Tunisia has a number of international airports to service its sizable tourist trade.

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

is the center of the transport system as the largest city having the largest port and a light transit system.

Railways

Tunisia inherited much of its rail transport system from the French. The Tunisian Government has developed infrastructure further. The railways are operated by the Société Nationale de Chemins de Fer Tunisiens (SNCFT), the Tunisian national railway. A modernisation program is currently underway. It has a total of 2,152 km consisting of 468 km of railways and 1,674 kilometres of . Tunis has a light rail system. In the south of Tunisia, there is a narrow gauge railway called the Sfax-Gafsa Railway which delivers phosphates and iron ore to the harbour at

Sfax Sfax ( ; , ) is a major port city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a ...

. Tunisia has rail links with the neighbouring country of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

via the Ghardimaou-

Souk Ahras Souk Ahras () is a municipality in Algeria. It is the capital of Souk Ahras Province. The Numidian city of Thagaste (or Tagaste), on whose ruins Souk Ahras was built, was the birthplace of Augustine of Hippo and a center of Berber culture. Etym ...

line, and another connection to

Tébessa Tébessa or Tebessa ( ''Tibissa'', ''Tbessa'' or ''Tibesti''), the classical Theveste, is the capital city of Tébessa Province in northeastern Algeria, near the border with Tunisia. It hosts several historical landmarks, the most important o ...

, however, the latter link is currently not used. There are no railways yet in neighbouring

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

though some are under construction in 2008; some gauge conversion would be required for efficient connections.

Railway links to adjacent countries

– railways under construction *

– yes – same gauge – * TGM * Lézard rouge, a tourist train *

Métro léger de Tunis The Tunis Light Metro (, meaning Tunis light rail, , ''el-metrū el-khfīf li-mdīnat tūnis'') is the light rail network serving the Tunis metropolitan area. It began operation in 1985. Tunis's light rail system has its track at a surface lev ...

* Réseau Ferroviaire Rapide

Highways

As of 2004, there were 18,997 km of highway including 12,310 of paved road and 6,387 of unpaved road. The major cities are all linked by road through the interior. In 2002, Tunisia borrowed €300 million from the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

in 2002 to be used to improve roads in the country including €120 million towards building a motorway between Tunis and Sfax. (MEED Middle East Economic Digest, 15 Feb 2002 v46 i7(1))

Motorways

* A1 motorway * A2 motorway (Under Construction) from Tunis to Jilma 186 km First phase, then Jilma to

Gafsa Gafsa (; ; ') is the capital of Gafsa Governorate in Tunisia. With a population of 120,739, Gafsa is the ninth-largest Tunisian city and is 335 km from the country's capital, Tunis. Overview Gafsa is the capital of Gafsa Governorate, in ...

200 km in final phase. * A3 motorway * A4 motorway

International highways

Route 1 in the Trans-African Highway network passes through Tunisia, linking it to North African nations including Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Egypt, and to

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

nations via

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

. In addition a feeder road links Tunisia to the Trans-Sahara Highway from Algeria to West Africa.

Pipelines

Tunisia has an extensive pipeline network including 3,059 km of gas pipelines, 1,203 kilometres of oil pipeline and 345 km of refined products. Petrochemicals are Tunisia's third most important export despite the small size of its oil and gas fields as compared to Libya and Algeria. It also gets a royalty rate of 5 per cent on the Algerian gas that runs through Tunis to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

through the Trans-Mediterranean gas pipeline. (IPR Strategic Business Information Database, 18 Dec 2003) Libya's

National Oil Corporation The National Oil Corporation (NOC; ) is the national oil company of Libya. It dominates Libya's oil industry, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, which combined account for the vast majority of the country's oil output. It is led by Fa ...

formed a joint venture with Societe Tunisienne de l'Electricite et du Gaz to construct a national gas pipeline between the two countries. (Petroleum Economist, Dec 2003 v70 i12 p43(1))

Ports and harbours

Tunis is the most significant port in Tunisia with other significant ports on 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

including

Bizerte Bizerte (, ) is the capital and largest city of Bizerte Governorate in northern Tunisia. It is the List of northernmost items, northernmost city in Africa, located north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under Fr ...

Gabès Gabès (, ; ), also spelled Cabès, Cabes, and Kabes, is the capital of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès, the city has a population of 167,863, making it the 6th largest city in Tunisia. Located 327 ...

La Goulette La Goulette (, ), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( '), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia. La Goulette is located at around on a sandbar between Lake of Tunis, Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis. The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is th ...

, Sfax,

Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which ...

and Zarzis. Tunisia's merchant marine consisted of 14 ships as at 2002.

Aviation

As of 2002, Tunisia had 30 airports including several international airports. The most important one is the Tunis-Carthage International Airport but other significant airports serve

, Djerba-Zarzis, Enfidha, Monastir, Tozeur and

Tabarka Tabarka ( ') is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, close to the Algeria–Tunisia border, border with Algeria. Tabarka was occupied at various times by Punic people, Punics, Greeks, Roman people, Romans, Arabs, Genoa, Genoese and O ...

Tunisair Tunisair () is the national airline of Tunisia. Formed in 1948, it operates scheduled international services to four continents. Its main base is Tunis–Carthage International Airport. The airline's head office is in Tunis, near Tunis Airport. ...

is the national airline.

References

CIA World Factbook 2006 Transportation in Tunisia
*"Tunisia" ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'' page 16 accessed 18 March 2006 *"North Africa" ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'' page 20 accessed 18 March 2006

Tunisia360 SNCFT-Thread
* // {{Motorways in Africa