Tunisia Essay ⋆ Business Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Located in north Africa, Tunisia has a population of 10 million, and was in ancient times the location of Carthage, the capital of the Carthaginian Empire. It then became a part of the Roman Empire, later being captured by the Arabs, and then was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. Occupied by France in 1880, it gained its independence in 1956.

During the Carthaginian Empire, the area that is now Tunisia was the center of a rich and powerful civilization that had established itself as the center of a trading empire, with the Carthaginians exploiting the silver mines in Spain. However, the wealth of the city was sapped by the Punic Wars, and the city itself was sacked by the Romans in 146 b.c.e. Although the Romans built a new city on the site, it never regained its former glory. Cities and towns in Tunisia were stops on caravan routes across north Africa, but these declined with the increase in shipping. Under the Ottoman Turks, the city of Tunis became a center of learning and was also relatively wealthy, persuading the French to take it over in 1878, with their army taking control of the country two years later.

Under the French, the economy of Tunisia was linked to that of the French Empire, and many French and other European settlers moved to Tunisia, although more had moved to neighboring Algeria. After the fighting in World War II between the Germans and the Allies, the Axis was driven out in 1943, and nationalists started to agitate for independence from France, heavily influenced by events in French Algeria. This came about in 1956, with Habib Bourguiba becoming president of the country, a position he held until 1987. During that time, Bourguiba introduced many economic policies that resulted in the country becoming socialist, yet also taking a political stance of being largely nonaligned. During the 1970s, plans were broached to establish a gas pipeline through Tunisia, which would take natural gas from Algeria to Italy. With the rise in the price of oil, exploration in Tunisia located several new deposits to add to the Ashtart oil field, which started operations in 1973.

There were periods of economic stagnation, and there was labor unrest in 1968, 1978, and 1984. It also saw large numbers of import controls that helped with the development of industry in the country, although some of these were not as efficient as their competitors overseas, leading to problems when free trade policies were introduced in the 1990s. One of these was the textile industry established at Kairouan. President Bourguiba managed to get some concessions from the European Economic Community for Tunisia’s exporting its textiles to their member states, but gradually these quotas were reduced. Carpets and rugs continue to be made in Tunisia for the export trade, and the craft industry has continued to operate in some parts of the country.

Following the overthrow of President Bourguiba, there were moves by the new government to free up the economy of the country and introduce free market reforms. However, the government started facing problems from Islamic fundamentalist groups, with events in Algeria once again impacting heavily on Tunisia. This coincided with a communist party, called the Mouvement de la Renovation, becoming a political force, as the government sought to implement reforms suggested by the World Bank. There were certainly allegations of human rights abuses, and when Bourguiba died in 2000 at age 96, tens of thousands of Tunisians turned up at his funeral to mourn someone who had presided over a long period of economic success.

The country’s economy had slowly transformed after independence, but France accounts for 33 percent of Tunisia’s exports and 25 percent of its imports. The agricultural sector continued to decline, and although it still employs over half the workforce of the country, it now makes up only 14 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Industry accounts for 23 percent of the workforce and contributes 31 percent of the GDP, while the service sector—which employs only 22 percent of the workforce—makes up 55 percent of the nation’s GDP. Much of the income from the service sector comes from tourism, with Tunisia presenting itself as a safe, sunny destination, containing historic remains, for many European tourists. Indeed, 6.38 million tourists (2005) come to the country each year.

Bibliography:

Jeremy D. Foltz, “The Economics of WaterConserving Technology Adoption in Tunisia: An Empirical Estimation of Farmer Technology Choice,” Economic Development and Cultural Change (v.51/2, 2003);
Fareed M. A. Hassan, Tunisia: Understanding Successful Socioeconomic Development (World Bank, 2005);
International Monetary Fund, Tunisia Financial System Stability Assessment Update (International Monetary Fund, 2007);
Taline Koranchelian, How Does Employment Protection Legislation Affect Unemployment in Tunisia?: A Search Equilibrium Approach (International Monetary Fund, Middle East and Central Asia Department, 2005);
Alice Mesnard and Martin Ravallion, “The Wealth Effect on New Business Startups in a Developing Economy,” Economica (v.73/291, 2006);
Oxford Business Group, Emerging Tunisia 2006 (Oxford Business Group, 2006);
Pia Christina Wood, “French Foreign Policy and Tunisia: Do Human Rights Matter?” Middle East Policy (v.9/2, 2002).

This example Tunisia Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.