Demographics of Tunisia

The majority (99% [1]) of modern Tunisians are Arabized Berber or Arab-Berber,[2] and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small (1 percent at most) minority of indigenous Berbers inhabiting mainly the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Djerba. The Berbers primarily speak Berber languages, often called Shilha or Tashlihit,[3] or have shifted to Tunisian Arabic.

Tunisia's population (1961-2011).

Nearly all Tunisians (99 percent of the population) are Muslim.[4] There is a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba and Tunis. There also exists a small autochthonous group of Christian adherents.[1][5]

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1960 4,220,701    
1970 5,127,000+1.96%
1980 6,384,000+2.22%
1990 8,154,400+2.48%
2000 9,563,500+1.61%
2010 10,547,000+0.98%
2013 10,886,500+1.06%
2014 10,982,754+0.88%

Source: National Institute of Statistics[6] and United Nations Statistics Division[7]

Vital statistics

Average population Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1,000) Crude death rate (per 1,000) Natural change (per 1,000) Fertility rates
1990 25.2 5.6 19.6 3.38
1991 24.9 5.6 19.3 3.31
1992 24.9 5.5 19.5 3.27
1993 8 572 200 24.0 5.7 18.3 3.12
1994 8 785 700 22.7 5.7 17.0 2.90
1995 8 957 500 20.8 5.8 15.0 2.67
1996 9 089 300 19.7 5.5 14.2 2.51
1997 9 214 900 18.9 5.6 13.2 2.38
1998 9 333 300 17.9 5.6 12.3 2.23
1999 9 455 900 16.9 5.7 11.2 2.09
2000 9 552 500 17.1 5.6 11.4 2.08
2001 9 650 600 16.9 5.6 11.4 2.05
2002 9 748 900 163 011 16.7 5.8 10.8 2.00
2003 9 839 800 168 022 17.1 6.1 11.0 2.06
2004 9 932 400 166 551 16.8 6.0 10.8 2.02
2005 10 029 000 170 999 58 673 112 326 17.1 5.9 11.2 2.04
2006 10 127 900 173 390 57 000 116 390 17.1 5.6 11.5 2.03
2007 10 225 100 177 503 56 741 120 762 17.4 5.5 11.8 2.04
2008 10 328 900 182 990 59 975 123 015 17.7 5.8 11.9 2.06
2009 10 439 600 184 282 59 499 124 783 17.7 5.7 12.0 2.05
2010 10 547 100 196 039 60 438 135 601 18.6 5.7 12.9 2.13
2011 10 673 800 201 120 63 258 137 862 18.8 5.9 12.9 2.15
2012 10 777 500 208 006 (e) 67 898 (e) 140 108 (e) 19.3 6.3 13.0 2.20
2013 10 886 500 221 147 20.3
2014 10 982 754

Source: National Institute of Statistics[6]

Genetic

While the vast majority of modern Tunisians identify themselves as Arabs, they are predominantly descended from Berber groups, with some Arab input. Tunisians are also descended, to a lesser extent, from other African, Middle Eastern and European peoples, specifically the Phoenicians/Punics, Romans, Vandals, Greeks, Hispanic, Italians, Turkic, Haratin, and French. In sum, a little less than 20 percent of their genetic material (Y-chromosome analysis) comes from present day Arabian Peninsula, Europe or Sub-Saharan Africa.[8][9][10]

"In fact, the Tunisian genetic distances to European samples are smaller than those to North African groups. (...) This could be explained by the history of the Tunisian population, reflecting the influence of the ancient Punic settlers of Carthage followed, among others, by Roman, Byzantine, Arab and French occupations, according to historical records. Notwithstanding, other explanations cannot be discarded, such as the relative heterogeneity within current Tunisian populations, and/or the limited sub-Saharan genetic influence in this region as compared with other North African areas, without excluding the possibility of the genetic drift, whose effect might be particularly amplified on the X chromosome.",[11][12] This suggests a fairly significant European input to Tunisian genetics compared to other neighbouring populations.

However, later research has suggested instead that Tunisians exhibit a mostly indigenous North African genetic make up similar to other Maghreb populations; characterized by a high amount of native North African genes.[13]

Y-Chromosome

Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Tunisia.[14]

Haplogroup n B E1a E1b1a E1b1b1 E1b1b1a3 E1b1b1a4 E1b1b1b E1b1b1c F G I J1 J2 K P,R R1a1 R1b1a R1b1b T
MarkerM33M2M35V22V65M81M34M89M201V88M269M70
Tunisia6010.170.50.671.6633.1662.731.162.660.170.1716.642.830.330.330.51.830.331.16

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Nationality

noun:Tunisian(s)
adjective:Tunisian

Vital Statistics

Age structure

0–14 years: 22.2% (male 1,213,664/female 1,137,084)
15–64 years: 70.5% (male 3,759,955/female 3,704,677)
65 years and over: 7.3% (male 358,447/female 415,198) (2010 est.)
0-14 years: 23.2% (male 1,274,348/female 1,193,131)
15-64 years: 69.3% (male 3,638,014/female 3,728,294)
65 years and over: 7.5% (male 390,055/female 405,344) (2011 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)
-1.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Urbaniziation

urban population: 67% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.5% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2012 est.)

Infant mortality rate

22.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.24 years
male: 73.2 years
female: 77.42 years (2012 est.)

Ethnic groups

Religions

(see Religion in Tunisia[1])

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74.3%
male: 83.4%
female: 65.3% (2004 est.)

The literacy rate among the Tunisian population increased greatly after its independence from France. According to the 1996 census data,[15] the literacy rate of the last generation of Tunisian men educated under the French rule (those born 1945-49) was less than 65%. For the first generation educated after independence (born 1950-1954), literacy in Arabic among males had increased to nearly 80%. (Sixty-two percent were also literate in French and 15 percent literate in English). Among the youngest generation included in the census (those born 1980-1984), 96.6% were literate in Arabic.

Among Tunisian women, the increase in literacy was even greater. The literacy rate among the last generation of women educated under the French was less than 30%. In the first generation educated after independence, this increased to just over 40%. For the youngest generation of women cited (born 1980-1984), literacy in Arabic had increased to slightly over 90%; over 70% of women were also literate in French.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Tunisia. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Mughal, Muhammad Aurang Zeb. (2012).'Tunisia'. Steven Danver (ed.), Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures, and Contemporary Issues, Vol. 3. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, pp. 688–689.
  3. Ethnologue entry for Tunisia
  4. "CIA – The World Factbook — Tunisia". Retrieved 2007-01-13.
  5. http://france-echos.com/actualite.php?cle=6174
  6. 1 2 National Institute of Statistics - Tunisia
  7. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". United Nations Statistics Division. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  8. http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/AJHG_2004_v74_p1023-1034.pdf
  9. http://www.cell.com/AJHG/retrieve/pii/S0002929707643651
  10. Luis JR, Rowold DJ, Regueiro M; et al. (March 2004). "The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: evidence for bidirectional corridors of human migrations". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 74 (3): 532–44. doi:10.1086/382286. PMC 1182266. PMID 14973781.
  11. The X chromosome Alu insertions as a tool for human population genetics: data from European and African human groups, Athanasiadis et al. 2007
  12. Tomas C, Sanchez JJ, Barbaro A; et al. (2008). "X-chromosome SNP analyses in 11 human Mediterranean populations show a high overall genetic homogeneity except in North-west Africans (Moroccans)". BMC Evol. Biol. 8: 75. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-75. PMC 2315647. PMID 18312628. Tunisians did not show a significant level of differentiation with northern populations as mentioned by others
  13. http://www.academia.edu/4137738/Mitochondrial_DNA_and_Y-chromosome_microstructure_in_Tunisia
  14. Bekada A, Fregel R, Cabrera VM, Larruga JM, Pestano J, et al. (2013) Introducing the Algerian Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Profiles into the North African Landscape. PLoS ONE 8(2): e56775. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056775
  15. As , Walters Keith (2003). "Fergie's prescience: the changing nature of diglossia in Tunisia". International Journal of the Society of Language 163: 85–87.
  16. The children born in the early 1980s had not yet begun English instruction by the time of the 1996 census, so no literacy rate in English is given. However, the children born between 1970-74 (who had completed their education) had a literacy in English of 20%. It's highly likely that the younger generation's literacy in English was even higher at the conclusion of their schooling. Walters 86.
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