Menzel Bourguiba
| Menzel Bourguiba | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
|
Ferry in 1902 | |
  Menzel Bourguiba Location in Tunisia | |
| Coordinates: 37°9′N 9°47′E / 37.150°N 9.783°ECoordinates: 37°9′N 9°47′E / 37.150°N 9.783°E | |
| Country |
 Tunisia |
| Governorate | Bizerte Governorate |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Total | 61,919 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
Menzel Bourguiba (Arabic: منزل بورقيبة, translit. Manzil Burgueeba, lit. 'House of Bourguiba'), formerly known as Ferryville, is a town located in the extreme north of Tunisia, about 60 km from Tunis, in the Bizerte Governorate.
Toponymy
The town's name translates as "House of Bourguiba", as it was named after the first president in independent Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, in 1956. During the time of the French colonization of Tunisia (1881–1956), Menzel Bourguiba was named Ferryville referring to contemporary French minister Jules Ferry.
Economy
Menzel Bourguiba is an important town for economic reasons. Its economy is based mainly around metallurgy. It was founded as a naval installation during the period of French rule, because of its strategic location, in between two lakes: The inland Ichkeul Lake on the west, and Bizerte Lake on the east, which connects to the Mediterranean Sea by the Bizerte canal.
Its most important economic activity is the ailing Tunisian state-owned shipyard. The yard has seen its workforce decline, after the high level of activity in the 1970s and 1980s, when Tunisia had a larger merchant fleet and when the Soviet Union used Menzel Bourguiba to drydock its ships. At that time, the yard employed over 1,300 people. It has recently been bought by a French ship repair company, Compagnie Marseille Réparation.[1]
Sister city
References
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/maritime/Scheepvaartnieuws/Pdf/scheepvaartnieuws/2003/december/238-09-12-2003.PDF
- ↑ "Stuttgart Städtepartnerschaften". Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, Abteilung Außenbeziehungen (in German). Retrieved 2013-07-27.
External links
- Menzel Bourguiba page at the Global Gazetteer (including location map)
- Ferryville. Menzel Bourguiba (site dedicated to pre-1961 period, in French)
- Old postcards from Menzel Bourguiba
- Bizerta Economic Activities Park