Carthaginian and Aghlabid eras

Present-day Sfax was founded in AD 849 on the site of the Berber town of Taparura. The modern city has also grown to cover some other ancient settlements, most notably Thenae in its southern suburb of Thyna.

Almohad era

By the end of the 10th century, Sfax had become an independent city-state. The city was conquered by Roger II of Sicily in 1148 and occupied until it was liberated in 1156 by the Almohads, and was briefly occupied by European forces again, this time by the Spanish, in the 16th century, before falling into Ottoman hands. Sfax became an integral base of the Barbary piracy, prompting an unsuccessful invasion by Venice in 1785.

Hafsid era

Abou Yahya Abou Bekr finally re-established Hafsid unity and recaptured Kerkennah from the Christians in 1335. The peace returned to the country was only disturbed by rare episodes, the most lasting of which began with the price of Sfax by the dissident brothers, Ahmed and Abdelmalèk ben Makki.^{[citation needed]}

Towards 1370, following the arrival of Caliph Abdul-Abbas, Sfax returned under the Hafsid era.^{[citation needed]}

After more than three centuries which had seen the preponderance of the Hafsids be maintained, the conflict between the Turks and the Spaniards would precipitate the fall of their dynasty. In 1534, the privateer Barberousse enters Tunis, proclaims the decline of the Hafsids and effortlessly reunites the towns of the coast and among them the town of Sfax.^[3]

Husseinid era

The founder of the new dynasty, Hussein, gave the country unquestionable economic prosperity. In Sfax, the mosque is enlarged, which regains its original extent; the new mihrâb is dated 1758, the work was completed in 1783.^{[citation needed]}

The ramparts were restored and two large reservoirs were built to supplement the Nasriah cisterns. In 1776, the southern suburb of the city, the Frankish quarter, was built, reserved for Jews and Christians, a major place of maritime trade, but which was also to serve as a buffer against sea attacks, which were still to be feared. The eventuality was not long in coming, the Venetians bombarding Sfax four times in the space of two years (1785–86). A large fort was built during the siege to flank Borj Ennar; it was demolished after the last war.^{[citation needed]}

Around 1830, the Frankish quarter was surrounded by a wall and in 1860 the city had a post office and telegraph. In 1876, the telegraph clerk made a plan of the city and told us about a signal tower built a century earlier and of which we have lost track.^[3]

French era

When the Bey of Tunis signed the Bardo Treaty, in 1881, making Tunisia a protectorate, an insurrection broke out in Sfax. Six ironclads were dispatched from Toulon (Colbert, Friedland, Marengo, Trident, Revanche, Surveillante) to join the French Navy ships in Tunisian waters. In Sfax, three ironclads from the Division of the Levant were already present (Alma, Reine Blanche, La Galissonnière), together with four cannon boats.^[4] Sfax was bombarded, and on 16 July the city was taken by the French after hard fighting, with seven dead and 32 wounded for the French.^[5]

World War II

During World War II, the Axis powers used the city as a major base until British forces took it on 10 April 1943. After World War II, Tunisia was returned to France, but gained independence in 1956.

• historical images
• The French ironclad Colbert which bombarded Sfax (1881)
• Bab Diwan (1890)
• Colonel Bougrain and Léon Beaufils in Sfax (1934)
• British Army in Tunisia (1943)
• Les Salines of Sfax (1910)
• German prisoners (1946)
• Bab Diwan and Old view of Sfax (1954)
• Street in Sfax after an Allied bombing raid in June 1943
• Train yard in Sfax after an Allied bombing raid in June 1943
• Warehouses near the port of Sfax after an Allied bombing raid in June 1943

Climate

Sfax has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). Owing to its sheltered location relative to Mediterranean Sea winter storms, Sfax receives half the rainfall of Tunis and less even than the major cities of Libya (Tripoli and Benghazi). Summers, like all of North Africa, are hot and almost rainless, whilst winters are very pleasant with usually only light rain.

Topography

The topography of the governorate of Sfax tilts regularly from the west to the coast and local presents small hills and mountain ranges in the form of elongated draâs.

Mayor and municipality

• Sadok Ghermazi
• Abdelmajid Chaker
• Mohamed Chaker

The current Mayor of the city is Mounir Elloumi (belonging to Ennahdha), elected in the 2018 Tunisian local elections^[17]

Administrative division

The Governorate of Sfax has 16 municipalities :

Medina

The Medina represents one of the most important quarters of Sfax. it plays a touristic and historical role of the city. It was built by Aghlabid prince Abu Abbass Muhammad between 849 and 851. The medina is home to about 113,000 residents and is dominated by the Great Mosque of Sfax.

City hall

The city hall of Sfax is in the center of the modern city and opens on Habib Bourguiba Street in parallel with the main entrance of the historic city. The Municipal Palace draws attention to the magnificence and beauty of its exterior architecture and its interior decorations and masterpieces. This unique landmark was designed by French architect Rafael Guy, who blended the Arab-Moriscan character with the European character The project of the construction of the Palace of the scourge began at the beginning of the twentieth century, where the municipality issued a tender for this purpose in the newspaper Adebash Svaxian on 30 June 1904 and began construction works in late 1905 and ended in 1906 In 1912, he began to expand gradually until around 1943 After the Second World War, the town hall was completed in 1955.^[24]

Cityscape

Education

Sfax concentrates the main educational institutions of the south of the Sahel:

The University of Sfax includes:

• ENIS (École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax) issued a number of well-known scientists and industrialists.^[26]
• ESCS (École Supérieure de Commerce de Sfax) issued a number of managers, Economy and Management researchers and young entrepreneurs.^[27]
• FLSHS (Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sfax) issued a number of renowned poets and prose writers.^[28]
• Sfax Faculty of Medicine (Faculté de Médecine de Sfax).^[29]
• ISAAS (Institut Supérieur d'Administration des Affaires de Sfax)^[30]
• FSEGS (Faculté des Sciences Économiques et de Gestion de Sfax).^[31]
• FSS (Faculty of Science Sfax) .^[32]
• ISIMS (Institut Supérieur d'Informatique et de Multimédia de Sfax).^[33]
• FDS (Faculté de Droit de Sfax)^[34]
• ISAMS (Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers de Sfax)
• IHEC (Institut des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Sfax)

The North American Private University^[35] was founded in 2012 and brings together 3 institutes:

• The International Institute of Technology (IIT).
• The International School of Architecture (ISA, a department of IIT).
• The International School of Business (ISB).

Theater

The city had a municipal theater between 1903 and 1942, a building built by the architect Raphaël Guy according to a neo-Moorish architecture22, in line with the seat of the municipality and the Ramdanetru palace and being bombarded with the campaign of Tunisia which nevertheless targets the commercial port much further south of the city and during which the Frankish quarter was completely razed.

Festival

The city of Sfax organizes the International Festival of Sfax, a summer event which welcomes artists from various countries.^[36]

Maison de France

The French Institute of Sfax, commonly Maison de France (French House), is a space of meeting, reflection, and creation open to all and also of expression. Whose goal is to support and supervise the activities of the civil city and its artists. It was opened the 16 June 2006.

It has more than 40 000 visitors per year, and more than 50 cultural events. There is also a library that makes more than 20,000 documents available to the public.^[37]

Sectors

Agriculture, especially olive cultivation, despite all these changes occupies an important place in the regional economy. Agricultural land occupies almost the entire area of the region (90%). The city produces on average 40% of the olive oil and 30% of the almonds of Tunisia, which makes it the first national producer. Another component of the Sfaxian economy is the exploitation of petroleum: the Miskar natural gas field covers a total area of 352 km2 and has a capacity of 22.7 billion m³. On there exploit 1.18 million tons per year.

Statistics

The working population is divided between three sectors: agriculture and fishing (25.3%), services (25.6%), and manufacturing industries (24.4%).

Statistics of the sfaxian economy by sectors and field :^[39]

Motorways

The A1 motorway connects Sfax with Tunis and also with Gabès that was inaugurated in 2017.^[40]

• Motorways :
  • A1 : (Tunis, Gabès, Bouhajla, M'saken)
• Projects :^[41]
  • National roads : (Kerkennah, Sidi Bouzid, Tataouine)

Railways

A narrow-gauge railway system of SNCFT offers passenger services to Tunis and delivers phosphates and iron ore for export.

Airports

Sfax is served by Sfax–Thyna International Airport and Syphax Airlines has regularly scheduled flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, Tripoli International Airport, and charter flights to Jeddah Airport for the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Twin towns – sister cities

Sfax is twinned with:

• Grenoble, France^[47]
• Makhachkala, Russia
• Marburg, Germany^[48]
• Dakar, Senegal
• Oran, Algeria
• Safi, Morocco