page_title: Culture of Tunisia
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of Tunisia / Religion
caption_attribution_description: This is a photo of the protected monument identified by the ID 11-90 in Tunisia. Minaret of the Zitouna Mosque in Tunis, Tunisia
context_page_description: Tunisian culture is very diverseTunisian culture is a product of more than three thousand years of history and an important multi-ethnic influx. Ancient Tunisia was a major civilization crossing through history; different cultures, civilizations and multiple successive dynasties contributed to the culture of the country over centuries with a varying degrees of influence. Among these cultures were the Carthaginian – their native civilization, Roman, Vandal, Jewish, Christian, Arab, Islamic, Turkish, Europeans, and French, in addition to native Amazigh. This unique mixture of cultures made Tunisia, with its strategic geographical location in the Mediterranean, the core of some great civilizations of Mare Nostrum.
  The history of Tunisia reveals this rich past where different successive Mediterranean cultures had a strong presence. After the Carthaginian Republic, the Roman Empire came and left a lasting effect on the land with various monuments and cities such the El-Jem Amphitheater and the archaeological site of the ancient city of Carthage, which is classified as a world heritage site. El Jem is just one of seven world heritage sites found in Tunisia.
context_section_description: The Tunisian Constitution provides freedom of thoughts and beliefs, as well as the free exercise of religion, as long as it does not affect public order. The government generally respects this right but do not allow the establishment of political parties based on religion. Muslim religious holidays such as Eid el-Adha, Eid el-Fitr or Mouled are considered national holidays. The government also recognizes the sanctity of religious holidays for non-Muslims, particularly those of the monotheistic religions.
  Islam is the main official religion of Tunisia with a rate of around 70% of the population. 99% of Tunisians are Sunni Muslims of the Maliki rite, the rest being attached to the Hanafi cult. There is also a small community of Muslim Sufis but there are no statistics regarding its size. The country is also dotted with small white mausoleums scattered in rural and urban areas and called marabouts. These tombs of saints, often male, are usually housed in places such as caves, hills, springs or points on the coast. Through meditation, these characters were supposed to heal the sick and blind. Their graves are still key to the relationship between the human and the divine in the context of festivals bringing together members of a particular community (a village, or extended family or tribe). Today, the Tunisians continue to pray and to ask them for favors.
  In the 1970s, an Islamist movement, based on close adherence to the Koran and other sacred texts, opposed to some unorthodox practices developed and reached its climax with the formation of a political movement, the Ennahda (Renaissance) in the 1980s. Most of their leaders were arrested or exiled during the 1990s.
  Roman Catholics, Jews, Greek Orthodox, and Protestants are some others. These religious groups are promised their rights of practicing their religion by Tunisian government. The country is characterized by its tolerance and openness to other cultures. For instance, the teaching of Islam is compulsory in public schools but the program of religious studies at the secondary level also includes the history of Judaism and Christianity. The Tunisians also retain some native beliefs of Berber origin such as the evil eye. A number of practices, such as shutters painted blue are also used to repel evil spirits.
caption: Minaret of Zitouna Mosque
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-P73", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2010:11:21 12:58:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-P73", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2004:10:12 09:48:53", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2482", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7720", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:10:12 09:48:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:10:12 09:48:53", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Daylight", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1826", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1757", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2276", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}