Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/921

 AREA AND POPULATION * 565

the country, acknowledging, however, the suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey, in existence since 1575. Sidi Ahsin ohtained an imperial finnan, dated October 25, 1871, which lil»crated him from the ]>aynient of trihute, hut clearly established his itosition as a vassal of the Sublime Porte,

Government.

After the French invasion of the country in the spring of 1881, the treaty of Kasr-es-Said (May 12, 1881), confirmed by decrees of April 22, 1882, placed Tunis under the protectorate of France. The government is carried on under the direction of the French Foreign Office, which has a special department for Tunisian affairs, under the control of a French Minister Resident- General, who is also Minister of Foreign Alfairs, and a ministry of 9 heads of depart- ments, 7 of the ministers being French and 2 Arali. The country is divided into 13 districts (contrOles civiles), 2 military circles, and 1 military post ; the district governors (controleurs) are French ; the subordinate officials (Raids and Sheiks) are Arab. French tribunals administer justice between subjects of European powers, and also l)etween them and natives ; there are Arab courts for cases between natives. French administration in Tunis has been confirmed by conventions with all the European Powers, regulating the status and the conditions of trade of their respective citizens Avithin the Regency.

French Resident-General- — R. Ph. Millet.

The army of occupation numbers about 600 officers and 16,000 men. The cost of maintaining this force is borne by the budget of the Republic. The Tunisian army (winch is little more than the Bey's guard) numbers about 600 officers and men. There is a French gendarmerie of about 100 ; also a rural Tunisian police, and in the larger towns a civil police.

Area and Population.

The present boundaries are : on the north and east the ]\[editerranean Sea, on the west the Franco-Algerian province of Constantine, and on the south the great desert of the Sahara and the Turkish Pashalik of Tripoli ; and, reckoning its average lireadth from west to east to be 100 miles, it covers an area of about 51,000 English square miles, including that portion of the Sahara which is to the east of the Beled Djerid, extending towards Gadames. Popu- lation estimated at 1,700,000. The majority of the population is formed of Bedouin Arabs and Kabyles. The French population (1896) numbers 26,678, including the military.

The capital, the city of Tunis, including suburbs, has a population of 153,000, comprising Moors, Arabs, Negroes, and Jews, with 40,000 Europeans. By means of the canal, which was opened in 1893, Tunis is directly accessible to 0(ean-going vessels.

The bulk of the poi.ulation is Mohammedan under the Sheik-al-Islam, and the revenue from the " Habus " lands, like that from the "Wakf" lands in Egyi»t, is applied to religious, educational, and charitable pui-poses. The Jews number about 45,000. with a Grand Rabbi at their head. There are al)out 35,000 Roman Catholics, under the ministration of the Archbishop of Carthage, the Bishoi)S of Bizerta and Sfax, and about 25 other clergymen. The Greek Church (400), the French Protestants, and the English Church are! also represented, and there are 23 English Protestant missionaries at woi-k.