Ras Jebel, also known as Ras el-Djebel, is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

, commune, and archaeological site on Cap Sidi in the Bizerte Governorate of

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. The name of the city refers to the summit or end of the mountain, thus evoking the end of the Atlas Mountains.

Geography

Ras Jebel is set on a hill on Cap Sidi overlooking the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. It has an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of .

History

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

the town, founded in the 3rd or 4th century, was a

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () o ...

of the

Roman Province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and was the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of an ancient

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, which survives today as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It appears on the Peutinger Map. There is a set of ruins of the Roman era

of El Rhettas, 7 km to the west. Towards the second half of the 14th century, the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns expelled from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

would have settled on the site after having benefited from agricultural concessions. The inhabitants of the town carry Ghwalbia's gentile in reference to the Arab tribe of Banou Ghalib from the Spanish region of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...

, whence the majority of the first wave of refugee Moriscos that settled in Ras Jebel originated. A road linking the port of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

to the region of Ras Jebel is called ''"Qalat el-Andalus"'' ( Citadel of the Andalusians).

Demography

In 1956 the population of the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

was 10 thousand and in 1975 was 15 thousand people. As of 2004 the commune had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

of 25,553.Recensement de 2004 au niveau municipal (Institut national de la statistique)

Economy

Historically, the region around Ras Jebel has been predominantly

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

Irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

from the Medjerda has led to benefits in yields. Ras Jebel is one of the

s with

n traditions where intensive farming dates back to the distant past. Agriculture has become progressively market-oriented and uses increasingly intensive techniques (market gardening and fruit-growing irrigation as well as intensive livestock farming). 75 % of Ras Jebel farms have an area of less than five

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s.Majid Mathlouthi, Fethi Lebd
2007, Gestion en commun des infrastructures d'un périmètre d'irrigation au nord de la Tunisie
at planbleu.org. Over the last decades, a

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not t ...

industry has been established in the outskirts of the city. The first plants to be established are those of Lee Cooper. This industry employs a large number of young workers from Ras Jebel and neighboring villages. Several brands have already produced jeans in Ras Jebel such as Pepe Jeans, Joseph, Le temps des cerises.

Gallery

RasJebelPlain.JPG , Plain Municipalité.jpg, Siège de la municipalité SiegeDelegationRasJebel.JPG, Siège de la délégation MaisonCultureHassenBelkhodjaRasJebel.JPG, Maison de la culture Hassen-Belkhodja MarketEntranceRasElJebel.JPG, Entrée du marché

References