants of Europeans settling here during the protectorate period. On the island Jerba there are some small communities of Jews, who live peacefully with their Muslim neighbours.
Tunsia's population is the result of much migration, occupation and intermarriages. There were many indigenous peoples here some thousand years ago, but Phoenician, Roman, Vandal and Arab conquests have added to the diversity of the population. However today, more than 90% of Tunisians define themselves as Arabs, even if the amount of Arab blood most likely is well under 10%. Their Arab identity is connected to the Arabic language. One of the immigrations is still very important to its descendants: the Banu Hillal, a large tribe that looted the country in the 11th century, before they settled in their own villages.
The other group of some importance are the Berbers, living in small communities in the south. Their number is decreasing, as more and more of them move into modern villages and cities, start to speak Arabic language, throw away their Berber clothes and adopt Arab culture and identity.
The distribution between languages is totally dominated by the local variant of Arabic, generally referred to as Tunisian Arabic. The two other spoken languages are: Jerbi, a Berber language, with about 20,000, mainly living in smaller villages in the south; French, with about 10,000, mainly living in larger cities, especially Tunis.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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