Tunisia: timeline and key events
9th century BC
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Politics
Founding of Carthage
According to tradition, Phoenician settlers from Tyre, led by Princess Elissa (Dido), founded Carthage. The city became the capital of a maritime power that dominated the western Mediterranean.
3rd century BC
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War
Hannibal crosses the Alps
At the start of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army and elephants across the Pyrenees and the Alps to attack Rome in Italy. Despite his victories, including Cannae in 216 BC, he was defeated at Zama in 202 BC.
2nd century BC
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War
Destruction of Carthage
At the end of the Third Punic War, Scipio Aemilianus captured and destroyed Carthage after a three-year siege. The territory became the Roman province of Africa; later refounded by the Romans, Carthage once again became one of the great cities of the Empire.
5th century
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War
The Vandals take Carthage
King Genseric seized Carthage and made it the capital of the Vandal kingdom, from which his fleet set out to sack Rome in 455. The Byzantines under Belisarius retook the region in 533-534.
7th century
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Religion
Founding of Kairouan
The Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi founded Kairouan as a base for the conquest of the Maghreb. Its Great Mosque made the city one of the leading centres of Islam in North Africa.
10th century
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Politics
Proclamation of the Fatimid Caliphate
Backed by the Kutama Berbers, Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi proclaimed himself caliph at Raqqada, near Kairouan, founding the Shia Fatimid dynasty. After conquering Egypt, the Fatimids made Cairo their capital in 973.
13th century
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Politics
The Hafsids rule from Tunis
The governor Abu Zakariya broke away from the Almohads and founded the Hafsid dynasty, which made Tunis its capital for more than three centuries. The historian Ibn Khaldun was born there in 1332.
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War
Death of Saint Louis before Tunis
During the Eighth Crusade, King Louis IX of France landed at Carthage to besiege Tunis. He died of disease in his camp on 25 August, and the expedition was abandoned.
16th century
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Politics
Ottoman conquest of Tunis
After decades of struggle between Spain and the Ottoman Empire for control of Tunis, Sinan Pasha's army took the city and La Goulette from the Spanish. Tunisia became an Ottoman province, governed by deys and then by largely autonomous beys.
19th century
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Society
Abolition of slavery
Ahmad Bey decreed the abolition of slavery throughout the Regency of Tunis, two years before France. Tunisia was the first country in the Arab and Muslim world to take such a step.
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Politics
Treaty of Bardo: the French protectorate
Citing tribal raids into Algeria, France invaded Tunisia and forced Sadok Bey to sign the Treaty of Bardo. The protectorate, reinforced by the La Marsa Convention in 1883, lasted until 1956.
20th century
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Politics
Founding of the Neo Destour
At the Ksar Hellal congress, Habib Bourguiba and young activists broke with the old Destour party and founded the Neo Destour. The party became the spearhead of the struggle for independence.
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War
End of the Tunisian campaign
After six months of fighting, including the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February, the Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered on 13 May; some 250,000 German and Italian soldiers were taken prisoner. The Allied victory paved the way for the landings in Sicily.
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Politics
Independence of Tunisia
Following the internal autonomy granted in 1955, France recognised Tunisia's independence on 20 March. Habib Bourguiba became prime minister under Lamine Bey.
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Society
Code of Personal Status
Promulgated on 13 August, the Code of Personal Status abolished polygamy, replaced repudiation with judicial divorce and set a minimum age for marriage. It made Tunisia a pioneer of women's rights in the Arab world.
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Politics
Proclamation of the Republic
The Constituent Assembly abolished the beylical monarchy and proclaimed the Republic, with Habib Bourguiba as its first president. He modernised the country, notably through education, but ruled under a one-party system and was proclaimed president for life in 1975.
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Politics
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali removes Bourguiba
Prime Minister Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali had the 84-year-old President Bourguiba declared medically unfit to govern and took his place. His rule of more than 23 years combined economic growth with tight police control of society.
21st century
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Politics
Tunisian Revolution
After the young street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid on 17 December 2010, a popular uprising forced Ben Ali to flee the country on 14 January. The Tunisian Revolution set off the Arab Spring.
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Politics
New constitution and Nobel Peace Prize
On 26 January, the Constituent Assembly adopted a constitution hailed for its democratic character, the product of a compromise between the Islamists of Ennahda and secular parties. In 2015, the National Dialogue Quartet, which had helped broker this compromise, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Politics
Kais Saied concentrates power
President Kais Saied suspended parliament and dismissed the government, a move welcomed by part of the population and denounced by his opponents as a coup. A new constitution, adopted by referendum in 2022 on a low turnout, strengthened presidential power.
