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Kairouan in Tunisia TUNISIE tunisia. kairouan Informations and links Kairouan105 000 hab.![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Map Kairouan Photos Kairouan ------------------------------- Kairouan (variations include Kairwan, Kayrawan, Al Qayrawan) is a city in Tunisia, about 160 kilometres south of Tunis. In 2003 the city had about 150,000 inhabitants. Founded in about the year 670, the original name was derived from Arabic kairuw?n, from Persian K?raw?n, meaning "camp", "caravan", or "resting place" (see caravanserai). Kairouan was founded in about the year 670 when the Muslim general Uqba ibn Nafi selected a site in the middle of a dense forest, then infested with wild beasts and reptiles, as the location of a military post. It was to keep in check the Berber hordes and was located far from the sea where it was safe from attack. A city soon developed, with luxuriant gardens and olive groves. Ibn Nafi was killed in battle by the Berbers about fifteen years after the military post was established. The city was soon recaptured and remained for four centuries a major holy city, the "Mecca of North Africa". In the tenth century, the city was embellished by the Aghlabites who ruled Ifriqiya from there between 800 and 909. It was the capital in the eleventh century, and was famous for its wealth and prosperity. About the middle of the eleventh century, the Ismaili Shiite Fatimites of Egypt instigated the Egyptian Bedouins to invade this part of Africa. The city was so utterly destroyed that it would never regain its former position. Then Mahdia became the capital under the Fatimites. Under the Ottomans, who called it Kairuan in Turkish (as in modern German), and kept mentioning it in the full styleof the Great Sultan (alongside broader Barbary and the new vilayet), Tunis became the capital (as seat of the Dey, next the soon ever more autonomous (Basha) Bey), and remains so in modern Tunisia. In 1881, Kairouan was taken by the French, after which non-Muslims were allowed access to the city. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
Following independence from France in 1956, President Habib BOURGUIBA established a strict one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. In recent years, Tunisia has taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in its foreign relations. Domestically, it has sought to defuse rising pressure for a more open political society..
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