Independence: 20 March 1956 (from France)

Constitution: 1 June 1959

Legal system: based on French civil law system and Islamic law; some
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session

National holiday: National Day, 20 March (1956)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)

Leaders:
Chief of State--President Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI
(since 7 November 1987);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Hamed KAROUI (since 26 September
1989)

Political parties and leaders: Constitutional Democratic Rally Party
(RCD), President Ben Ali (official ruling party); Movement of Democratic
Socialists (MDS), Ahmed Mestiri; five other political parties are legal,
including the Communist Party

Suffrage: universal at age 20

Elections:
President--last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994);
results--Gen. Zine el Abidine Ben Aliwas reelected without opposition;

National Assembly--last held 2 April 1989
(next to be held April 1994);
results--RCD 80.7%, independents/Islamists 13.7%, MDS 3.2%, others 2.4%
seats--(141 total) RCD 141

Communists: a small number of nominal Communists, mostly students

Member of: AfDB, Arab League, AIOEC, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto),
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO,
ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat
Council, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdelaziz HAMZAOUI; Chancery at
1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005; telephone (202) 862-1850;
US--Ambassador Robert H. PELLETREAU, Jr.; Embassy at
144 Avenue de la Liberte, 1002 Tunis-Belvedere; telephone p216o (1) 782-566

Flag: red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly
encircling a red five-pointed star; the crescent and star are traditional
symbols of Islam

- Economy
Overview: The economy depends primarily on petroleum, phosphates, and
tourism for continued growth. Two successive drought-induced crop
failures have strained the government's budget and increased
unemployment. The current account fell from a $23 million surplus in
1988 to a $390 million deficit in 1989. Despite its foreign payments
problems, Tunis appears committed to its IMF-supported structural
adjustment program. Nonethel