Menzel Bourguiba

Menzel Bourguiba (Arabic: منزل بورقيبة‎, romanized: Manzil Būrgībah, lit. 'House of Bourguiba'), formerly known as Ferryville, is a town located in the extreme north of Tunisia, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Tunis, in the Bizerte Governorate.

Menzel Bourguiba

منزل بورقيبة

Ferryville
Town
Entrance sign with anchors
Menzel Bourguiba
Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: 37°9′N 9°47′E
Country Tunisia
GovernorateBizerte Governorate
Population
 (2014)
 • Total54,536
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)

Toponymy

The town's name translates as "House of Bourguiba", as it was named after the first president of independent Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, in 1956. During the French protectorate of Tunisia (1881–1956), Menzel Bourguiba was named Ferryville, referring to contemporary French minister Jules Ferry.

Economy
The naval base, Arsenal Sidi-Abdellah in 1960

Menzel Bourguiba is an important town for economic reasons. Its economy is based mainly around metallurgy. It was founded as a naval installation under French rule, because of its strategic location 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 was the ailing 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

Menzel Bourguiba Mayors

Period Mayor(s)
1958–1962Ahmed Ben Hémida
1962–1980Taïeb Tekaia
1980–1990Mohamed Dridi
1990–1995Kamel Dhaouadi
1995–2000Fethi Sâafi
2000–2005Fethi M'rabet
2005–2010Sadok Chalghoumi
2010–2011Jamel Eddine El Batti
2011–2018Mohamed Arbi Mimouni
2018–PresentSlaheddine Jebari

Celebrities From Menzel Bourguiba

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-02-05. Retrieved 2006-07-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Stuttgart Städtepartnerschaften". Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, Abteilung Außenbeziehungen (in German). Retrieved 2013-07-27.
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