Bizerte

Bizerte, town in northern Tunisia. It lies along the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of a channel that links Lake Bizerte with the sea.

The town originated as a Phoenician outpost and was known through Carthaginian and Roman times as Hippo Diarrhytus or Hippo Zarytus. Captured in 661 ce by Muʿāwiyah ibn Ḥudayj, it was given the name Bizerte. It was occupied by the Spanish from 1535 to 1572 but later became a privateering stronghold. The town’s maritime value was completely transformed in 1895 when the French completed a canal, south of the town and of the natural channel’s mouth, leading from Lake Bizerte to the sea. This artificial channel converted the lake into a fine roadstead and opened up the naval port and arsenal of Sidi Abdallah (Sīdī ʿAbd Allāh), at the lake’s southwestern end. The canal also altered the layout of Bizerte, as a new town was built on the canal’s outlet. The old town (surrounded by an ancient wall) was on the mouth of the natural channel, which has since been filled in.

Bizerte was an important military base during the French protectorate (1881–1955) and, with the development of its strategic naval base, the town also played an important role in World War II. Occupied by the Germans in 1942 and retaken by the Allies in 1943, Bizerte offered control of the Straits of Sicily. France retained a military base there even after its troops had been withdrawn from other bases in 1958, and pressure calling for French withdrawal from Bizerte mounted. In 1961, clashes between Tunisian and French forces—in which more than 1,000 Tunisians were killed—broke out at the base. An agreement for French withdrawal was reached, and French troops finally left in 1963.

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Bizerte is now a seaport, administrative centre, regional market centre, beach resort, and the site of a free-trade zone. Although Bizerte was divested of its military function in 1963, its port still exports fish, phosphates, iron ore, and cereals. Oil refining, which was begun in 1964, is the town’s main industry, and there is also some fish canning. The town is linked by road and rail with Tunis and Tabarka (Ṭabarqah) and has an airport. Pop. (2004) 114,371.