Sfax

Sfax صفاقس
A Sfax street (Rue Hédi Chaker)
Sfax
Coordinates:34°44′N10°46′E
Kintra	Tunisie
Govrenorates	Sfax Govrenorate
Govrenment
•Mayor	Moncef Abdelhedi
Population (2004)
• Total	265,131
Time zone	UTC+1(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1

Sfax(Arabic:صفاقس‎,Safaqis,or[sfaːqs]inTunisian Arabic,whence the French name) is the seicont lairgest ceety inTunisie,locatit 270 km (168 mile) sootheast oTunis.The ceety, foondit in AD 849 on the ruins oTaparuraanThaenae,is the caipital o theSfax Govrenorate,an aMediterraneanport on theGulf o Gabès.Sfax haes population o 340,000 (2005), an is an industrial centre for processinphosphates.The ceety wis aften descrived as Tunisie'sSeicont ceety,acause aeTunishaes mair indwallers. Nouadays, Sfax lost this poseetion for ither Tunisan ceeties which hauld mair developed touristic an industrial activities.

History

Leukin athort the Place de la République towards Sfax ceety hall (photographed in 2005).

Bi the end o the 10t century Sfax haed acome an independentceety-state.The ceety wis conquered biRoger II ofSicilyin 1148 an occupied till it wis leeberatit in 1156 bi local forces, an wis briefly occupied bi European forces again, this time bi theSpainyie,in the 16t century. Sfax became an integral base o theBarbary piracy,promptin an unsuccessful invasion biVenicein 1785. In the late 19t century Sfax an the rest o Tunisie wur conquered biFrauncean incorporatit intae the French empire. DurinWarld War II,theAxis pouersuised the ceety as a major base till thay wur defeatit biBreetishforces. Efter Warld War II, Tunisie wis returned tae Fraunce anerlie tae gain unthirldom in 1956.

Transport

Sfax is served bi a nairae gauge railwey seestem oSNCFTthat delivers phosphates an iron ore for export. Sfax is an aa served biSfax – Thyna Internaitional Airportwi regularly scheduled flichts tae Paris CDG an Tripoli, an chairter flichts tae Jeddah for the pilgrimage tae Mecca.

TheA1 motorwayconnects Sfax wi Tunis.

Communications

Foondit in 1961,Radio Sfaxbroadcasts twinty oors a dayon MW 720 kHz/105.21 MHz.

Education

TheVarsity o Sfaxincludes:

• ENIS (École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax) issued a nummer o weel kent scientists an industrials.[1]
• ESCS (École Supérieure de Commerce de Sfax) issued a nummer o Managers, Economy an Management Researchers an Youth Entrepreneurs.[2]
• FLSHS (Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sfax) issued a nummer o renouned poets an prose writers.(http://www.flshs.rnu.tn)
• Sfax Faculty o Medicine (Faculté de Médecine de Sfax).[3]Archived2007-04-05 at theWayback Machine

Internaitional relations

Main airticle:Leet o twin towns an sister ceeties in Tunisie

Twin touns — Sister ceeties

Sfax istwinnedwi:

• Grenoble,Fraunce
• Makhachkala,Roushie
• Marburg,Germany

See an aa

• SfaxOnline - Portail de la ville de SfaxArchived2008-07-07 at theWayback Machine
• Transport in Tunisie
• Sufax