, officially the
Tunisian Republic or the
Republic of Tunisia (
Arabic: الجمهورية التونسية
al-Jumhūrīya at-Tūnisīya;
Berber: ⵜⴰⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵜⵓⵏⴻⵙ) is the northernmost country in Africa, covering
165,000 square kilometres (64,000 sq mi). Its northernmost point,
Ras ben Sakka, is the northernmost point on the African continent. It is bordered by
Algeria to the west,
Libya to the southeast, and the
Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. As of 2013, its population is estimated at just under 10.8 million. Its name is derived from its capital city,
Tunis, which is located on the country's northeast coast.
Geographically, Tunisia contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert. Much of the rest of the country's land is fertile soil. Its 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) of coastline includes the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin and, by means of the Sicilian Strait and Sardinian Channel, features the African mainland's second and third nearest points to Europe after Gibraltar.