Tunisia, country on the north coast of Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The Atlas Mountains run across the country, dividing the country’s fertile northern plains from the hotter, dryer southern regions. The Sahara, the vast desert that covers much of northern Africa, begins in southern Tunisia.

Tunisia is a small country by North African standards, sandwiched between the much larger countries of Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. The northernmost country in Africa, Tunisia is bounded on the north and east by the Mediterranean. The country’s strategic location has brought it into contact with many civilizations that sought control of North Africa, including those of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, and Ottoman Turks.