Demographics of Tunisia

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The majority (98% ^[1]) of modern Tunisians are Arab^[2], and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small (1% at most^[3]) population of Berbers located in the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Jerba. The Berbers primarily speak Berber languages, often called Shelha^[4], or have shifted to Tunisian Arabic. The other long-established community in the country is Jewish (today mainly in the capital Tunis and on Jerba), much reduced in number since independence from France.

One study indicates that the majority of the genetic material in Tunisia did not arrive with the Arabs (no more than 20% was found to come from the Middle East). Another study, which does not compare Tunisian genetics with those of the Middle East, states that what it calls the Arab subhaplotype Va was found at a relatively high frequency in Tunisia at 50.6%.[2], but also states that this group in fact "probably correspond to a heterogeneous group representing various ethnicities", rather than just Arabs. Yet another finds that "the Tunisian genetic distances to European samples are smaller than those to North African groups" (these groups being from the Moroccan Atlas and the Siwa oasis in Egypt). This suggests a significant European input to Tunisian genetics.

The first people known to history in what is now Tunisia were the Berbers. Numerous civilizations have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia. Significant influxes of population have come through conquest by Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and French, to cite some significant sources. Additionally, after the Reconquista and expulsion of non-Christians from Spain, many Spanish Moors and Jews also arrived at the end of the 15th century.

Nearly all Tunisians (98% of the population) are Muslim.^[5] There has been a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba for 2000 years, and there remains a small Jewish population in Tunis which is descended from those who fled Spain in the late 15th century. There is a small indigenous Christian population.^[6] Small nomadic indigenous minorities have been mostly assimilated into the larger population.

Demographics of Tunisia, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Population: 10,175,014 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24.6% (male 1,293,235/female 1,212,994)
15-64 years: 68.6% (male 3,504,283/female 3,478,268)
65 years and over: 6.7% (male 327,521/female 358,713) (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.99% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 15.52 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 5.13 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 23.84 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.12 years
male: 73.4 years
female: 76.96 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.74 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Tunisian(s)
adjective: Tunisian

Ethnic groups: Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%^[5]

Religions: Muslim 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish and other 1%^[5]

Languages: Tunisian Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic is official); French (especially in commerce); several Berber languages are also spoken: Shelha, Ghadamès, Nafusi, Sened (may be extinct) and Djerbi; according to the 1998 Ethnologue report, about 26,000 Berbers in Djerba and Matmata speak Djerbi

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74.3%
male: 83.4%
female: 65.3% (2004 est.)

[edit] References