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This article is about the demographic features of the population of Tunisia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The majority (98% [1]) of modern Tunisians are Arab[2] or arabized Berber, and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small (1% at most[1]) population of Berbers located in the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Jerba. The Berbers primarily speak Berber languages, often called Shelha[3], or have shifted to Tunisian Arabic.
Numerous other peoples have also invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia such as Romans, Vandals, and Ottoman Turks. Additionally, after the Reconquista and expulsion of non-Christians from Spain, many Spanish Moors and Jews also arrived at the end of the 15th century. In addition, from the late 1800s to after World War II, Tunisia was home to large populations of French and Sicilians, although nearly all of them, along with the Jewish population, left after Tunisia became independent.
Nearly all Tunisians (98% of the population) are Muslim.[4] There has been a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba for 2000 years, and there remains a small Jewish population in Tunis which is descended from those who fled Spain in the late 15th century. There is a small indigenous Christian population.[5] Small nomadic indigenous minorities have been mostly assimilated into the larger population.
According to one genetic study while the vast majority of modern Tunisians identify themselves as Arabs, they are mainly the descendants of Berbers, the first peoples known to inhabit what is now Tunisia. Tunisians are also descended, to a lesser extent, from Semitic peoples (Phoenicians and Arabs) with a little less than 20% of the genetic material (Y-chromosome analysis) coming from the Middle East [6]. Other genetic studies found that "Tunisians did not show a significant level of differentiation with northern population"[7][8]. This suggests a fairly significant European input to Tunisian genetics compared to other neighbouring populations.
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
10,383,577 (July 2008 est.)
0-14 years: 23.2% (male 1,246,105/female 1,167,379) 15-64 years: 69.7% (male 3,638,062/female 3,595,254) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 345,590/female 391,187) (2008 est.)
0.99% (2006 est.)
15.52 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
5.13 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
-0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
23.84 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 75.12 years
male: 73.4 years
female: 76.96 years (2006 est.)
1.74 children born/woman (2006 est.)
noun: Tunisian(s)
adjective: Tunisian
Arab/Berber 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%[4]
(see Religion in Tunisia) Muslim 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish and other 1%[4]
Tunisian Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic is official); French (especially in commerce); several Berber languages are also spoken: Shelha, Ghadamès, Nafusi, Sened (may be extinct) and Djerbi; according to the 1998 Ethnologue report, about 26,000 Berbers in Djerba and Matmata speak Djerbi
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74.3%
male: 83.4%
female: 65.3% (2004 est.)
The literacy rate among the Tunisian population increased greatly after its independence from France. According to the 1996 census data [9], the literacy rate of the last generation of Tunisian men educated under the French rule (those born 1945-49) was less than 65%. For the first generation educated after independence (born 1950-1954), literacy in Arabic among males had increased to nearly 80%. (Sixty-two percent were also literate in French and 15 percent literate in English). Among the youngest generation included in the census (those born 1980-1984), 96.6% were literate in Arabic.
Among Tunisian women, the increase in literacy was even greater. The literacy rate among the last generation of women educated under the French was less than 30%. In the first generation educated after independence, this increased to just over 40%. For the youngest generation of women cited (born 1980-1984), literacy in Arabic had increased to slightly over 90%; over 70% of women were also literate in French.[10]
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