Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located 270 km southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a population of 341,999 (census 2022). Its main industries include phosphate, olive and nut processing, fishing (it is the largest fishing port in Tunisia) and international trade. The city is the second-most populous in the country after the capital, Tunis.

History

Carthaginian and Aghlabid eras

Present-day Sfax was founded by the Aghlabids in AD849 on the site of the town of Taparura. The modern city has also grown to cover some other ancient settlements, most notably Thenae in its southern suburb of Thyna.

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 after a revolt and taken 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 1185.

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-Abbas, Sfax returned under the Hafsid era. After more than three centuries, which had seen the preponderance of the Hafsids, the conflict between the Turks and the Spaniards precipitated the fall of their dynasty. In 1534, the privateer Barberousse entered Tunis, proclaimed the decline of the Hafsids and effortlessly reunited the towns of the coast, among them the town of Sfax.

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.

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 seven dead and 32 wounded for the French.

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.

Geography

Climate

Sfax has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). Owing to its sheltered location relative to Mediterranean Sea winter storms, Sfax receives half the rainfall of Tunis and less even than the major cities of Libya (Tripoli and Benghazi). Summers, like all of North Africa, are hot and almost rainless, whilst winters are very pleasant with usually only light rain.

Topography

The topography of the governorate of Sfax tilts regularly from the west to the coast and local presents small hills and mountain ranges in the form of elongated draâs.

Relief

Sfax is characterized by a monotonous, low and slightly uneven relief. The altitude y rarely exceed 250 m, especially in the center-west of the governorate (Draâ Lahirech, 269 m; Djebel Chebka, 255 m). Most of the study site extends over wide plains not exceeding the 150 m above sea level, including a low coastal strip about 15 km wide and having an average altitude of 20 m.

Hydrography

The monotonous character, low and not very rugged of the topography largely determined the characteristics hydrographic in the governorate of Sfax. Indeed, the rivers are numerous, shallow and rarely reaches the sea. The hills and small mountain ranges of the center-west present a hydrographic hairline dense and relatively deep compared to the coastal strip. Like a few exoreic rivers (wadi Agareb, wadi Laâchech, wadi El Maleh), most of the Wadis are endorheic, leading to closed depressions of the sebkhas and garâas type. Depending on their morpho-structural conditions, these closed depressions take the form of basins synclinal (Menzel Chaker and Hancha regions) or the form of sebkhas and garâas (Noual, Bou Jmal, Mchiguigue, Karafita... etc.).

Neighborhoods

Whether in the city center or between the radial roads, there are large, popular neighborhoods in Sfax, most of which are:

Politics and administration

Mayor and municipality

The current mayor of the city is Mounir Elloumi (belonging to Ennahdha), elected in the 2018 Tunisian local elections

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Administrative division

The Governorate of Sfax has 16 municipalities :

Demographics

In 2019, the population of Sfax has reached 1,013,021 inhabitants. The urban population represents 63.7% of the population. In 2014 the Males represent 50.2% of the population structure with a population of 140,752. As to the Females, they represent 49.1% with a population of 139,814.

Architecture and urbanism

Medina

The Medina represents one of the most important quarters of Sfax. it plays a touristic and historical role of the city. It was built by Aghlabid prince Abu Abbass Muhammad between 849 and 851. The medina is home to about 113,000 residents and is dominated by the Great Mosque of Sfax.

Walls and gates

Apart from Borj Ennar and three other towers that disappeared, the walls of the medina kept the same original architecture since 1306. These are 2,750 meters long and have 34 dungeons. Their height varies between seven and eleven meters. Originally, the medina had only two doors: Bab Jebli, also known as Bab Dhahraoui (northern door), and Bab Diwan or Bab Bahr (the sea door). Yet, in the 20th century and because of the economic development and the huge increase of the population, new doors had to be created to reduce the flow from these two main doors such as Bab El Ksar and Bab Jebli Jedid.

Kasbah

Like most of the other medinas of Tunisia, Sfax has its own kasbah. It is a desert fortress, located in the southwestern corner of the medina. It was used for different purposes throughout history, first, a control tower built by the Aghlabids on the coast, then the seat of the municipal government, and then the main army barracks. Its construction was preceded by the deployment of the wall and the medina quarter. Today it is served as a museum of traditional architecture.

Mausoleums and mosques

Also here are the Sidi Amar Kammoun Mausoleum, Sidi Ali Ennouri Mausoleum, Sidi Belhassen Karray Mausoleum, El Ajouzine Mosque, Bouchouaicha Mosque, Driba Mosque and Sidi Elyes Mosque.

City hall

The city hall of Sfax is in the center of the modern city and opens on Habib Bourguiba Street in parallel with the main entrance of the historic city. The Municipal Palace draws attention to the magnificence and beauty of its exterior architecture and its interior decorations and masterpieces. This unique landmark was designed by French architect Rafael Guy, who blended the Arab-Moriscan character with the European character The project of the construction of the Palace of the scourge began at the beginning of the twentieth century, where the municipality issued a tender for this purpose in the newspaper Adebash Svaxian on 30 June 1904 and began construction works in late 1905 and ended in 1906 In 1912, he began to expand gradually until around 1943 After the Second World War, the town hall was completed in 1955.

Cityscape

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.

Education

Sfax concentrates the main educational institutions of the south of the Sahel: The University of Sfax includes: The North American Private University was founded in 2012 and brings together 3 institutes:

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.

Festival

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

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.

Economy

Sfax is the second-most important industrial city in Tunisia. Sfax's most important industries are leather, wool, olive and almond cultivation, and fishing. Sfax is known for many traditional crafts industries such as construction, traditional handicrafts, carpentry, blacksmithing, as well as handcrafting of gold and silver.

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.

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

Fishing

Energy

Transport

Motorways

The A1 motorway connects Sfax with Tunis and also with Gabès that was inaugurated in 2017.

Railways

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

Airports

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.

Media

Founded in 1961, Radio Sfax broadcasts twenty hours a day on MW 720 kHz/105.21 MHz. There is also:

Sport

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

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Sfax is twinned with:

Gallery