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Updates: 

I have made some additions to the change history, using source [14] and others.

Update 7 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS standard 10-4, was issued with the date 2012-02-01. It changes the spellings of Ariana, Kebili, and Sidi Bou Zid to L’Ariana, Kébili, and Sidi Bouzid, respectively.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-3 is dated 2011-12-15. For Tunisia, the only change is that the name of one governorate is changed from L'Ariana to Ariana.

The latest version of the FIPS standard is called "Geopolitical Entities and Codes", published in 2010-04. For no apparent reason, it has changed the code for one district of Tunisia.

FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 9, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2004-10-01. It assigns a code to the new Manouba governorate. It also changes the name of El Kef governorate to Kef (shown as Le Kef in the tables below).

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-5, dated 2003-09-05, gives a code for the new Manouba governorate. Newsletter Number I-6 was published on 2004-03-08. It changes the name of Manouba to "La Manouba".

Country overview: 

Short name	TUNISIA
ISO code	TN
FIPS code	TS
Language	Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+1~
Capital	Tunis

 

Tunisia (more commonly called Tunis, formally the Regency of Tunis, until about 1930) began the 20th century as a French protectorate. It gained full independence on 1956-03-20. Tunisia's desert boundaries were indistinct at first, and there is still a border dispute with Algeria.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: al Jumhuriya at-Tunisiya (formal)
2. Danish: Tunesien
3. Dutch: Tunesië, Republiek Tunesië (formal)
4. English: Republic of Tunisia (formal), Tunis (obsolete)
5. Finnish: Tunisia
6. French: Tunisie f
7. German: Tunesien n
8. Icelandic: Túnis
9. Italian: Tunisia f
10. Norwegian: Tunisia, Republikken Tunisia (formal)
11. Portuguese: Tunísia, República f da Tunísia f (formal)
12. Russian: Тунис, Тунисская Республика (formal)
13. Spanish: Túnez, Tunisia f, República f de Túnez m (formal)
14. Swedish: Tunisien
15. Turkish: Tunus Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

from the capital, Tunis + -ia (suffix for country)

Primary subdivisions: 

Tunisia is divided into 24 wilayat (governorates).

Governorate	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Pc	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Arabic
Ariana	TN.AN	12	TS38	20	422,246	1,558	602	Al Aryānah
Béja	TN.BJ	31	TS17	90	304,501	3,558	1,374	Bājah
Ben Arous	TN.BA	13	TS27	11,20	505,773	761	294	Bin `Arūs
Bizerte	TN.BZ	23	TS18	70	524,128	3,685	1,423	Banzart
Gabès	TN.GB	81	TS29	60	342,630	7,175	2,770	Qābis
Gafsa	TN.GF	71	TS30	21	323,709	8,990	3,471	Qafṣah
Jendouba	TN.JE	32	TS06	81	416,608	3,102	1,198	Jundūbah
Kairouan	TN.KR	41	TS03	31	546,209	6,712	2,592	Al Qayrawān
Kassérine	TN.KS	42	TS02	12	412,278	8,066	3,114	Al Qaṣrayn
Kebili	TN.KB	73	TS31	42	143,218	22,084	8,527	Qibilī
Le Kef	TN.KF	33	TS14	71	258,790	4,965	1,917	Al Kāf
Mahdia	TN.MH	53	TS15	51	377,853	2,966	1,145	Al Mahdīyah
Manouba	TN.MN	14	TS39	11,20	335,912			Manubah
Médenine	TN.ME	82	TS28	41	432,503	8,588	3,316	Madanīyīn
Monastir	TN.MS	52	TS16	50	455,590	1,019	393	Al Munastīr
Nabeul	TN.NB	21	TS19	80	693,890	2,788	1,076	Nābul
Sfax	TN.SF	61	TS32	30	855,256	7,545	2,913	Safāqis
Sidi Bou Zid	TN.SZ	43	TS33	91	395,506	6,994	2,700	Sīdī Bū Zayd
Siliana	TN.SL	34	TS22	61	233,985	4,631	1,788	Silyānah
Sousse	TN.SS	51	TS23	40	544,413	2,621	1,012	Sūsah
Tataouine	TN.TA	83	TS34	32	143,524	38,889	15,015	Taţāwīn
Tozeur	TN.TO	72	TS35	22	97,526	4,719	1,822	Tawzar
Tunis	TN.TU	11	TS36	10,20	983,861	346	134	Tūnis
Zaghouan	TN.ZA	22	TS37	11	160,963	2,768	1,069	Zaghwān
24 governorates					9,910,872	154,530	59,665
Governorate: French name, commonly also used in English. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "TN-" to the code (ex: TN-61 represents Sfax). FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Pc: First two digits of postal codes used in the governorate. Population: 2004-04-28 census. Area: Area of Manouba is included in Ariana. Arabic: Most common transliteration of Arabic governorate name into the Roman alphabet. Capital: All governorates have the same name as their capitals.

Postal codes: 

Tunisia uses four-digit postal codes in which the first two digits indicate the governorate.

Further subdivisions:

See the Delegations of Tunisia page.

The provinces are divided into mutamadiyat (delegations, districts). The census reports show a tertiary division, the imada (sector).

Territorial extent: 

1. Bizerte includes the islands of La Galite.
2. Médenine includes the island of Djerba.
3. Nabeul includes the island of Zembra.
4. Sfax includes the Kerkennah Islands. The two main islands are Chergui and Gharbi, and nearby are the small and uninhabited Rhermedi, Roumedia, and Sefnou.

The UN LOCODE page  for Tunisia lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Bizerte: originally Hippo Diarrhytos (Phoenician hippo: fort, Greek diarrhytos: split in two), rendered in Arabic as Hippo Zarytos, later Banzart.
2. Le Kef: Arabic kef: rock
3. Mahdia: named after Caliph Obaid Allah el Mahdi (early 10th cent.)
4. Monastir: from Greek monasterion: monastery
5. Nabeul: from Greek nea: new, polis: city
6. Tunis: possibly from Tanit, Phoenician moon goddess

Change history: 

1. At the end of Tunisia's time as a protectorate of France, it consisted of 38 caidates (French: caïdats. A caidate is the jurisdiction of a caïd, or magistrate). They were:

Caidate	Pop-46	Pop-56	Civil roll
Ain Draham	47,920	55,220	Tabanka
Beja	101,909	110,708	Béja
Bizerte	148,442	164,791	Bizerte
Djebeniana	53,601	55,242	Sfax
Djemmal	33,380	43,106	Sousse
Djerba	59,331	63,219	Djerba
Gabès	92,261	102,475	Gabès
Gafsa	75,617	105,525	Gafsa
Kairouan	113,503	126,097	Kairouan
La Skhira	41,153	51,825	Sfax
Le Kef	101,093	112,490	Le Kef
Mahdia	77,709	99,956	Mahdia
Maktar	39,854	40,492	Maktar
Mateur	89,842	93,753	Bizerte
Matmata	21,663	25,396	Territoires du Sud
Medjiz-el-Bab	63,740	73,473	Medjez el Bab
Monastir	62,226	74,755	Sousse
Nabeul	144,102	161,647	Grombalia
Nefzaoua	40,690	48,013	Territoires du Sud
Ouerghemma	99,735	109,588	Territoires du Sud
Sbeitla	86,469	113,016	Kasserine
Sfax	190,805	231,201	Sfax
Sidi-Bou-Zid	74,594	101,560	Gafsa
Siliana	37,348	39,902	Maktar
Soliman	67,332	78,706	Grombalia
Souassi	32,115	49,907	Sousse
Souk-el-Arba	76,107	94,755	Souk el Arba
Souk-el-Khemis	37,997	46,047	Souk el Arba
Sousse	122,468	158,440	Sousse
Tadjerouine	62,524	72,020	Le Kef
Tataouine	48,607	63,413	Territoires du Sud
Teboursouk	59,157	64,344	Teboursouk
Thala	36,566	51,379	Kasserine
Tozeur	44,970	52,181	Tozeur
Tunis	239,173	268,484	Tunis
Tunis (City)	364,593	410,000	Tunis
Zaghouan	74,732	90,412	Zaghouan
Zlass	67,624	78,942	Kairouan
38 caidates	3,230,952	3,782,480
Pop-46: 1946-11-01 census. Pop-56: 1956-02-01 census (preliminary). Source: [1]. Civil roll: See note.

 

Note: Source [11] shows results of the 1946 census, broken down by "contrôles civils", which can be translated in various ways. The source doesn't give a translation. One possibility that I think fits is "civil rolls". By matching population totals, I was able to identify each caidate with the civil roll that includes it. There is one discrepancy: source [11] takes 13,968 people away from the Zaghouan civil roll and gives them to Sousse.

1. 1956-03-20: Tunisia gained full independence.
2. 1956-06-21: Tunisia reorganized from caidates into 14 wilayats (governorates) by decree.

Governorate	Population	Area(km.²)
Béja	244,610	5,260
Bizerte	232,720	3,510
Gabès	181,130	64,050
Gafsa	252,070	18,530
Kairouan	212,970	7,030
Le Kef	259,800	8,060
Médenine	244,630	22,220
Nabeul	241,790	2,890
Sbeïtla	167,050	9,040
Sfax	341,140	8,870
Souk el Arba	199,270	3,050
Sousse	453,910	6,080
Tozeur
Tunis and Suburbs	570,710	5,560
14 governorates	3,943,273	164,150
Population: 1956-02-01 census (source [2]). Capitals: have same names as governorates, except that Tunis is the capital of Tunis and suburbs.

1. 1957-09-25: Name of Nabeul governorate changed to Cap Bon, and its capital moved to Grombalia, under Law 57-31.
2. 1959-07-21: Name of Sbeïtla governorate changed to Kasserine, and its capital moved to Kasserine. Tozeur governorate split into two parts, which merged with Gabès and Gafsa governorates. These actions were taken under Law 59-79.
3. 1964-09-17: Name of Cap Bon governorate changed to Nabeul, and its capital moved to Nabeul, by decree 64-294, reversing the 1957 change.
4. 1966-05-31: Name of Souk el Arba governorate, and its capital, changed to Jendouba, by decree 66-223.
5. 1968-05-27: Name of Tunis and Suburbs governorate changed to Tunis, by decree 68-142.
6. 1972-02-15: Tunis South governorate created from parts of Béja (former FIPS code TS04), Bizerte (TS05), Nabeul (TS08), and Tunis and Suburbs (TS13). Part of Nabeul governorate transferred to Sousse (former TS12). These actions were taken under Law 72-1.
7. 1973-12-08: Sidi Bou Zid governorate created from parts of Gafsa, Kasserine, and Sfax (former TS11), under Law 73-75.
8. 1974-03-09: Mahdia governorate created from parts of Sfax and Sousse; Monastir governorate split from Sousse, under Law 74-8.
9. 1974-06-05: Siliana governorate created from parts of Béja and Le Kef (former FIPS code TS01), under Law 74-47. The divisions at the time of the 1975 census were as follows:

Governorate	FIPS	Population
Béja	TS17	243,961
Bizerte	TS18	346,445
Gabès	TS09	253,293
Gafsa	TS10	237,534
Jendouba	TS06	288,989
Kairouan	TS03	332,094
Kasserine	TS02	235,913
Le Kef	TS14	227,259
Mahdia	TS15	213,924
Médenine	TS07	290,046
Monastir	TS16	224,236
Nabeul	TS19	371,706
Sfax	TS20	472,726
Sidi Bouzid	TS21	213,115
Siliana	TS22	184,848
Sousse	TS23	263,595
Tunis	TS24	970,438
Tunis Sud	TS25	202,071
18 governorates		5,572,193
FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1975-05-08 census (source [14]).

1. 1976-08-11: Tunis and Tunis South reorganized into Zaghouan (mostly from Tunis South) and Tunis, under Law 76-82.
2. 1980-05-28: Tozeur governorate split from Gafsa, under Law 80-35.
3. 1981-03-01: Tataouine governorate split from Médenine, under Law 81-11.
4. 1981-09-24: Kébili governorate split from Gabès, under Law 81-18.
5. 1983-12-03: Ariana and Ben Arous governorates split from Tunis, under Law 83-104.
6. 2000-07-31: Manouba governorate split from Ariana (former HASC code TN.AN, FIPS code TS26), under Law 2000-78.
7. 2010-04: FIPS code of Gafsa changed from TS10 to TS30.

Other names of subdivisions: 

There are numerous methods for transliterating from Arabic to the Roman alphabet. The names here labeled Arabic are not the only possible versions.

1. Ariana: Al Ariānah, L'Ariana, Tunis Ariana (variant); Al Aryānah (Arabic)
2. Béja: Bājah (Arabic); Béjah (variant)
3. Ben Arous: Bin `Arūs (Arabic); Tunis Ben Arous (variant)
4. Bizerte: Banzart (Arabic); Bensert, Binzart (variant); Biserta (German, Italian); Bizerta (Portuguese, Spanish)
5. Gabès: Gābis (variant); Qābis (Arabic)
6. Gafsa: Gafṣah (variant); Qafṣah (Arabic)
7. Jendouba: Jendoûbah, Jenduba, Jondouba (variant); Jundūbah (Arabic); Souk-El-Arba (obsolete)
8. Kairouan: Al Qayrawān (Arabic); Al Qīrwān, Qairouân (variant); Kairuã (Portuguese)
9. Kassérine: Al Gaṣrīn, Al Qasrin, Kasserim (variant); Al Qaṣrayn (Arabic); Sbeitla (obsolete)
10. Kebili: Kebilli, Qbili (variant); Qibilī (Arabic)
11. Le Kef: Al Kāf (Arabic); El Kef, Kaf, Kef (variant)
12. Mahdia: Al Madīyah, Al Mahdiyya, Mahdiâh (variant); Al Mahdīyah (Arabic)
13. Manouba: La Manouba, Mannouba (variant)
14. Médenine: Madanīn, Medenin (variant); Madanīyīn (Arabic)
15. Monastir: Al Munastīr (Arabic)
16. Nabeul: Cap Bon (obsolete); Nabil, Nābol (variant); Nābul (Arabic)
17. Sfax: Ṣafāqis (Arabic); Ṣfāqis (variant)
18. Sidi Bou Zid: Qamudah, Sidi Boû Sa`îd, Sidi Buzid, Sidi Bū Sa`īd (variant); Sīdī Bū Zayd (Arabic)
19. Siliana: Siliānah (variant); Silyānah (Arabic)
20. Sousse: Sousa, Sussa, Susse (variant); Susa (Italian, Spanish); Sūsah (Arabic)
21. Tataouine: Foum Tataouine, Tatahouine, Tatuine (variant); Taţāwīn (Arabic)
22. Tozeur: Tawzar (Arabic); Touzar, Tūzar (variant)
23. Tunis: Tounis, Tunis City, Tūnus (variant); Túnez (Spanish); Túnis (Portuguese); Tunisi (Italian); Tūnis (Arabic)
24. Tunis and Suburbs: Tunis-et-Banlieue (French); Tunis wa al Ahwaz (Arabic)
25. Zaghouan: Tunis al Janubiyah, Tunis South (obsolete); Zachouan, Zaguan (variant); Zaghwān (Arabic)

Population history:

Governorate	1975-05-08	1984-04-30	1994-04-20	2004-04-28
Ariana		374,192	566,247	422,246
Béja	243,961	274,706	301,898	304,501
Ben Arous		246,193	369,552	505,773
Bizerte	346,445	394,670	475,053	524,128
Gabès	253,293	240,016	310,643	342,630
Gafsa	237,534	235,723	304,665	323,709
Jendouba	288,989	359,429	402,487	416,608
Kairouan	332,094	421,607	528,899	546,209
Kassérine	235,913	297,959	385,450	412,278
Kebili		95,371	131,661	143,218
Le Kef	227,259	247,672	270,996	258,790
Mahdia	213,924	270,435	334,208	377,853
Manouba				335,912
Médenine	290,046	295,889	382,699	432,503
Monastir	224,236	278,478	363,126	455,590
Nabeul	371,706	461,405	577,813	693,890
Sfax	472,726	577,992	732,471	855,256
Sidi Bou Zid	213,115	288,528	374,825	395,506
Siliana	184,848	222,038	243,536	233,985
Sousse	263,595	322,491	432,312	544,413
Tataouine		100,329	133,676	143,524
Tozeur		67,943	89,088	97,526
Tunis	970,438	774,364	881,560	983,861
Zaghouan	202,071	118,743	143,010	160,963
Totals	5,572,193	6,966,173	8,785,364	9,910,872

 

Sources: 1975 - [14]; 1984 - [5]; 1994 - [7]; 2004 - [10]. However, the total for 1994 is taken from [8].

Sources [6] and [14] provide populations that differ by as much as 8.1%. Source [6] had a list of governorates that included some that were created after the census date; it also was rounded to the nearest hundred. Therefore, I report the data from source [14]. Population of Tunis South listed under Zaghouan.

Source [3] had 1994 and 2004 census data, rounded to the nearest thousand. Its 1994 figures differ from [7] by no more than 1.85% in each governorate. The 1994 total in [3] and the one in [8] are the same, within rounding error. Unfortunately, the total of the populations given in [7] is 8,735,875, off by almost 50,000. If we could assume that [7] had transposed the second and fourth digits in the population of Gabès, and that it was actually 360,143, that would make the total for Tunisia come out with an error of only 11. However, if that were the case, [3] and [7] would be in excessive disagreement over Gabès.

Sources: 

1. [1] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1957 edition.
2. [2] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1964 edition.
3. [3] La Tunisie à Travers les Recensements Généraux de la Population et de l'Habitat. Institut National de la Statistique. Retrieved from http://www.tn.undp.org/RECENSEMENT.PDF (dead link) on 2005-04-30.
4. [4] Steinberg, S.H., ed. The Statesman's Year-Book 1959. Macmillan & Co., London, 1959.
5. [5] Hunter, Brian, ed. The Statesman's Year-Book 1993-94. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1993.
6. [6] Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th Edition, Chicago, 1984.
7. [7] "Ershiyi (21) Shiji Shijie Diming Lu", Beijing, 2001.
8. [8] Summary Population Report, retrieved from http://www.tunisieinfo.com/indicateurs/recensement2004-fr.pdf (dead link) on 2005-04-30.
9. [9] Tunisian Industry Portal  (retrieved 2008-01-23). French version gives creation dates of governorates.
10. [10] Tunisian National Statistics Institute  (retrieved 2007-10-05)
11. [11] Demographic Yearbook , 7th Ed. Statistical Office of the United Nations, New York, 1955 (retrieved 2011-08-20).
12. [12] Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. Vol. II. New York: United Nations, 1991.
13. [13] Official Printing Office of the Republic of Tunisia  website, accessed 2011-11-10. Sorin Cosoveanu scoured this website to find the laws relating to the administrative division of Tunisia from 1956 on. The change history, above, reflects his findings.
14. [14] 1979 Demographic Yearbook , 31st Ed. Statistical Office, United Nations, New York, 1980 (retrieved 2011-12-28).