Country Profile

Tunisia has a small, principally homogeneous population, emerging from a diverse background of civilisations, which makes the modern population a mix of Arab, Ottoman and Berber, to name but a handful. In 1956, the country gained independence from France and established a constitution modelled on the French system. In 2011, during the Jasmine Revolution, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled from 1987, was ousted. Following the Tunisian revolution, the country has been transitioning into a democracy and adopted a new constitution in January 2014. This chapter contains a viewpoint with President Beji Caid Essebsi; and an interview with Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank.