Geography |
The Republic of Tunisia, located in northern Africa, is bounded on the north and east by the Mediterranean Sea, on the south by Libya and on the west by Algeria. Its total area is 163 610 km2.
Two low-lying branches of the Atlas mountain range extend into Tunisia. In Tunisia, the northern branch is called the Atlas Mountains and the southern branch the Tabassah Mountains. But the mountains are mostly less than 600 m. The highest, Mount Chambi, is just 1 544 m above sea level. Hills, grassland and fertile valleys lie between the mountain ranges. From the Tabassah range, the land descends across a plateau to the Sahara in the south and to a coastal plain in the east. The fertile coastal plain extends along the east coast from Sfax to Tunis.
The country's only major river, the Majardah, crosses the region from west to east, emptying into the Gulf of Tunis.
In general, a mild Mediterranean climate prevails in the north while toward the south the climate becomes progressively hotter and drier. In the north, temperatures average 11° C in winter and 25° C in summer. The northern regions have a rainy season that lasts from October to May, with an average annual rainfall of about 610 mm but varying greatly from year to year. Annual rainfall decreases to the south and only 200 mm or less falls in the Sahara.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.