Bizerte بنزرت Binzart
City
Bizerte
From top, left to right: View of Bizerte from Ksiba, Bizerte Corniche, Old port od Bizerte, Bizerte Center, The gouvenorate local, Bizerte Bridge.
Bizerte Location in Tunisia Show map of Tunisia Bizerte Bizerte (Africa) Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 37°16′40″N 9°51′50″E / 37.27778°N 9.86389°E / 37.27778; 9.86389
Country	Tunisia
Governorate	Bizerte Governorate
Delegation(s)	Bizerte North, Bizerte South
Government
• Mayor	Kamel Ben Amara (Ennahda)
Area
• Urban	34[1] km2 (13.127 sq mi)
Elevation	5[2] m (16 ft)
Population  (2022[1])
• City	162,053[1]
• Density	3,363/km2 (8,712/sq mi)
• Metro	600,012
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
Postal code	7000
Area code	+216 (Tun) 72 (Bizerte)
Website	www.commune-bizerte.gov.tn

Bizerte (Arabic: بنزرت, romanized: Binzart Tunisian Arabic pronunciation: [bɪnzɑrt] ^ⓘ) is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40 mi) north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under French control after the rest of the country won its independence from France. The city had 162,053 inhabitants in 2014.

The classical name of Bizerte, Hippo, is the latinization of a Punic^[3][4] name (Punic: 𐤏𐤐𐤅‬𐤍, ʿpwn),^[5] probably related to the word ûbôn, meaning "harbor".^[6] To distinguish it from Hippo Regius (the modern Annaba, in Algeria), the Greeks and Romans used several epithets. Scylax of Caryanda mentions it as Hippo Acra and Hippo Polis ("Hippo the City").^[7][3] Polybius mentions it as Hippo Diarrhytus (Greek: Ἱππὼν διάρρυτος, Hippōn Diárrhytos), "Hippo Divided-by-the-Water", in reference to the town's prominent canal.^[4] It also appears in Roman, Vandal, and Byzantine sources as Hippo Zarytus.^[8] Its Arabic name Binzart (بنزرت) and the French and English forms derived from it all represent phonetic developments of its ancient name.^[3]

This article is missing information about Ancient history. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (July 2024)

Arab armies took Bizerte in 647 in their first invasion of the area, but the city reverted to control from Constantinople until the Byzantines were defeated and finally driven from North Africa in 695–98. The troops of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire captured the city in 1535; the Turks took it in 1574. The city then became a corsair harbour and struggled against the French and the Venetians.

With its occupation of Tunisia in 1881, France gained control of Bizerte and built a large naval harbour in the city.

In 1924, after the French government officially recognized the Soviet Union (USSR), the western military fleet of White Russia that had been kept in the port of Bizerte was returned to the Soviet government. The ships were never moved from the port and finally were sold there as scrap metal.

In March 1939, towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republican Navy Commander Miguel Buiza ordered the evacuation of the bulk of the Republican fleet. Three cruisers, eight destroyers and two submarines left Cartagena harbor and reached Bizerte, where the French authorities impounded them.^[9]

During the Second World War, the German and Italian armies occupied Bizerte until Allied troops defeated them on 7 May 1943. During the fighting between the Allied forces and the German Army, many of the city's inhabitants fled to the countryside or to Tunis. The city suffered significant damage during the battle.^[10]

Due to Bizerte's strategic location on the Mediterranean, France retained control of the city and their naval base after Tunisian independence in 1956. In 1961 Tunisian forces blockaded the area of Bizerte and demanded French withdrawal. The face-off escalated when a French helicopter took off and drew fire. The French brought in reinforcements; when these were fired upon, France took decisive military action against the Tunisian forces. Using superior weapons and decisive force the French took Bizerte and Menzel Bourguiba. During three days in July 1961, 700 Tunisians died (1200 wounded); the French lost 24 dead (100 wounded).^[11]

Meetings at the UN Security Council and other international pressure moved France to agreement; the French military finally abandoned Bizerte on 15 October 1963.^[11]

• 
  Circonsciption of Bizerte.

Bizerte is on a section of widened inlet and east-facing coast of the north coast of Tunisia, 15 kilometres from Ras ben Sakka (the northernmost point in Africa on the Mediterranean Sea), 20 kilometers northeast of the Ichkeul lake (a World Heritage Site), 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the archaeological site of Utica and 65 kilometers north of Tunis.

West of the city there are coastal hills forming an outcrop of the Tell Atlas with well-conserved woods and vantage points. Its associated beaches include Sidi Salem, La Grotte, Rasenjela, and Al Rimel. It is on a section of Mediterranean climate coastline, close to Sardinia and Sicily, as opposed to coasts in the south of the country which have a year-round dry desert climate.

The city is centered on the north shore of the canal of Bizerte linking the Mediterranean Sea to a tidal lake, the Lac de Bizerte which is larger than all parts of the town combined, to the immediate south. Built-up areas are in three directions:

• South-west along the widening canal with jetties at Pecherie and Jarrouba, the latter associated with Bizerte-Sidi Ahmed Air Base adjoining the opening of the lake and military/rescue heliport.
• North are Sidi Salam and Corniche. They are within meters of the coast and on coast-facing slopes of the Ain Berda, a range of hills toward Cap Blanc, a small headland in the Ain Damou Plage natural conservation area.
• Zarzouna, Menzel Jemil and Menzel Abderrahmane are on the south shore of the canal, formed by the locality of Zarzouna and the towns of Menzel Jemil and Menzel Abderrahmane, by a moveable bridge and both Menzels face the lake itself. The rest of the isthmus on which they stand is the gently rising Foret de Remel, reaching a high point east of its forest area at Cap Zebib.

Aerial view of Bizerte

The bridge leads to the motorway A4 leading to Tunis–Carthage International Airport and the capital. On the town side the P11 passes semi-rural Louata, hugs Ichkeul Lake and branches into a western route, the P7, leading directly to Tabarka on the coast next to the Algerian border. The P11 leads south-west to Béja, a governorate center, in the foothills of the Tell Atlas, forks into several roads at Bou Salem, a small town in a broad fertile plain, and climbs to Firnanah passing two high-altitude lakes and also approaching the north-west border with Algeria.

Bizerte enjoys a hot-summer mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The Mediterranean Sea breeze makes summers cooler and more humid than in the interior of Tunisia.^[12]