HISTORY:
Tunisians are descendants of indigenous Berber and Arab tribes that
migrated to North Africa during the seventh century. Recorded history
in Tunisia begins with the arrival of Phoenicians, who founded Carthage
and other North African settlements. Carthage was captured by the Romans
in AD 146, and the Romans continued to rule North Africa until they
were defeated by tribesmen from Europe in the fifth century. The Muslim
conquest in the seventh century transformed North Africa. Tunisia became
a center of Arab culture until its assimilation into the Turkish Ottoman
Empire in the 16th century.