What is Tunisias History?
At the beginning of recorded history, Tunisia was inhabited by Berber tribes. Its coast was settled by Phoenicians starting as early as the 10th century BC. The city of Carthage was founded in the 9th century B.C. In the 5th century BC, Carthage rose to power and eventually became the dominant civilization in the Western Mediterranean. Carthage was eventually conquered by Rome in the 2nd century BC. It was conquered by the Vandals in the 5th century AD and reconquered by the commander Belisarius in the 6th century. In the 7th century the region was conquered by Arab Muslims, who founded the city of Kairouan. The coasts were held briefly by the Normans of Sicily in the 12th century and the following Arab reconquest made the last Christians in Tunisia disappear. In 1159, Tunisia was conquered by the Almohad caliphs. They were succeeded by the Berber Hafsids (c.1230 – 1574). In the late 16th century the coast became a pirate stronghold. In the last years of the Hafsids, Spain seized many
