Sfax

Present-day Sfax was founded in AD 849 on the site of the Berber town of Taparura. The modern city has also grown to cover some other ancient settlements, most notably Thenae in its southern suburb of Thyna.

By the end of the 10th century, Sfax had become an independent city-state. The city was conquered by Roger II of Sicily in 1148 and occupied until it was liberated in 1156 by the Almohads, and was briefly occupied by European forces again, this time by the Spanish, in the 16th century, before falling into Ottoman hands. Sfax became an integral base of the Barbary piracy, prompting an unsuccessful invasion by Venice in 1785.

Abou Yahya Abou Bekr finally re-established Hafsid unity and recaptured Kerkennah from the Christians in 1335. The peace returned to the country was only disturbed by rare episodes, the most lasting of which began with the price of Sfax by the dissident brothers, Ahmed and Abdelmalèk ben Makki.

Towards 1370, following the arrival of Caliph Abdul-Abbbas, Sfax returned under the Hafside era.

After more than three centuries which had seen the preponderance of the Hafsids be maintained, the conflict between the Turks and the Spaniards would precipitate the fall of their dynasty. In 1534, the privateer Barberousse enters Tunis, proclaims the decline of the Hafsids and effortlessly reunites the towns of the coast and among them the town of Sfax.[3]

The founder of the new dynasty, Hussein, gave the country unquestionable economic prosperity. In Sfax, the mosque is enlarged, which regains its original extent; the new mihrâb is dated 1758, the work was completed in 1783.

The ramparts were restored and two large reservoirs were built to supplement the Nasriah cisterns. In 1776, the southern suburb of the city, the Frankish quarter, was built, reserved for Jews and Christians, a major place of maritime trade, but which was also to serve as a buffer against sea attacks, which were still to be feared. The eventuality was not long in coming, the Venetians bombarding Sfax four times in the space of two years (1785–86). A large fort was built during the siege to flank Borj Ennar; it was demolished after the last war.

Around 1830, the Frankish quarter was surrounded by a wall and in 1860 the city had a post office and telegraph. In 1876, the telegraph clerk made a plan of the city and told us about a signal tower built a century earlier and of which we have lost track.[3]

When the Bey of Tunis signed the Bardo Treaty, in 1881, making Tunisia a protectorate, an insurrection broke out in Sfax. Six ironclads were dispatched from Toulon (Colbert, Friedland, Marengo, Trident, Revanche, Surveillante) to join the French Navy ships in Tunisian waters. In Sfax, three ironclads from the Division of the Levant were already present (Alma, Reine Blanche, La Galissonnière), together with four cannon boats.[4] Sfax was bombarded, and on 16 July the city was taken by the French after hard fighting, with 7 dead and 32 wounded for the French.[5]

During World War II, the Axis powers used the city as a major base until British forces took it on 10 April 1943. After World War II, Tunisia was returned to France, but gained independence in 1956.

• historical images
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  The French ironclad Colbert which bombarded Sfax (1881)
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  Bab Diwan (1890)
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  Colonel Bougrain and Léon Beaufils in Sfax (1934)
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  British Army in Tunisia (1943)
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  Les Salines of Sfax (1910)
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  German prisoners (1946)
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  Bab Diwan and Old view of Sfax (1954)

Sfax has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). Owing to its sheltered location relative to Mediterranean Sea winter storms, Sfax receives half the rainfall of Tunis and less even than the major cities of Libya (Tripoli and Benghazi). Summers, like all of North Africa, are hot and almost rainless, whilst winters are very pleasant with usually only light rain.

The topography of the governorate of Sfax tilts regularly from the west to the coast and local presents small hills and mountain ranges in the form of elongated draâs.

View of Sfax

Sfax is characterized by a monotonous, low and slightly uneven relief. The altitude y rarely exceed 250 m, especially in the center-west of the governorate (Draâ Lahirech, 269 m; Djebel Chebka, 255 m). Most of the study site extends over wide plains not exceeding the 150 m above sea level, including a low coastal strip about 15 km wide and having an average altitude of 20 m.[13]

The monotonous character, low and not very rugged of the topography largely determined the characteristics hydrographic in the governorate of Sfax. Indeed, the rivers are numerous, shallow and rarely reaches the sea. The hills and small mountain ranges of the center-west present a hydrographic hairline dense and relatively deep compared to the coastal strip. Like a few exoreic rivers (wadi Agareb, wadi Laâchech, wadi El Maleh), most of the Wadis are endorheic, leading to closed depressions of the sebkhas and garâas type. Depending on their morpho-structural conditions, these closed depressions take the form of basins synclinal (Menzel Chaker and Hancha regions) or the form of sebkhas and garâas (Noual, Bou Jmal, Mchiguigue, Karafita... etc.).[14]

• 
  Sadok Ghermazi
• 
  Abdelmajid Chaker
• 
  Mohamed Chaker

  Ennahdha: 14 seats

  Nidaa Tounes: 7 seats

  Democratic Current: 8 seats

  Front populaire: 2 seats

  Other movement: 9 seats

  Independent movement: 2 seats

The current Mayor of the city is Mounir Elloumi (belonging to Ennahdha), elected is the occasion of 2018 Tunisian local elections[16]

Sfax Governorate

The Governorate of Sfax has 16 municipalities :

The Medina represents one of the most important quarters of Sfax. it plays a touristic and historical role of the city. It was built by Aghlabid prince Abu Abbass Muhammad between 849 and 851. The medina is home to about 113,000 residents and is dominated by the Great Mosque of Sfax.

Walls of the medina

Apart from Borj Ennar and three other towers that disappeared, the walls of the medina kept the same original architecture since 1306.[20] These are 2,750 meters long and have 34 dungeons. Their height varies between seven and eleven meters.[20]

Originally, the medina had only two doors: Bab Jebli, also known as Bab Dhahraoui (northern door), and Bab Diwan or Bab Bahr (the sea door). Yet, in the 20th century and because of the economic development and the huge increase of the population, new doors had to be created to reduce the flow from these two main doors such as Bab El Ksar and Bab Jebli Jedid.[21]

A tour in the Kasbah of Sfax

Like most of the other medinas of Tunisia, Sfax has its own kasbah. It is a desert fortress, located in the southwestern corner of the medina. It was used for different purposes throughout history, first, a control tower built by the Aghlabids on the coast, then the seat of the municipal government, and then the main army barracks. Its construction was preceded by the deployment of the wall and the medina quarter. Today it is served as a museum of traditional architecture.[22]

Also here are the Sidi Amar Kammoun Mausoleum, Sidi Ali Ennouri Mausoleum, Sidi Belhassen Karray Mausoleum, El Ajouzine Mosque, Bouchouaicha Mosque, Driba Mosque and Sidi Elyes Mosque.

The city hall of Sfax is in the center of the modern city and opens on Habib Bourguiba Street in parallel with the main entrance of the historic city. The Municipal Palace draws attention to the magnificence and beauty of its exterior architecture and its interior decorations and masterpieces. This unique landmark was designed by French architect Rafael Guy, who blended the Arab-Moriscan character with the European character The project of the construction of the Palace of the scourge began at the beginning of the twentieth century, where the municipality issued a tender for this purpose in the newspaper Adebash Svaxian on 30 June 1904 and began construction works in late 1905 and ended in 1906 In 1912, he began to expand gradually until around 1943 After the Second World War, the town hall was completed in 1955.[23]

University of Informatique and Multimedia of Sfax

Sfax concentrates the main educational institutions of the south of the Sahel:

The University of Sfax includes:

• ENIS (École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax) issued a number of well-known scientists and industrialists.[25]
• ESCS (École Supérieure de Commerce de Sfax) issued a number of managers, Economy and Management researchers and young entrepreneurs.[26]
• FLSHS (Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sfax) issued a number of renowned poets and prose writers.[27]
• Sfax Faculty of Medicine (Faculté de Médecine de Sfax).[28]
• ISAAS (Institut Supérieur d'Administration des Affaires de Sfax)[29]
• FSEGS (Faculté des Sciences Économiques et de Gestion de Sfax).[30]
• FSS (Faculty of Science Sfax) .[31]
• ISIMS (Institut Supérieur d'Informatique et de Multimédia de Sfax).[32]
• FDS (Faculté de Droit de Sfax)[33]
• ISAMS (Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers de Sfax)
• IHEC (Institut des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Sfax)

The North American Private University[34] was founded in 2012 and brings together 3 institutes:

• The International Institute of Technology (IIT).
• The International School of Architecture (ISA, a department of IIT).
• The International School of Business (ISB).

Municipal Theater of Sfax

The city had a municipal theater between 1903 and 1942, a building built by the architect Raphaël Guy according to a neo-Moorish architecture22, in line with the seat of the municipality and the Ramdanetru palace and being bombarded with the campaign of Tunisia which nevertheless targets the commercial port much further south of the city and during which the Frankish quarter was completely razed.

Maison de France of Sfax

The city of Sfax organizes the International Festival of Sfax, a summer event which welcomes artists from various countries.[35]

The French Institute of Sfax, commonly Maison de France (French House), is a space of meeting, reflection, and creation open to all and also of expression. Whose goal is to support and supervise the activities of the civil city and its artists. It was opened the 16 June 2006.

It has more than 40 000 visitors per year, and more than 50 cultural events. There is also a library that makes more than 20,000 documents available to the public.[36]

Agriculture, especially olive cultivation, despite all these changes occupies an important place in the regional economy. Agricultural land occupies almost the entire area of the region (90%). The city produces on average 40% of the olive oil and 30% of the almonds of Tunisia, which makes it the first national producer. Another component of the Sfaxian economy is the exploitation of petroleum: the Miskar natural gas field covers a total area of 352 km2 and has a capacity of 22.7 billion m³. On there exploit 1.18 million tons per year.

The working population is divided between three sectors: agriculture and fishing (25.3%), services (25.6%), and manufacturing industries (24.4%).

Statistics of the sfaxian economy by sectors and field :[38]

• Cultivable land (S.A.U): 639,000 ha
• Irrigated Areas: 12,300 ha
• Forests and pastures: 118,000 ha

• Coastal fishing: 6,500 Tonnes
• Trawl fishing: 13,000 tonnes
• Tuna fishing: 2,700 tonnes
• Fire fishing: 1,140 tonnes
• Sponge and mussel peach: 417 tonnes

• Oil: 1,2 millions m3
• Gas: 1,7 milliards m3

The A1 motorway connects Sfax with Tunis and also with Gabès that was inaugurated in 2017.[39]

• Motorways :
  • A1 : (Tunis, Gabès, Bouhajla, M'saken)
• Projects :[40]
  • National roads : (Kerkennah, Sidi Bouzid, Tataouine)

A narrow-gauge railway system of SNCFT offers passenger services to Tunis and delivers phosphates and iron ore for export.

Sfax is served by Sfax–Thyna International Airport and Syphax Airlines has regularly scheduled flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, Tripoli International Airport, and charter flights to Jeddah Airport for the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Sfax is twinned with:

• Grenoble, France[46]
• Makhachkala, Russia
• Marburg, Germany[47]
• Dakar, Senegal
• Oran, Algeria
• Safi, Morocco