Menzel Bourguiba
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Menzel Bourguiba (arabic : منزل بورقيبة) (Arabic transliteration: 'Manzil Bourgueeba') is a town located in extreme north of Tunisia (), about 60 km away from Tunis. It translates as "House of Bourguiba", as the town was named after the first president in independent Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, in 1956.
Menzel Bourguiba is an important town for economic reasons. Its economy is based mainly around metallurgy. It was founded as a naval installation during the period of French rule, because of its strategic location, in 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 economical activity is the ailing Tunisian 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]
During the time of the French colonization of Tunisia (1881-1956), Menzel Bourguiba was named Ferryville which refers to a French minister in this period, Jules Ferry.
Menzel Bourguiba city is now under Bizerte Governorate.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Menzel Bourguiba page at the Global Gazetteer (including location map)
- Ferryville. Menzel Bourguiba (site dedicated to pre-1961 period, in French)
- Old postcards from Menzel Bourguiba
- Bizerta Economic Activities Park
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