Tunisia: Flag and Facts
Tunisia's flag is red with a white circle in the middle holding a red crescent wrapped around a red five-pointed star.
- Official name
- Tunisian Republic
- Capital
- Tunis
- Region
- Northern Africa
- Population
- 12 million (2025)
- Languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- Tunisian dinar
- Area
- 163,610 km² (63,170 sq mi)
- People
- Tunisian
- Calling code
- +216
- Highest point
- Jebel ech Chambi 1,544 m
- Independence
- 20 March 1956 (from France)
- National symbols
- red crescent moon and five-pointed star in a white circle
About Tunisia
A long line of powers has ruled here, starting with the Phoenicians and moving through Carthage, Rome, the Vandals, Byzantium, Arab and Berber kingdoms and the Ottomans. French and Italian rivalry ended with a French invasion in 1881. Tunisia won independence on 20 March 1956, and its first president, Habib Bourguiba, led the country for 31 years.
Protests in Tunis in 2010 over jobs, prices and corruption grew in 2011 into the uprising later seen as the start of the Arab Spring. Mountains cover the north, a hot dry plain sits in the middle, and the south blends into the Sahara. Up north, winters are mild and wet while summers turn hot and dry. Nearly 12 million people live in Tunisia, about 2.5 million of them around Tunis.
Did you know?
- Shatt al Gharsah, the lowest point, lies 17 meters below sea level.
- Tunisia's flag looks like the old Ottoman banner, a nod to its Ottoman past.
- Jebel ech Chambi tops out at 1,544 meters.
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Questions about Tunisia
What do the colors on Tunisia's flag mean?
Red honors martyrs who fought oppression, and white stands for peace. Crescent and star are long-standing symbols of Islam.
What language is spoken in Tunisia?
Arabic is the official language, and the currency is the Tunisian dinar.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.