Tunisa - Demographics

Demographics

See also: Demographics of Tunisia, Arab-Berber, Turks in Tunisia, and Kouloughlis

The population of Tunisia, from a sociological, historical and genealogical standpoint, are made up of people of mainly Arab, Berber, and Turkish descent. By 1870 the distinction between the Arab mass and the Turkish elite had blurred and today the overwhelming majority, of about 98%, simply identify themselves as Arabs. However, ethnic distinctions are still visible through religious differences with those practicing the Maliki School of Islam being mainly of Arab origin and those practicing the Hanafi School being of Turkish decent. There is also a small Berber (1% at most) population located in the Dahar mountains and on the island of Djerba in the south-east and in the Khroumire mountainous region in the north-west.

From the late 19th century to after World War II, Tunisia was home to large populations of French and Italians (255,000 Europeans in 1956), although nearly all of them, along with the Jewish population, left after Tunisia became independent. The history of the Jews in Tunisia going back some 2,000 years. In 1948 the Jewish population was an estimated 105,000, but by 2003 only about 1,500 remained.

The first people known to history in what is now Tunisia were the Berbers. Numerous civilizations and peoples have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia, with influences of population via conquest from Phoenicians/Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Alans, Arabs, Spaniards, Ottoman Turks and Janissaries, and French. There was a continuing inflow of nomadic Arab tribes from Arabia.

Additionally, after the Reconquista and expulsion of non-Christians and Moriscos from Spain, many Spanish Muslims and Jews also arrived. According to Matthew Carr, "As many as eighty thousand Moriscos settled in Tunisia, most of them in and around the capital, Tunis, which still contains a quarter known as Zuqaq al-Andalus, or Andalusia Alley."

The government has supported a remarkably successful family planning program that has reduced the population growth rate to just over 1% per annum, contributing to Tunisia's economic and social stability.