Menzel Bourguiba

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title: "Menzel Bourguiba" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-bizerte-governorate", "communes-of-tunisia"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-bizerte-governorate" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menzel_Bourguiba" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameMenzel Bourguiba
other_nameFerryville
native_nameمنزل بورقيبة
settlement_typeTown
image_skylineMenzel Bourguiba - Centre-ville.jpg
pushpin_mapTunisia
pushpin_label_positionbottom
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Tunisia
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1Governorate
subdivision_name1Bizerte Governorate
established_title
established_title2
population_as_of2022
population_total58800
timezoneCET
utc_offset+1
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
postal_code_type
::

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Menzel Bourguiba (), formerly known as Ferryville, is a town located in the extreme north of Tunisia, about 60 km from Tunis, in the Bizerte Governorate.

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 and was nicknamed "Petit Paris" (Translated "Little Paris") by its inhabitants of French origin. In addition, it housed the French Navy′s Sidi-Abdallah Arsenal, which was only handed over to the Tunisian authorities in 1962.

Geography

The town of Menzel Bourguiba is located about 60 km north of Tunis and about 20 km south of Bizerte, capital of the governorate of the same name. It is located in the south-west of the Lac de Bizerte (lake of bizerte), on the narrow strip of land which passes between the lakes of Bizerte and Ichkeul.

An expressway connects the city to the RN8 and the A4 motorway linking Bizerte to Tunis. From Bizerte, the city is accessible from the RN11 which places it halfway between Bizerte and Mateur. In addition, the city is connected to the SNCFT railway network.

Its suburbs consist mainly of the outlying town of Tinja to the west and the Ennejah district a little further south. The Guengla beach, near which several colonial-style houses are still standing. The hills of Sidi Yahya and Sidi Abdallah are highly visible from the city.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Arsenal_Sidi-Abdellah_1960.jpeg" caption="The naval base, Arsenal Sidi-Abdellah in 1960"] ::

In 1897, the French government took the decision to build an arsenal on a strategic site between lakes Ichkeul and Bizerte. As the North African Real Estate Company owned a large part of the land nearby, it began to draw up plans for the town to which the company's largest shareholder, Joseph Décoret, wished to give his name.

His untimely death, even before the town was erected as a municipality, allowed the general resident to impose the name Ferryville in honour of the French minister Jules Ferry, the inspirer of the French protectorate of Tunisia.

During the Second World War, the city was relatively spared, unlike the nearby town of Bizerte, 77% of whose European quarter was destroyed by American bombing in late 1942 and early 1943. However, from August 1944 to March 1945, the city suffered a plague epidemic from Morocco and then Algeria, which was contained by the French naval medical services. The official toll of the epidemic was 37 hospitalized patients, ten of whom died. The cases were distributed among the population as follows: 25 Europeans and 12 Tunisians of Tunisian origin. The victims occupy a wide variety of positions in society: 18 are foreigners in the navy (eight deaths) and eight work in the arsenal (two deaths), including two naval executives.

In 1952, the city was the scene of clashes marking the uprising of Tunisia for its accession to independence. Thus, on 17 January, one day before the arrest of Habib Bourguiba and the holding of the clandestine Neo-Destour congress proclaiming armed struggle, demonstrations broke out and were harshly repressed: the toll was three dead and around fifty wounded. A local odonym, "Avenue du 17-Janvier 1952", recalls this event.

The name of the town, which means "house of Bourguiba" in Arabic, was given to it in 1956 by Bourguiba himself, who had just gained independence from Tunisia and the following year became the first President of the Republic. By giving this name to Ferryville, he thus underlines the return of the country's sovereignty.

However, the Sidi-Abdallah arsenal was not evacuated by the French navy until 1 July 1962. Nowadays, the arsenal has become a shipyard for the repair and maintenance of merchant ships. It also contains small manufacturing industries.

Economy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Chemical_tanker_fs_diane_in_dry_dock_at_cmrt_yard.jpg" caption="Chemical tanker in Menzel Bourguiba"] ::

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 was bought by the French ship repair company, Compagnie Marseille Réparation in 2004 and has been renamed to CMR Tunisia Ship Repairs.

Climate

| metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = Menzel Bourguiba (1981–2010, extremes 1901–2017) | Jan record high C = 27.0 | Feb record high C = 27.2 | Mar record high C = 33.5 | Apr record high C = 34.2 | May record high C = 40.4 | Jun record high C = 46.0 | Jul record high C = 46.6 | Aug record high C = 48.0 | Sep record high C = 45.0 | Oct record high C = 40.5 | Nov record high C = 34.0 | Dec record high C = 27.2 |year record high C = 48.0 | Jan high C = 15.6 | Feb high C = 16.0 | Mar high C = 18.0 | Apr high C = 20.4 | May high C = 25.0 | Jun high C = 29.1 | Jul high C = 32.3 | Aug high C = 32.8 | Sep high C = 29.6 | Oct high C = 25.8 | Nov high C = 20.5 | Dec high C = 16.8 |year high C = | Jan mean C = 11.2 | Feb mean C = 11.3 | Mar mean C = 12.8 | Apr mean C = 15.1 | May mean C = 19.0 | Jun mean C = 23.1 | Jul mean C = 26.0 | Aug mean C = 26.6 | Sep mean C = 23.9 | Oct mean C = 20.4 | Nov mean C = 15.7 | Dec mean C = 12.5 |year mean C = | Jan low C = 7.0 | Feb low C = 6.9 | Mar low C = 8.1 | Apr low C = 10.1 | May low C = 13.5 | Jun low C = 17.2 | Jul low C = 20.1 | Aug low C = 21.0 | Sep low C = 19.0 | Oct low C = 15.8 | Nov low C = 11.4 | Dec low C = 8.4 |year low C = | Jan record low C = -4.2 | Feb record low C = -1.4 | Mar record low C = -0.4 | Apr record low C = 1.0 | May record low C = 3.1 | Jun record low C = 8.0 | Jul record low C = 8.0 | Aug record low C = 10.0 | Sep record low C = 8.9 | Oct record low C = 4.9 | Nov record low C = 0.0 | Dec record low C = -0.5 |year record low C = -4.2 | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 88.8 | Feb precipitation mm = 73.9 | Mar precipitation mm = 57.6 | Apr precipitation mm = 50.6 | May precipitation mm = 23.2 | Jun precipitation mm = 10.6 | Jul precipitation mm = 2.2 | Aug precipitation mm = 6.8 | Sep precipitation mm = 44.3 | Oct precipitation mm = 61.3 | Nov precipitation mm = 93.4 | Dec precipitation mm = 115.2 |year precipitation mm = |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 11.3 | Feb precipitation days = 10.3 | Mar precipitation days = 9.6 | Apr precipitation days = 6.5 | May precipitation days = 3.9 | Jun precipitation days = 1.6 | Jul precipitation days = 0.6 | Aug precipitation days = 1.1 | Sep precipitation days = 4.0 | Oct precipitation days = 7.8 | Nov precipitation days = 9.5 | Dec precipitation days = 11.4 |year precipitation days = | Jan humidity = 83 | Feb humidity = 80 | Mar humidity = 78 | Apr humidity = 78 | May humidity = 75 | Jun humidity = 70 | Jul humidity = 68 | Aug humidity = 69 | Sep humidity = 75 | Oct humidity = 78 | Nov humidity = 83 | Dec humidity = 83 |year humidity = 77 | Jan sun = 142.6 | Feb sun = 163.9 | Mar sun = 217.0 | Apr sun = 237.0 | May sun = 303.8 | Jun sun = 330.0 | Jul sun = 384.4 | Aug sun = 356.5 | Sep sun = 267.0 | Oct sun = 207.7 | Nov sun = 153.0 | Dec sun = 133.3 |year sun = | Jand sun = 4.6 | Febd sun = 5.8 | Mard sun = 7.0 | Aprd sun = 7.9 | Mayd sun = 9.8 | Jund sun = 11.0 | Juld sun = 12.4 | Augd sun = 11.5 | Sepd sun = 8.9 | Octd sun = 6.7 | Novd sun = 5.1 | Decd sun = 4.3 |yeard sun = 7.9 |source 1 = Institut National de la Météorologie (precipitation days 1961–1990 and extremes 1950–2017){{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191219211209/http://data.transport.tn/dataset/9e1ed3a1-69f5-4ef9-a05e-daa8126fdb7c/resource/acf0d32e-92b3-4247-9281-1b3a1587d23f/download/normales_1981_2010.txt | archive-date = 19 December 2019 | url = http://data.transport.tn/dataset/9e1ed3a1-69f5-4ef9-a05e-daa8126fdb7c/resource/acf0d32e-92b3-4247-9281-1b3a1587d23f | title = Les normales climatiques en Tunisie entre 1981 2010 | publisher = Ministère du Transport | language = fr | access-date = 3 February 2020}}{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191221032155/http://data.transport.tn/dataset/c8d4b465-056c-41e2-a666-05160d19784e/resource/3d38ac83-8a3c-4207-b327-9684131292b3/download/normales_1961_1990.txt | archive-date = 21 December 2019 | url = http://data.transport.tn/dataset/normales-climatiques-en-tunisie-entre-1961-1990/resource/3d38ac83-8a3c-4207-b327-9684131292b3 | title = Données normales climatiques 1961–1990 | publisher = Ministère du Transport | language = fr | access-date = 3 February 2020}}{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191221032448/http://data.transport.tn/dataset/b19bf5d3-5f47-43a3-befc-80a4f4f1d267/resource/0f4ff280-9f86-4e4f-bc18-29df886c2a30/download/extremes.txt | archive-date = 21 December 2019 | url = http://data.transport.tn/dataset/extremes-climatiques-en-tunisie/resource/0f4ff280-9f86-4e4f-bc18-29df886c2a30 | title = Les extrêmes climatiques en Tunisie | publisher = Ministère du Transport | language = fr | access-date = 3 February 2020}} |source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes 1901–1992) | url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_607140_kt.pdf | title = Klimatafel von Menzel Bourguiba / Tunesien | work = Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world | publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst | language = de | access-date = 18 October 2016}} Arab Meteorology Book (humidity and sun){{cite web | url = http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf | title = Appendix I: Meteorological Data | publisher = Springer | access-date = 18 October 2016 | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf | url-status = dead

Twin cities

Menzel Bourguiba is twinned with:

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Menzel Bourguiba Mayors

::data[format=table]

PeriodMayor(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
2018–2021Slaheddine Jebari
2021–PresentSalim Hraga
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Celebrities From Menzel Bourguiba

Gallery

Menzel Bourguiba - Entrée 2.jpg Menzel Bourguiba - Entrée.jpg MenzelBourguibaCentreVille.jpg PortMenzelBourguiba.jpg EntranceMenzelBourguiba.jpg

Notes

References

References

  2. "CMR Tunisia Ship Repairs {{!}} Your mediterranean shipyard".
  3. "Réseau des stations météorologiques synoptiques de la Tunisie". Ministère du Transport.

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populated-places-in-bizerte-governoratecommunes-of-tunisia