The Republic of Tunisia, officially known as Tunisia, is the northernmost nation in Africa. Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east form the Maghreb region of North Africa. It includes Kairouan's Great Mosque and the Carthaginian archaeological sites from the 9th century BC. It has a population of 12.1 million people and covers 163,610 km2 (63,170 sq mi). It is famous for its ancient architecture, souks, and blue beaches. It includes the northernmost part of the Sahara desert and the easternmost point of the Atlas Mountains; The remaining majority of its territory is arable land. The African confluence of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin is located along its 1,300 kilometers (810 miles) of coastline. Cape Angela, Africa's northernmost point, is located in Tunisia. Tunis, the nation's capital and largest city, is on its northeastern coast and gives the country its name.

Tunisia was inhabited by indigenous Berbers since ancient times. Carthage became the most powerful Phoenician settlement by the 7th century BC, when Phoenicians first arrived in the 12th century BC. Until its defeat by the Romans in 146 BC, when they occupied Tunisia for the majority of the next 800 years, Carthage was a significant mercantile empire and a military rival of the Roman Republic. The Amphitheatre of El Jem and Christianity were introduced to the world by the Romans. Arab Muslims conquered Tunisia in the seventh century AD. They settled there with their tribes and families, introduced Islam and Arab culture to the locals, and by the seventh century, Arabs had become the majority of the population. After that, in 1546, the Ottoman Empire took over, and it did so for more than 300 years until the French took over Tunisia in 1881. With the assistance of activists like Chedly Kallala, Farhat Hached, and Salah Ben Youssef, Tunisia gained independence in 1956 as the Tunisian Republic under Habib Bourguiba's leadership. Today, Tunisia's culture and identity are based on this centuries-long fusion of various ethnicities and cultures.