Tunisia Crossword Puzzle for Kids

Tunisia, officially the Tunisian Republic, is a country in the Arab Maghreb in North Africa. It shares its borders with two countries including Algeria to the west, and Libya to the southeast. Tunis is the capital and largest city.

Ancient history

Since history has been recorded, there were Berber tribes living in what is now Tunisia. Most of them built little towns and ports along the coastline so they could trade with different travelers from everywhere in the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the travelers were Phoenicians who started to settle on the Tunisian coast during the 10th Century BC. Later, in the 8th Century BC, settlers that came from Phoenicia and regions abroad built Carthage. After many wars against Greece in 6th Century BC, Carthage dominated the Mediterranean Sea.

In the 3rd and 2nd Centuries BC, in the Punic Wars, Carthage fought against the Roman Empire. The Romans destroyed Carthage and made its territory part of the Africa Province of the Roman Empire. In later centuries the people learned Latin and became Christians.

When the Roman Empire became weak, the Vandals occupied that region. Some of them learned to sail and became pirates. This was in the 5th Century AD, and one hundred years after that, it became under the control of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.

Islamic Tunisia

In the 7th Century, it was conquered by the Arab Muslims who built a city which they called Kairouan. This was the first Arab Muslim city in Tunisia. Many Muslim dynasties (monarchies) ruled Tunisia. One of the best known dynasties was the Zirids dynasty. The Zirids were Berber people and followed the rules of the Fatimides, a bigger dynasty in Cairo.

When the Zirids angered the Fatimides, the Fatimides sent some tribes known as Banu Hilal who ravaged (destroyed and vandalized) Tunisia.

After a brief occupation of Tunisia by the Normans of Sicily in the 12th Century, the Almohad re-conquered it. After that came the Hafsids.

In the last years of their reign, the Hafsids became weak and Spain took control of many cities on the coast until they were finally occupied by the Ottoman Empire.

In 1705, Tunisia became virtually independent during the Hussein dynasty, but still had to follow orders from the Ottoman Empire.

Geography

Tunisia is in the northern part of Africa. The Mediterranean Sea joins Tunisia in the north and east; the coastline of Tunisia on the Mediterranean Sea is about 1,300 km. Tunisia is also bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the south-east.

The Sahara Desert covers 40% of Tunisia. The other 60% is a fertile area.

Demographics

Standard Arabic is the official language by the Tunisian constitution. But Tunisians speak Tunisian Arabic.

Tunisian Arabic is a mix of many languages of people that live or lived in Tunisia. It is called Darija or Tunsi.

A small number of people living in Tunisia still speak a Berber dialect, known as Shelha.

Most people now living Tunisia are Maghrebin Arab. However, small groups of Berbers and Jews live in Tunisia.

The constitution says that Islam is the official state religion. It also requires the President to be Muslim.

Economy

Tunisia's economy has many sectors: agriculture (fruit, vegetable oil and vegetables), tourism (when people come from other countries to visit), mining (extracting goods from under the ground), and petroleum (fuel and gas oil).

The government used to control the economy, but now it has sold some public companies. This is called privatization.

Tunisia was also the first Mediterranean country to make an agreement with the European Union. This association agreement was signed on March 1, 1995.

Tunisia has plans for two nuclear power stations, to be working by 2019.

Other websites

Tunisian online demonstration as protest against dictatorship

Tunisian Community Center (the Organization of Tunisian-Americans)

Text adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Tunisia” (revision 10765239, 2026-02-27), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.