Tunisia

Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following World War I was finally successful in getting the French to recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. In November 1987, BOURGUIBA was removed from office and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless coup. BEN ALI is currently serving his fifth consecutive five-year term as president. Tunisia has long taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in its foreign relations. Domestically, it has sought to defuse rising pressure for a more open political society.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Tunisian dinar (ISO code: TND)
* Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2009)
* Commercial banks lending rate: NA%
* Stock of money (M1): $10.07 billion (31 December 2009)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $16.55 billion (31 December 2009)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Tunisia: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05. 	20 799	19 443	19 988	21 047	24 992	28 129	28 968	30 962	35 020	40 309
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Tunisia: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05. 	61.376	62.643	62.337	61.500	60.439	59.682	58.420	53.920	50.889	48.176
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Tunisia: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05. 	29.044	29.241	29.433	29.885	29.427	29.385	29.146	29.324	29.985	32.463
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Tunisia: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-05.	27.508	27.634	27.414	28.223	27.868	28.574	29.144	28.703	29.092	30.389
Debt to revenue (years) 	2.113 	2.142 	2.118 	2.058 	2.054 	2.031 	2.004 	1.839 	1.697 	1.484
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Tunisia on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Tunisia
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries