Gabès Governorate

Gabès Governorate (Tunisian Arabic: ولاية ڨابس‎ Wilāyat Gābis) 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
Governorate
Coat of arms
Map of Tunisia with Gabès highlighted
Coordinates: 33°53′N 10°07′E
CountryTunisia
CreatedJune 21, 1956[1]
CapitalGabès
Government
 • GovernorAbdelkarim Mesbah (DCR)
Area
 • Total7,166 km2 (2,767 sq mi)
Area rankRanked 8th of 24
Population
 (2014)
 • Total374,300
 • RankRanked 16th of 24
 • Density52/km2 (140/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

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

Administratively, the governorate is divided into ten delegations (mutamadiyat), ten 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
El Hamma62,39073,512
El Metouia25,86227,878
Gabes Medina47,05746,731
Gabes Ouest28,38931,768
Gabes Sud61,69974,422
Ghannouch22,68128,051
Menzel El Habib11,47710,148
Mareth61,34063,122
Matmata5,7664,444
Nouvelle Matmata15,96914,224

Ten municipalities are in Gabès Governorate:

CodeMunicipalityPopulation
(2014)[4]
5111Gabès130,984
5112Chenini Nahal14,803
5113Ghannouch28,051
5114Métouia10,716
5115Oudhref9,932
5116El Hamma41,607
5117Matmata1,847
5118Nouvelle Matmata7,526
5119Mareth11,678
5120Zarat5,627

Tourism

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.

References
  1. (in French) "tunisieindustrie.nat.tn". Archived from the original on 2014-12-19.
  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. Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat 2014 – Population, logements et ménages par commune et arrondissement [Census 2014 results – population, accommodation and households per municipality and delegation] (Report) (in French). National Institute of Statistics. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2016.


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