Gabès Governorate (Tunisian Arabic: ولاية ڨابس Wilāyat Gābis; French: Gouvernorat de Gabès) is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia and in south-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of 7166 km2[1] and had a population of 374,300 as at the 2014 census.[2][3] The capital is Gabès.

Gabès
ڨابس
Gabis
Flag of Gabès
Coat of arms of Gabès
Map of Tunisia with Gabès highlighted
Map of Tunisia with Gabès highlighted
Subdivisions of Gabès Governorate
Subdivisions of Gabès Governorate
Coordinates: 33°53′N 10°07′E / 33.883°N 10.117°E / 33.883; 10.117
Country Tunisia
CreatedJune 1956[1]
CapitalGabès
Government
  GovernorVacant
Area
  Total
7,166 km2 (2,767 sq mi)
  RankRanked 8th of 24
Population
 (2014)
  Total
374,300
  RankRanked 16th of 24
  Density52.23/km2 (135.3/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Gabesian
(Arabic: قابسي, Gabsi)
Time zoneUTC+01 (CET)
Postal prefix
60xx
Calling code75-2/75-3
ISO 3166 codeTN-81

Geography

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The governorate of Gabès is in southeast Tunisia on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès, 376 km south of the capital, Tunis.

Gabès has a hot Mediterranean climate. Gabès offers five contrasting landscapes: the beach, the mountains, the desert, small forest, oasis. It contains the eastern end of Chott el Fejej.

The coast is approximately half of that of the large bay. The gulf has several alternative names dating to antiquity and to an etymological association with onshore winds and sandbanks making navigation difficult, including Lesser Syrtis (see Gulf of Sidra which takes in also the mainly Libyan portion of the continental gulf).

Administrative divisions

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Administratively, the governorate is divided into thirteen[4] delegations (mutamadiyat), sixteen municipalities, nine rural councils, and 73 sectors (imadas).[1] The delegations and their populations from the 2004 and 2014 censuses,[2] are listed below:

Delegation Population in 2004 Population in 2014
Gabès Medina47,05746,731
Gabès Ouest28,38931,768
Gabès Sud61,69974,422
Ghannouch22,68128,051
El Metouia12,11512,507
Oudhref13,74715,371
Menzel El Habib11,47710,148
El Hamma45,56454,192
Habib Thameur Bouatouch16,82619,320
Matmata5,7664,444
Nouvelle Matmata15,96914,224
Mareth51,79652,845
Dkhilet Toujane9,54410,277

There are sixteen municipalities in the Gabès Governorate:

5111Gabès101,042[5]
5112Chenini Nahal14,803
5113Ghannouch28,051
5114Métouia13,613
5115Oudhref17,931
5116El Hamma57,856
5117Matmata1,847
5118Nouvelle Matmata7,526
5119Mareth57,358
5120Zarat5,627
5121Teboulbou21,727
5122Habib Thameur Bouatouch19,320
5123Kettana13,310
5124Bouchemma12,182
5125Dkhilet Toujane10,277
5126Menzel El Habib10,148

Tourism

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Matmata is a Berber-speaking town largely of underground homes conserved with a community-based pre-industrialized lifestyle. The south-centre of the Wilāyat has semi-desert mountains and natural features nearby include splendid oases and caves. Eclectic souqs feature in the main municipalities, with traditional wood, stone, metal and textile products.

Economy

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The economy of the governorate is based, like all governorates that open onto the Mediterranean, on agriculture and fishing. The governorate is one of the richest fishing areas in Tunisia.

In the industrial field, the governorate is home to a center concentrating in particular chemical industries (processing of phosphate with the production of phosphoric acid, diammonium phosphateand dicalcium phosphate ) and agri-food . Its trade is carried out in particular thanks to the port which has eleven quays and twenty berths. In 2000, its traffic was estimated at 4,000,000 tonnes. Manufacturing industries employed 41.5% of the active population, the tertiary sector 35.5% and the agricultural sector 23%.

There are three industrial zones: Gabès, Métouia-El Aouinet and El Hamma.

Politics

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Governors

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A list of Governoros since the independence:

  • Habib Ben Mohamed Lahbib (1956-1958)
  • Mohamed Bellamine (1958-1959)
  • Youssef Jedaï (1959-1961)
  • Ahmed Bellalouna (1961-1967)
  • Zakaria Ben Mustapha (1967-1969)
  • Hédi Baccouche(1969-1970)
  • Rachid Badri (1970-1973)
  • Abdelhamid Melki (1973)
  • Ameur Ghedira (1973-1974)
  • Abderrahim Zouari (1974-1978)
  • Abderrazak Yazid (1978-1979)
  • Mohamed Jegham (1979-1980)
  • Ahmed Ben Jemiaâ (1980-1983)
  • Mohamed Habib Gharbi (1983-1984)
  • Abdelhak Lassoued (1984-1986)
  • Mohamed Essid (1986-1988)
  • Naceur El Gharbi (1988-1990)
  • Moncef Louati (1990-1993)
  • Slaheddine El Abed (1993-1996)
  • Hassène Smaoui (1996-1998)
  • Ali Trabelsi (1998-2000)
  • Sadok Marzouk (2000-2002)
  • Kamel Ben Ali (2002-2005)
  • Brahim Briki (2005-July 2006)
  • Abdelkrim Mosbah (2006-2009)
  • Mokdad Missaoui (2009-2011)
  • Chokri Necib (2011)
  • Moncef Khemiri (2011)
  • Mondher Yedas (2011-2012)
  • Omar Chahbani (2012)
  • Houcine Jrad (2012[6]-2015)
  • Nabil Zarrouk (2015[7])
  • Ahmed Lamine Lansari (2015[8]-2016)
  • Mongi Thameur (2016[9]-October 2021[10])
  • Mosbah Kardamin (June 2022 – 2023[11])

Mayors

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As of May 2018:

References

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  1. 1 2 3 (in French) "tunisieindustrie.nat.tn". Archived from the original on 2014-12-19.
  2. 1 2 "2014 Tunisian census data". Archived from the original on 2015-05-18.
  3. (in French) Census 2014 (National Institute of Statistics) Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "أمر حكومي عدد 367 لسنة 2020 مؤرخ في 16 جوان 2020 يتعلق بإحداث معتمديات بولايات سيدي بوزيد وقابس والمهدية وبتنقيح الأمر عدد 543 لسنة 1996 المؤرخ في أول أفريل 1996 المتعلق بضبط عدد وتسمية معتمديات ولايات الجمهورية". Archived from the original on 5 February 2022.
  5. "Gabès (Governorate, Tunisia) – Population Statistics". City Population. Retrieved 2026-03-06. Based on RGPH 2024 census results from Institut National de la Statistique (INS); municipal boundaries as of 2023.
  6. "Un nouveau gouverneur a Gabes". businessnews.com.tn. 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  7. "Nomination de six nouveaux gouverneurs". La Presse de Tunisie. Archived from the original on 2015-06-06.
  8. Nomination de nouveaux gouverneurs par Habib Essid Archived 2015-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, (Archived) Mosaïque FM, 22 October 2015
  9. "Nomination de 12 nouveaux gouverneurs, dont une femme !". businessnews.com.tn. Archived from the original on 2024-12-14. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  10. "الرئيس التونسي ينهي مهام والي قابس". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  11. "Tunisia's President Kais Saied dismisses Gabes governor". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  12. "Tunisie - Municipales 2018 : Poursuite de l'installation des nouveaux Conseils municipaux | Directinfo" (in French). 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  13. "Municipales 2018 : L'heure à l'installation des Conseils municipaux". radioexpressfm.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-09.
  14. "انتخاب السيد الحبيب الذوادي رئيسا لبلدية قابس". إذاعة تطاوين (in Arabic). 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  15. 1 2 "Tunisie - Municipales 2018 : Des nouveaux Conseils municipaux installés | Directinfo" (in French). 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  16. "Régions-Municipales 2018 : Poursuite de l'élection des nouveaux maires".
  17. "محضر التنصيب لجلسة سد شغور لرئاسة المجلس". commune-metouia.gov.tn.
  18. "Un indépendant à la tête de la municipalité de Nouvelle Matmata".