Tunisia

The key position of Tunisia between the tempered regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the inter-tropical regions grant its climate a special variability. Such a characteristic makes Tunisia a country particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Tunisia is located in North Africa, between longitudes 7° and 12° East and latitudes 32° and 38° North. It is at the junction of the West and East Mediterranean, and covers a 164.000 km2 surface. Due to its geographical position and general orientation of the main relief, Tunisia is influenced in the North by the Mediterranean, the South being under the influence of the Sahara. The Center is under the joint effect of these two elements.

Thus, the North of the Tunisian Dorsal benefits from a Mediterranean climate, characterized by:

• A hot and dry summer;
• A mild and relatively rainy winter.

The Center as well as the Gulf of Gabes have a semi-arid climate, characterized by:

• Relatively high temperatures;
• Modest rainfall; between 200 and 400 mm/year.

The rest of the country witnesses a desert arid climate characterized by:

• High temperatures as well as important amplitudes;
• Disparate rainfall rarely exceeding 100 mm.

Sources: Tunisia's First national communication, 27 October 2001