Overview
Sandwiched between Algeria to the west and Libya to the east, Tunisia’s Mediterranean Sea coastline is the most northerly point on the continent of Africa. Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia became a French protectorate in the 1880s. The country gained its independence in 1956 and was declared a republic, with a strong presidential form of government and virtually a one-party state.
The so-called Arab Spring, a series of anti-government protests and uprisings that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s, began in Tunisia. Since that time greater democracy has been developing and the Tunisian government became the first in North Africa to enact religious freedom reforms. However, Tunisia was the victim of two highly publicised terrorist attacks in 2015. The first, at a museum, saw 22 people – mainly European tourists – killed by two gunmen. The second, at a popular resort, saw 38 people (30 of them British) killed by a lone gunmen who was thought to have been recruited and radicalised by an Islamist militia group.
What it means to be a Christian in Tunisia
Like other parts of North Africa Tunisia has a long Christian history. The early church fathers Tertullian and Cyprian were both resident in ancient Carthage. Today Islam is the state religion and more than 99% are considered Muslim. Secularism is quite strong, however, and some would say many Muslims are fairly nominal. Churches, although few in number, function openly and it is even possible for converts from Islam to worship in them. It is illegal for people to persecute family members who leave Islam, but this still occurs, particularly in more rural areas.
