Later, in the 8th Century BC, Carthage was built by some settlers that came from Phoenicia and regions abroad.
After many wars against Greece in 6th Century BC, Carthage dominated the Mediterranean Sea.
During the Second Punic War, Carthage invaded Italy with an army led by Hannibal.
The series of wars between the Roman Empire and Carthage ended with the destruction of Carthage in the 2nd Century BC. Its territory in Africa became part of the Africa Province of the Roman Empire.
When the Roman Empire became weak, the Vandals occupied that region. This was in the 5th Century AD, and one hundred years after that, it became under the control of the Byzantine emperor Justinian.
In the 7th Century, it was conquered by the Arab Muslims who built a city which they called Kairouan. This was the first Arab Muslim city in Tunisia. Many Muslim dynasties (monarchies) ruled Tunisia. One of the best known dynasties was the Zirids dynasty. The Zirids were Berber people and followed the rules of the Fatimides, a bigger dynasty in Cairo.
When the Zirids angered the Fatimides, the Fatimides sent some tribes known as Banu Hilal who ravaged (destroyed and vandalized) Tunisia.
After a brief occupation of Tunisia by the Normans of Sicily in the 12th Century, the Almohad re-conquered it. After that came the Hafsids.
In the last years of their reign, the Hafsids became weak and Spain took control of many cities on the coast until they were finally occupied by the Ottoman Empire.
In 1705, Tunisia became virtually independent during the Hussein dynasty, but still had to follow orders from the Ottoman Empire.
Some controversial financial decisions (money-lending) taken by the Bey in mid-1800s in an attempt to repair the country led Tunisia to become under the control of France.
Tunisia became officially a French protectorate in on May 12, 1881, but with the strong opposition of the kingdom of Italy because there was a huge Italian community in Tunisia.
Important parts of the North African Campaign of World War II were fought in Tunisia from 1941 to 1943.
General Erwin Rommel, the German commander in Africa, wished to defeat the Allies in Tunisia, as the Germans had done in the Battle of France when the Allies were inexperienced against the German Blitzkrieg. On February 19, 1943, Rommel launched an attack against the U.S. Forces, with his German and Italian troops, in the western area of Tunisia. That was a disaster for the United States.
After that, the Allies understood the importance of tank warfare. With better supplies than the Germans, they easily broke into the German lines in southern Tunisia on March 20, 1943. In May 11, 1943 the last German troops surrendered, followed two days later by the Italian troops.
Tunisia became independent in 1956 with the former Bey of Tunis as King. Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba became the first president in 1957 when it became a republic. Bourguiba focused on education and economic development. He was supportive of women's rights. However, he had a cult of personality around him and most of the power in the country was held by Bourguiba.
In 1987, Bourguiba was removed from power by Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Ben Ali ruled as dictator of the country until 2011, when he was overthrown in a revolution. The revolution was the first major revolution of the Arab Spring. Tunisia began becoming more democratic, and in 2014, the country held its first free presidential election. The election was won by Beji Caid Essebsi, a secular, liberal candidate.
Tunisia is in the northern part of Africa. The Mediterranean Sea joins Tunisia in the north and east; the coastline of Tunisia on the Mediterranean Sea is about 1,300 km. Tunisia is also bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the south-east.
The Sahara Desert covers 40% of Tunisia. The other 60% is a fertile area.
Standard Arabic is the official language by the Tunisian constitution. But Tunisians speak Tunisian Arabic.
Tunisian Arabic is a mix of many languages of people that live or lived in Tunisia. It is called Darija or Tunsi.
A small number of people living in Tunisia still speak a Berber dialect, known as Shelha.
Most people now living Tunisia are Maghrebin Arab. However, small groups of Berbers and Jews live in Tunisia.
The constitution says that Islam is the official state religion. It also requires the President to be Muslim.
Tunisia is divided into 24 governorates. They are:
The largest cities in Tunisia are:
Tunisia's economy has many sectors: agriculture (fruit, vegetable oil and vegetables), tourism (when people come from other countries to visit), mining (extracting goods from under the ground), and petroleum (fuel and gas oil).
The government used to control the economy, but now it has sold some public companies. This is called privatization.
Tunisia was also the first Mediterranean country to make an agreement with the European Union. This association agreement was signed on March 1, 1995.
Tunisia has plans for two nuclear power stations, to be working by 2019.
Notes
1972
1972 (MCMLXXII) was .
1979
1979 (MCMLXXIX) was .
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. It is a federation which has 13 states. It is divided into two parts by the South China Sea. Its mainland is on the Malay Peninsula. It faces the Straits of Malacca on its west coast and the South China Sea on its east coast. The other part of this country, sometimes known as East Malaysia, is on the northern part of the island of Borneo in the South China Sea. Kuala Lumpur on the Malay Peninsula is its capital. The federal capital was recently moved to Putrajaya, a newly created city exclusively designed for administration.
The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, with most people being Malay, but there are also Chinese and Indians. Its official language is Malay written in the Latin alphabet. English is a recognised language and also the official language in Sarawak state along with Malay. Tamil and Chinese is also often used. There are over 130 other languages spoken in Malaysia, with 94 in Malaysian Borneo and 40 on the peninsula. Islam is the official religion, but non-Malay citizens have the freedom to practice other religions.
Between China and India, Malaysia was an ancient trading place. When Europeans came to this area, Malacca became an important trade port.
The states of Malaysia became a colony of the British Empire, starting with Penang in 1786. The peninsular part became independent on 31 August 1957 as the Federation of Malaya. In September 1963, Malaya, Singapore and the Borneo part joined together to become Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation and declared independence.
Malaysia has 13 states, which are Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu, and three federal territories, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. The number of points of the star on the flag represents the number of states Malaysia has, but it has 14 because Singapore was one of the states in Malaysia during its creation. The 14th point now represents the federal territories, called Wilayah Persekutuan. The head of state of Malaysia is known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, otherwise called the "King of Malaysia". That title is currently held by Sultan Abdullah of Pahang. Malaysia's head of government is the Prime Minister. Its current prime minister is Muhyiddin Yassin. It also has a parliament and a court system. It is a founding member of ASEAN. Its economy is steadily growing and it is a relatively rich country in Southeast Asia.
The following is a list of places in Malaysia. They are in order by the date they were given city status.
Malaysia is a multi-religious society, and Islam is the largest population of believers. Most of the Malay people in Malaysia embrace Islam naturally as their religion. Besides Islam, Malaysia has other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.