Tunisia in other languages: exonyms, Tunis, Carthage and the anthem

Tunisia is تونس, Tūnis, in Arabic, officially الجمهورية التونسية, and its ISO codes are TN, TUN and 788. The name stands here in 176 languages and variants, the capital Tunis in 74 and Carthage in 69, with the 24 governorates and the words of the anthem.

Official languagesArabic (al-ʿarabīyâ)

Checked

ISO 3166-1alpha-2 · alpha-3 · numeric
Flag of Tunisia
ratio 2:3
alpha-2
TN
alpha-3
TUN
numeric
788
تونس Arabic · ArabicRomanised Tūnis

الجمهورية التونسيةal-Ǧumhūrīyâẗu t-Tūnisīyâ

English
TunisiaRepublic of Tunisia
Capital
تونسTūnis · Tunis

ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.

Tunisia in other languages: list of exonyms

Tunisia in 176 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639-3NameRomanised
English, Corsican, Basque, Finnish, Kven, Galician, Hawaiian, Igbo, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Lingala, Ladin, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Romanian, Aromanian, Sicilian, Northern Sami, Samoan, Sardinian, Swahilieng / cos / eus / fin / fkv / glg / haw / ibo / ina / ind / ita / jav / lin / lld / nor / nov / oci / ron / rup / scn / sme / smo / srd / swaTunisiasame as written
Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Turkmenaze / crh / gag / kaa / tukTunis / ТунисTunis
German, Luxembourgish, Low German, Danish, Saterland Frisiandeu / ltz / nds / dan / stqTunesiensame as written
Faroese, Romansh, Tok Pisinfao / roh / tpiTunesiasame as written
French, Franco-Provençal, Friulianfra / frp / furTunisiesame as written
Asturian, Spanishast / spaTúnezsame as written
Bambara, Haitian Creolebam / hatTinizisame as written
Catalan, Portuguesecat / porTunísiasame as written
Czech, Slovakces / slkTuniskosame as written
Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbiandsb / hsbTuneziskasame as written
Kinyarwanda, Kirundikin / runTuniziyasame as written
Quechua, Tagalogque / tglTunisyasame as written
AfrikaansafrTunisiësame as written
AragoneseargTunizia, Tunisiasame as written
BosnianbosTunis / Тунис / تۆنٖىسTunis
BretonbreTuniziasame as written
CornishcorTunisisame as written
WelshcymTiwnisiasame as written
EsperantoepoTuniziosame as written
EstonianestTuneesiasame as written
West FrisianfryTuneezjesame as written
Scottish GaelicglaTuinisiasame as written
IrishgleAn Túinéissame as written
ManxglvYn Tooneeshsame as written
HausahauTunisiyasame as written
CroatianhrvTunissame as written
HungarianhunTunéziasame as written
IcelandicislTúnissame as written
Jersey Norman FrenchjnfTeunnisiesame as written
Kurmanji KurdishkurTûnissame as written
LatinlatTunisia, Tunesia, Tunetumsame as written
LatvianlavTunisijasame as written
LithuanianlitTunisassame as written
LatgalianltgTunisejasame as written
MalagasymlgToniziasame as written
MaltesemltTuneżijasame as written
MoldovanmolTunisia / ТунисияTunisia
MalaymsaTunisia / تونيسياTunisia
NahuatlnahTunezsame as written
DutchnldTunesiësame as written
Norman FrenchnrmT’nisiesame as written
PolishpolTunezjasame as written
Kalderash RomanirmyTunisiya / तुनिसियाTunisiya
SloviosloTunisia / ТунисиаTunisia
SlovenianslvTunizijasame as written
SamogitiansmgTonėsossame as written
SomalisomTuuniisiyasame as written
AlbaniansqiTunizisame as written
SwedishsweTunisiensame as written
SilesianszlTůnezyjosame as written
TetumtetTuníziasame as written
TurkishturTunussame as written
UzbekuzbTunis / Тунис / تۇنىسTunis
VietnamesevieTuy-ni-disame as written
VolapükvolTunisänsame as written
VõrovorTuneesiäsame as written
WalloonwlnTunizeyesame as written
WolofwolTiniisisame as written
ZuluzuliTunisesame as written
ZazakizzaTunıssame as written
Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Chuvash, Kabardian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Macedonian, Mongolian, Ossetian, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmykabk / abq / alt / ava / bul / chv / kbd / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mkd / mon / oss / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xalТунисTunis
Bashkir, Chechen, Serbianbak / che / srpТунис / TunisTunis
BelarusianbelТуніс / TunisTunis
KazakhkazТунис / تۋنيس / TwnïsTwnïs
KyrgyzkirТунис / تۇنئس / TunisTunis
Kurdish (Caucasus)kmrТ’унис / T’ûnîsT’ûnîs
RusynrueТуніськоTunis'ko
TatartatТунис / Tunis / تۇنىسTunis
TajiktgkТунис / تونس / TunisTunis
UkrainianukrТунісTunis
Arabic, Pashtoara / pusتونسTūnis
South Azerbaijaniazbتونیس / TunisTunis
Sorani Kurdishckbتوونس / TûnisTûnis
Persianfasتونس / TunesTunes
Western PunjabipnbٹیونسṪiyūnis
DariprsتونسTūnes
Uyghuruigتۇنىس / Tunis / ТунисTunis
Urduurdتونیسیا, تیونسTūnīsiyā, Tiyūnis
DhivehidivޓިއުނީށިއާṪiunīŝiā
SyriacsyrܬܘܢܣܝܐTūnisiyā
Hebrewhebתוניסיה, טוניסיהTūnīsyah, Ṭūnīsyah
Ladinoladטוניז / TunezTunez
YiddishyidטוניסיעTunisye
Berberberⵜⵓⵏⵙ / TunsTuns
Kabylekabⵜⵓⵏⴻⵙ / TunesTunes
Amharicamhቱኒዚያ, ቱኒዝያTuniziya, Tunizya
GreekellΤυνησίαTynīsía
ArmenianhyeԹունիսT̕ounis
Georgian, Mingreliankat / xmfტუნისიTunisi
Lazlzzთუნუსი / TunusiTunusi
Hindihinट्यूनीशिया, ट्युनिसिया, टूनीसिया, तुनिशिया, तुनीसियाṬyūnīšiyā, Ṭyunisiyā, Ṭūnīsiyā, Tunišiyā, Tunīsiyā
Nepalinepट्युनिसियाṬyunisiyā
Bengalibenটিউনিশিয়া, তিউনিসিয়াṬiunišiyā, Tiunisiyā
Gujaratigujટ્યુનિશિયાṬyunišiyā
OdiaoriଟୁନିସିଆṬunisiā
Punjabipanਟੁਨੀਸ਼ੀਆṬunīšīā
SinhalasinටියුනීසියාවṬiyunīsiyāva
KannadakanಟುನೀಸಿಯṬunīsiya
Malayalammalടുണീഷ്യṬuṇīṣya
TamiltamதுனீசியாTunīciyā
Telugutelట్యునీషియాṬyunīṣiyā
Chinesezho突尼斯Tūnísī
Cantoneseyue突尼斯Dahtnàihsī
JapanesejpnチュニジアChunijia
Koreankor튀니지Twiniji
Tibetanbodཐུ་ཉི་སི་ཡ།, ཏུ་ནི་ཤི་ཡ།Tʰu.ñi.si.ya, Tu.ni.ši.ya
BurmesemyaတူနီးရှားTunìšà
ThaithaตูนิเซียTūnisiya
LaolaoຕຸຍເນຊີTuynēsī
Khmerkhmទុយណេស៊ីTuyṇesī

Several Turkic languages, Bosnian and Croatian use one name, Tunis, for country and capital. Latin gives three forms, Tunisia, Tunesia and Tunetum.

02 · NamesU+062A ARABIC LETTER TEH

Tūnis: one name for country and capital

In Arabic country and capital share one name, تونس, Tūnis; the state is الجمهورية التونسية, al-Ǧumhūrīyâẗu t-Tūnisīyâ, the Tunisian Republic, and the adjective التونسي, at-tūnisī. European languages distinguish the two by adding a country ending to the city name: Tunisia in English and Latin, Tunisie in French, Tunesien in German, Tunezja in Polish, Tunisko in Czech and Slovak.

Other languages keep the single name of the Arabic original. Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Crimean Tatar and Gagauz say Tunis for the country, Croatian and Bosnian likewise, while Spanish and Asturian write Túnez for both. Irish adds its article, An Túinéis, and Manx says Yn Tooneesh.

Carthage, the Phoenician city whose ruins lie in the delegation of قرطاج inside Tunis governorate, keeps a Latin shape in most languages: Carthago, Karthago, Cartago, Kartago. Arabic says قرطاج, Qarṭāǧ, and Ancient Greek Καρχηδών, Karkʰēdṓn. Russian, Kazakh, Tatar and Uzbek write the name with f: Карфаген, Karfagen.

Tunis in other languages

Tunis in 74 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639-3NameRomanised
English, French, German, Luxembourgish, Low Germaneng / fra / deu / ltz / ndsTunissame as written
Azerbaijani, Moldovan, Slovio, Turkmenaze / mol / slo / tukTunis / ТунисTunis
Asturian, Spanishast / spaTúnezsame as written
Corsican, Italiancos / itaTunisisame as written
BosnianbosTunis / Тунис / تۆنٖىسTunis
BretonbreTunizsame as written
EsperantoepoTunizosame as written
IrishgleTúinissame as written
ManxglvToonissame as written
HungarianhunTuniszsame as written
IcelandicislTúnissame as written
Kurmanji KurdishkurTûnissame as written
LatinlatTunessame as written
LatvianlavTunisasame as written
LithuanianlitTunisassame as written
MaltesemltTuneżsame as written
MalaymsaTunis / تونسTunis
PortugueseporTunes, Tunissame as written
SamogitiansmgTonėsossame as written
SilesianszlTůńissame as written
UzbekuzbTunis / Тунис / تۇنىسTunis
VietnamesevieTuy-ni-sơsame as written
ZazakizzaTunıssame as written
Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russianbul / mon / rusТунисTunis
Bashkir, Serbianbak / srpТунис / TunisTunis
BelarusianbelТуніс / TunisTunis
KazakhkazТунис / تۋنيس / TwnïsTwnïs
KyrgyzkirТунис / تۇنئس / TunisTunis
TatartatТунис / Tunis / تۇنىسTunis
TajiktgkТунис / تونس / TunisTunis
UkrainianukrТунісTunis
Arabic, Pashtoara / pusتونسTūnis
South Azerbaijaniazbتونیس / TunisTunis
Persianfasتونس / TunesTunes
Western PunjabipnbٹیونسṪiyūnis
Uyghuruigتۇنىس / Tunis / ТунисTunis
UrduurdتیونسTiyūnis
SyriacsyrܬܘܢܣTūnis
Hebrewhebתוניס, טוניסTūnīs, Ṭūnīs
YiddishyidטוניסTunis
Berberberⵜⵓⵏⵙ / TunsTuns
Kabylekabⵜⵓⵏⴻⵙ / TunesTunes
AmharicamhቱኒስTunis
Greek (Demotic)ellΤύνιδαTýnida
Greek (Katharevousa)ellΤύνις, ΤύνηςTýnis, Týnīs
ArmenianhyeԹունիսT̕ounis
GeorgiankatტუნისიTunisi
Hindihinट्युनिस, तुनिस, तूनिसṬyunis, Tunis, Tūnis
Marathimarट्युनिसṬyunis
Nepalinepट्युनिस, टुनिस्Ṭyunis, Ṭunis
Bengalibenটিউনিস, তুনিসṬiunis, Tunis
PunjabipanਟੂਨਿਸṬūnis
Kannadakanಟುನೀಸ್Ṭunīs
Malayalammalടുണിസ്Ṭuṇis
Telugutelటునిస్Ṭunis
Chinesezho突尼斯Tūnísī
JapanesejpnチュニスChunisu
Koreankor튀니스Twiniseu
Tibetanbodཐུ་ཉི་སི།Tʰu.ñi.si
ThaithaตูนิสTūnit
KhmerkhmទុយនីសTuynīs

Berber is given in Tifinagh with a Latin transcription, Tuns; Syriac writes the name as Tūnis.

Carthage in other languages

Carthage in 69 languages and variants, grouped where the spelling is shared, with ISO 639-3 codes and romanisation
LanguagesISO 639-3NameRomanised
English, Frencheng / fraCarthagesame as written
Breton, Esperanto, Basque, West Frisian, Indonesianbre / epo / eus / fry / indKartagosame as written
Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Spanishcat / glg / por / spaCartagosame as written
Danish, Finnish, Swahili, Swedish, German, Luxembourgish, Low Germandan / fin / swa / swe / deu / ltz / ndsKarthagosame as written
Lithuanian, Polish, Slovenianlit / pol / slvKartaginasame as written
Czech, Slovakces / slkKartágosame as written
Welsh, Dutchcym / nldCarthagosame as written
AzerbaijaniazeKarfagen / КарфаҝенKarfagen
BambarabamKartajesame as written
BosnianbosKartago / Картаго / قارتاغۉKartago
EstonianestKartaagosame as written
CroatianhrvKartagasame as written
HungarianhunKarthágósame as written
IcelandicislKarþagósame as written
ItalianitaCartaginesame as written
Kurmanji Kurdish, Turkishkur / turKartacasame as written
LatinlatKarthago, Carthagosame as written
LatvianlavKartāgasame as written
MaltesemltKartaġnisame as written
MoldovanmolCartagina / КартаӂинаCartagina
NorwegiannorKartago, Karthagosame as written
RomanianronCartaginasame as written
SicilianscnCartàgginisame as written
UzbekuzbKarfagen / Карфаген / كەرفەگېنKarfagen
VenetianvecCartàxenesame as written
BashkirbakКарфаген / KarfagenKarfagen
BelarusianbelКарфаген / KarfahienKarfahien
BulgarianbulКартагенKartagen
Kazakh, Kyrgyzkaz / kirКарфаген / كارفاگەن / KarfagenKarfagen
RussianrusКарфагенKarfagen
SerbiansrpКартагина / KartaginaKartagina
TatartatКарфаген / Karfagen / كارفاگېنKarfagen
UkrainianukrКарфаґенKarfagen
ArabicaraقرطاجQarṭāǧ
South Azerbaijaniazbکارفاگئن / KarfagenKarfagen
Persianfasکارتاژ / KârtâžKârtâž
Uyghuruigكارفاگېن / Karfagén / КарфагенKarfagén
UrduurdقرطاجQarṭāj
Syriacsyrܩܪܬܐܓܘ, ܩܪܬ ܚܕܫܬQartāgō, Qart ḥadašt
HebrewhebקרתגוQartagō
Ladinoladקארטאגו / KartagoKartago
Ancient GreekgrcΚαρχηδώνKarkʰēdṓn
GreekellΚαρχηδόναKarȟīdóna
ArmenianhyeԿարթագենKart̕agen
GeorgiankatკართაგენიKarṭageni
Chinesezho迦太基Jiātàijī
JapanesejpnカルタゴKarutago
Koreankor카르타고Kareutago
Thaithaคาร์เธจKʰā[r]tʰēt

Syriac gives the Phoenician name as well, Qart ḥadašt, the new town; Ancient Greek has Karkʰēdṓn.

The 24 governorates of Tunisia in Arabic

Tunisia is divided into 24 governorates (ولايات, wilāyāt), each named after its centre. ISO 3166-2:TN codes them with two digits, the first of which stands for the region: 1 for greater Tunis, 8 for the south-east.

Tunisia, ISO 3166-2:TN: 24 governorates
ISO 3166-2ArabicEnglishAdministrative centreChange
Governorates ولايات wilāyāt24
TN-11 ولاية تونسWilāyâẗu Tūnis Tunis تونسTūnis
TN-12 ولاية أريانةWilāyâẗu Ariyānâ L'Ariana أريانةAriyānâ
TN-13 ولاية بن عروسWilāyâẗu Bin ʿArūs Ben Arous بن عروسBin ʿArūs
TN-14 ولاية منوبةWilāyâẗu Manūbâ La Manouba منوبةManūbâ
TN-21 ولاية نابلWilāyâẗu Nābul Nabeul نابلNābul
TN-22 ولاية زغوانWilāyâẗu Zaġwān Zaghouan زغوانZaġwān
TN-23 ولاية بنزرتWilāyâẗu Binzart Bizerte بنزرتBinzart
TN-31 ولاية باجةWilāyâẗu Bāǧâ Béja باجةBāǧâ
TN-32 ولاية جندوبةWilāyâẗu Ǧundūbâ Jendouba جندوبةǦundūbâ
TN-33 ولاية الكافWilāyâẗu l-Kāf Le Kef الكافal-Kāf
TN-34 ولاية سليانةWilāyâẗu Siliyānâ Siliana سليانةSiliyānâ
TN-41 ولاية القيروانWilāyâẗu l-Qayrawān Kairouan القيروانal-Qayrawān
TN-42 ولاية القصرينWilāyâẗu l-Qaṣrayn Kasserine القصرينal-Qaṣrayn
TN-43 ولاية سيدي بوزيدWilāyâẗu Sayyidī Bū Zayd Sidi Bouzid سيدي بوزيدSayyidī Bū Zayd
TN-51 ولاية سوسةWilāyâẗu Sūsâ Sousse سوسةSūsâ
TN-52 ولاية المنستيرWilāyâẗu l-Munastīr Monastir المنستيرal-Munastīr
TN-53 ولاية المهديةWilāyâẗu l-Mahdīyâ Mahdia المهديةal-Mahdīyâ
TN-61 ولاية صفاقسWilāyâẗu Ṣafāqus Sfax صفاقسṢafāqus
TN-71 ولاية ڨفصةWilāyâẗu Gafṣâ Gafsa ڨفصةGafṣâ
TN-72 ولاية توزرWilāyâẗu Tawzar Tozeur توزرTawzar
TN-73 ولاية قبليWilāyâẗu Qibillī Kébili قبليQibillī
TN-81 ولاية ڨابسWilāyâẗu Gābis Gabès ڨابسGābis
TN-82 ولاية مدنينWilāyâẗu Madanīn Médenine مدنينMadanīn
TN-83 ولاية تطاوينWilāyâẗu Taṭāwīn Tataouine تطاوينTaṭāwīn

Codes and English names: ISO 3166-2:TN on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, change history as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:TN, checked 28 October 2026.

06 · Changes

Governorates and delegations today

The 24 governorates and their codes are the same as in the list; ISO added La Manouba as TN-14 in 2003 and has listed 24 governorates ever since. Below them the number of delegations has grown from the 264 of the list to 272 at the census of 2024. The delegations are listed on the subdivisions page.

07 · Towns

Ten large towns of Tunisia

Ten large towns in descending order of population, as ranked when the list was compiled, in Arabic with transliteration.

  • تونس (Tūnis)
  • صفاقس (Ṣafāqus)
  • أريانة (Ariyānâ)
  • سوسة (Sūsâ)
  • التضامن (at-Taḍāman)
  • القيروان (al-Qayrawān)
  • ڨابس (Gābis)
  • بنزرت (Binzart)
  • حلق الوادي (Ḥalqu l-Wādī)
  • ڨفصة (Gafṣâ)
08 · Anthem

National anthem: Ḥumāt al-Ḥimā

حماة الحمى, Ḥumāt al-Ḥimā, Defenders of the Homeland, has been the anthem since 1987. Its words come from a poem by Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi'i (died 1937); the closing four lines are by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi (died 1934). The refrain, the first four lines, is sung again after each part. The text in Arabic, each part with its transliteration:

  • حماة الحمى يا حماة الحمى / هلموا هلموا لمجد الزمن / لقد صرخت في عروقنا الدماء / نموت نموت ويحيا الوطن (ḥumāta l-ḥimá yā ḥumāta l-ḥimá / halummū halummū li-maǧdi z-zaman / laqad ṣaraḫat fī ʿurūqinā d-dimāʾ / namūtu namūtu wa-yaḥyā l-waṭan)
  • لتدوي السماوات برعدها / لترمي الصواعق نيرانها / إلى عز تونس إلى مجدها / رجال البلاد وشبانها / فلا عاش في تونس من خانها / ولا عاش من ليس من جندها / نموت ونحيا على عهدها / حياة الكرام وموت العظام (li-tadwi s-samāwātu bi-raʿdihā / li-tarmi ṣ-ṣawāʿiqu nīrānahā / ilá ʿizzi tūnisa ilá maǧdihā / riǧāla l-bilādi wa-šubbānahā / fa-lā ʿāša fī tūnisa man ḫānahā / wa-lā ʿāša man laysa min ǧundihā / namūtu wa-naḥyā ʿalá ʿahdihā / ḥayāta l-kirāmi wa-mawta l-ʿiẓām)
  • إذا الشعب يوما أراد الحياة / فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر / ولا بد لليل أن ينجلي / ولا بد للقيد أن ينكسر (iḏā š-šaʿbu yawman arāda l-ḥayāh / fa-lā budda an yastaǧība l-qadar / wa-lā budda li-l-layli an yanǧalī / wa-lā budda li-l-qaydi an yankasir)
09 · Questions

Questions about the name, governorates and anthem of Tunisia

How do you write Tunisia in Arabic?

تونس, Tūnis, the same word as for the capital. The official name is الجمهورية التونسية.

How many governorates does Tunisia have?

24, from TN-11 Tunis to TN-83 Tataouine in ISO 3166-2.

Where does the line فلا عاش في تونس من خانها come from?

From the national anthem حماة الحمى: let no one live in Tunisia who betrays her, and no one who is not among her soldiers.