The majority (98% [1]) of modern Tunisians are Arab-Berber[2] or Arabized Berber, and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small (1 percent at most[1]) population of Berbers located in the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Jerba. The Berbers primarily speak Berber languages, often called Shelha,[3] or have shifted to Tunisian Arabic.
Nearly all Tunisians (98 percent of the population) are Muslim.[4] There is a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba and Tunis. There is also a small indigenous Christian population.[5]
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According to one genetic study while the vast majority of modern Tunisians identify themselves as Arabs, they are mainly the descendants of Berber groups, the first peoples known to inhabit what is now Tunisia. Tunisians are also descended, to a lesser extent, from other African, Middle Eastern and European peoples, specifically the Phoenicians/Punic, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, French and Blacks with a little less than 20 percent of their genetic material (Y-chromosome analysis) coming from present day Arabian Peninsula, Europe or Sub-Saharan Africa.[6][7][8] "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.",The X chromosome Alu insertions as a tool for human population genetics: data from European and African human groups, Athanasiadis et al. 2007</ref>[9] This suggests a fairly significant European input to Tunisian genetics compared to other neighbouring populations.
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
10,383,577 (July 2008 est.)
10,589,025 (July 2010 est.)
0–14 years: 23.2% (male 1,246,105/female 1,167,379)
15–64 years: 69.7% (male 3,638,062/female 3,595,254)
65 years and over: 7.1% (male 345,590/female 391,187) (2008 est.)
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.)
0.98% (2010 est.)
15.42 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
5.2 deaths/1,000 population (2010 est.)
-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
22.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)
total population: 75.78 years
male: 73.98 years
female: 77.7 years (2010 est.)
2.03 children born/woman (2011 est.)
noun: Tunisian(s)
adjective: Tunisian
Arab-Berber 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%[4]
(see Religion in Tunisia) Muslim 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish and other 1%[4]
Tunisian Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic is official); French (especially in commerce); several Berber languages are also spoken: Shelha, Ghadamès, Nafusi, Sened (may be extinct) and Djerbi; according to the 1998 Ethnologue report, about 26,000 Berbers in Djerba and Matmata speak Djerbi
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,[10] 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.[11]
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