Tunisia is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Inhabited by Berber tribes, Phoenicians founded Carthage in the 9th century BC. A century later the Arab Muslim conquest occurred in the region, and the first Ottoman conquest of Tunis took place in 1534. It was later a French protectorate from 1881 until independence in 1956. Leader of the independence movement Habib Ali Bourguiba became President and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to power in 1987. Accused of misrule and corruption, he was ousted in 2011 during the Tunisian Revolution. In 2015 the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in building a peaceful, pluralistic political order in Tunisia. Despite the current political crisis, Tunisia is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World.
