Sfax, Tunisia

History : Almohad era : Hafsid era : Husseinid era : French era : World War II | Neighbourhoods | Culture | Education | Theater | Festival | Maison de France | Economy : Sectors : Statistics | Transport : Road : Rail : Air | Media | Sport

🇹🇳 Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located 270 km (170 mi) south-east of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Roman Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate, and a Mediterranean port. The main industries are phosphate, olive and nut processing, fishing (largest fishing port in Tunisia) and international trade. The city is the second-most populous after the capital, Tunis.

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History Present-day Sfax was founded in AD 849 on the site of the Berber town of Taparura. The modern city has also grown to cover some other ancient settlements, most notably Thenae in its southern suburb of Thyna.

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History: Almohad era By the end of the 10th century, Sfax had become an independent city-state. The city was conquered by Roger II of Sicily in 1148 and occupied until it was liberated in 1156 by the Almohads, and was briefly occupied by European forces again, this time by the Spanish, in the 16th century, before falling into Ottoman hands. Sfax became an integral base of the Barbary piracy, prompting an unsuccessful invasion by Venice in 1785.

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History: Hafsid era Abou Yahya Abou Bekr finally re-established Hafsid unity and recaptured Kerkennah from the Christians in 1335. The peace returned to the country was only disturbed by rare episodes, the most lasting of which began with the price of Sfax by the dissident brothers, Ahmed and Abdelmalèk ben Makki.

Towards 1370, following the arrival of Caliph Abdul-Abbbas, Sfax returned under the Hafside era. After more than three centuries which had seen the preponderance of the Hafsids be maintained, the conflict between the Turks and the Spaniards would precipitate the fall of their dynasty. In 1534, the privateer Barberousse enters Tunis, proclaims the decline of the Hafsids and effortlessly reunites the towns of the coast and among them the town of Sfax.

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History: Husseinid era The founder of the new dynasty, Hussein, gave the country unquestionable economic prosperity. In Sfax, the mosque is enlarged, which regains its original extent; the new mihrâb is dated 1758, the work was completed in 1783.

The ramparts were restored and two large reservoirs were built to supplement the Nasriah cisterns. In 1776, the southern suburb of the city, the Frankish quarter, was built, reserved for Jews and Christians, a major place of maritime trade, but which was also to serve as a buffer against sea attacks, which were still to be feared. The eventuality was not long in coming, the Venetians bombarding Sfax four times in the space of two years (1785–86). A large fort was built during the siege to flank Borj Ennar; it was demolished after the last war.

Around 1830, the Frankish quarter was surrounded by a wall and in 1860 the city had a post office and telegraph. In 1876, the telegraph clerk made a plan of the city and told us about a signal tower built a century earlier and of which we have lost track.

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History: French era When the Bey of Tunis signed the Bardo Treaty, in 1881, making Tunisia a protectorate, an insurrection broke out in Sfax. Six ironclads were dispatched from Toulon (Colbert, Friedland, Marengo, Trident, Revanche, Surveillante) to join the French Navy ships in Tunisian waters. In Sfax, three ironclads from the Division of the Levant were already present (Alma, Reine Blanche, La Galissonnière), together with four cannon boats. Sfax was bombarded, and on 16 July the city was taken by the French after hard fighting, with 7 dead and 32 wounded for the French.

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History: World War II During World War II, the Axis powers used the city as a major base until British forces took it on 10 April 1943. After World War II, Tunisia was returned to France, but gained independence in 1956.

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Neighbourhoods Whether in the city centre or between the radial roads, there are large, popular neighborhoods in Sfax, most of which are: • Hay El Rabdh • Hay El Habib • Hay El Bahri • Hay Bourguiba • Hay El Badrani • Hay Ennasr • Hay El Maez • Hay Thyna.

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Culture The city of Sfax includes an archaeological museum, located in the municipal building and is open during the hours of municipal services, which includes a collection of ancient archaeological discoveries in the city and in the close sites, including the ancient city Thanae (Thyna); its collections include pieces dating from prehistoric, Roman and Islamic. Sfax also contains a museum of arts and traditions located in the medina called Dar Jallouli.

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Education Sfax concentrates the main educational institutions of the south of the Sahel: The University of Sfax includes: • ENIS (École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax) issued a number of well-known scientists and industrialists. • ESCS (École Supérieure de Commerce de Sfax) issued a number of managers, Economy and Management researchers and young entrepreneurs. • FLSHS (Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sfax) issued a number of renowned poets and prose writers. • Sfax Faculty of Medicine (Faculté de Médecine de Sfax). • ISAAS (Institut Supérieur d'Administration des Affaires de Sfax) • FSEGS (Faculté des Sciences Économiques et de Gestion de Sfax). • FSS (Faculty of Science Sfax). • ISIMS (Institut Supérieur d'Informatique et de Multimédia de Sfax). • FDS (Faculté de Droit de Sfax) • ISAMS (Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers de Sfax) • IHEC (Institut des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Sfax)

The North American Private University was founded in 2012 and brings together 3 institutes: • The International Institute of Technology (IIT). • The International School of Architecture (ISA, a department of IIT). • The International School of Business (ISB).

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Theater The city had a municipal theater between 1903 and 1942, a building built by the architect Raphaël Guy according to a neo-Moorish architecture, in line with the seat of the municipality and the Ramdanetru palace and being bombarded with the campaign of Tunisia which nevertheless targets the commercial port much further south of the city and during which the Frankish quarter was completely razed.

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Festival The city of Sfax organizes the International Festival of Sfax, a summer event which welcomes artists from various countries.

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Maison de France The French Institute of Sfax, commonly Maison de France (French House), is a space of meeting, reflection, and creation open to all and also of expression. Whose goal is to support and supervise the activities of the civil city and its artists. It was opened the 16 June 2006.

It has more than 40 000 visitors per year, and more than 50 cultural events. There is also a library that makes more than 20,000 documents available to the public.

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Economy Sfax is the second industrial city the most important in Tunisia. The most important industries are leather and wool are also characterized by the cultivation of olive, almond, and fishing. It is also known for the people of Sfax mastering many traditional crafts and industries such as construction, handicrafts, carpentry, blacksmithing, and the production of the modern and traditional gold and silver.

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Economy: Sectors Agriculture, especially olive cultivation, despite all these changes occupies an important place in the regional economy. Agricultural land occupies almost the entire area of the region (90%). The city produces on average 40% of the olive oil and 30% of the almonds of Tunisia, which makes it the first national producer. Another component of the Sfaxian economy is the exploitation of petroleum: the Miskar natural gas field covers a total area of 352 km² and has a capacity of 22.7 billion m³. On there exploit 1.18 million tons per year.

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Economy: Statistics The working population is divided between three sectors: agriculture and fishing (25.3%), services (25.6%), and manufacturing industries (24.4%). Statistics of the sfaxian economy by sectors and field: Agriculture • Cultivable land (S.A.U): 639,000 ha • Irrigated Areas: 12,300 ha • Forests and pastures: 118,000 ha; Fishing • Coastal fishing: 6,500 Tonnes • Trawl fishing: 13,000 tonnes • Tuna fishing: 2,700 tonnes • Fire fishing: 1,140 tonnes • Sponge and mussel peach: 417 tonnes; Energy • Oil: 1,2 millions m3 • Gas: 1,7 milliards m3.

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Transport: Road The A1 motorway connects Sfax with Tunis and also with Gabès that was inaugurated in 2017. • Motorways: ◦ A1: (Tunis, Gabès, Bouhajla, M'saken) • Projects: ◦ National roads: (Kerkennah, Sidi Bouzid, Tataouine)

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Transport: Rail A narrow-gauge railway system of SNCFT offers passenger services to Tunis and delivers phosphates and iron ore for export.

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Transport: Air Sfax is served by Sfax–Thyna International Airport and Syphax Airlines has regularly scheduled flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, Tripoli International Airport, and charter flights to Jeddah Airport for the pilgrimage to Mecca.

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Media Founded in 1961, Radio Sfax broadcasts twenty hours a day on MW 720 kHz/105.21 MHz.

There is also: • Al Qalam TV • Diwan FM • Chams El-Janoub, hebdomadaire arabophone • La Gazette du Sud, mensuel francophone

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Sport Sfax has three sports clubs, for football, volleyball and basketball: CS Sfaxien, Sfax Railway Sport, Stade Sportif Sfaxien.

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Sfax, Tunisia 
<b>Sfax, Tunisia</b>
Image: IssamBarhoumi

Sfax is rated E by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) which evaluates and ranks world cities in the context of economic competitiveness. E cities are regional gateway cities. Sfax has a population of over 330,400 people. Sfax also forms the centre of the wider Sfax Governorate which has a population of over 955,421 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Sfax see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Sfax has links with:

🇸🇳 Dakar, Senegal 🇫🇷 Grenoble, France 🇷🇺 Makhachkala, Russia 🇩🇪 Marburg, Germany 🇩🇿 Oran, Algeria 🇲🇦 Safi, Morocco 🇫🇷 Varces-Allieres-et-Risset, France 🇯🇴 Zarqa, Jordan
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | GUCR

Antipodal to Sfax is: -169.24,-34.74

Locations Near: Sfax 10.76,34.74

🇹🇳 Safaqis 10.76,34.74 d: 0  

🇹🇳 Mahdia 11.067,35.5 d: 89  

🇹🇳 Houmt Souk 10.85,33.867 d: 97.5  

🇹🇳 Midoun 11,33.82 d: 104.6  

🇹🇳 Djerba 10.883,33.783 d: 107  

🇹🇳 Msaken 10.576,35.733 d: 111.7  

🇹🇳 Monastir 10.826,35.777 d: 115.5  

🇹🇳 Gabès 10.117,33.883 d: 112.1  

🇹🇳 Sousse 10.638,35.829 d: 121.6  

🇹🇳 Kairouan 10.092,35.672 d: 120.1  

Antipodal to: Sfax -169.24,-34.74

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 18393.4  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 17735.2  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 17676.6  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 17284.1  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 13776.9  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 13701.8  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 13689.6  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 13684.2  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 13683.6  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 13668.6  

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