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{{about|a city in Tunisia||Sousa (disambiguation)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}

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|imagesize = |image_caption = Counter-clockwise from top:Centre Ville of Sousse, aerial view of Sousse, Great Mosque of Sousse, Port El Kantaoui, El Finga, Medina of Sousse|image_flag = Flag commune Sousse.svg|flag_size =|image_seal = Logo commune Sousse.svg|seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size =|image_blank_emblem =|blank_emblem_type =|blank_emblem_size =|image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map =|dot_mapsize =|dot_map_caption =dot_y =|pushpin_map = Tunisia|pushpin_label_position =bottom|pushpin_map_caption =Location in Tunisia|subdivision_type = Country|subdivision_name = {{TUN}}Governorates of Tunisia>Governorate|subdivision_name1 = Sousse GovernorateDelegations of Tunisia>Delegation(s)|subdivision_name2 = Sousse Jawhara, Sousse Medina, Sousse Riadh, Sousse Sidi Abdelhamid|subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 =|government_footnotes =|government_type =|leader_title =|leader_name =|leader_party = |leader_title1 = Mayor Mohamed Ikbel Khaled (Independent politician>Independent) |leader_title2 =|leader_name2 =|leader_title3 =|leader_name3 =|leader_title4 =|leader_name4 =|established_title = |established_date = |established_title2 = |established_date2 = |established_title3 = |established_date3 =|area_magnitude = |unit_pref =Imperial |area_footnotes =|area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 =|area_total_sq_mi =|area_land_sq_mi =|area_water_sq_mi =|area_water_percent =|area_urban_km2 =|area_urban_sq_mi =|area_metro_km2 =|area_metro_sq_mi =|area_blank1_title =|area_blank1_km2 =|area_blank1_sq_mi =|population_as_of =2013|population_footnotes =|population_note =|population_total =271.428|population_density_km2 =246/km2|population_density_sq_mi =|population_metro =674.971|population_density_metro_km2 =|population_density_metro_sq_mi =|population_urban =|population_density_urban_km2 =|population_density_urban_sq_mi =|population_blank1_title =Ethnicities|population_blank1 =|population_blank2_title =Religions|population_blank2 =|population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi =Central European Time>CET|utc_offset = +1Central European Time>CET|utc_offset_DST = +135N38region:TN|display=inline}}|elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = |elevation_ft =|postal_code_type = |postal_code =|area_code =|blank_name =|blank_info =|blank1_name =|blank1_info =www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr}}|footnotes =

factoids

(iii)(iv)(v)| ID = 498bis| year = 1988| extension = 201031.68sqmi|abbr=on}}60.99sqmi|abbr=on}}}}}}Sousse or Soussa (, {{IPA|ar|ˈsuːsa|IPA}}) is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located {{convert|140|km|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles, and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse.{{anchor|Etymology|Toponymy|Names}}

Toponymy

Sousse and Soussa are both French spellings of the Arabic name SÅ«sa. The present city has also grown to include the ruins of Hadrumetum, which had many names in several languages during antiquity.Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Gazeteer, page 511, Map 33 Theveste-Hadrumetum, Compiled by R.B. Hitchner, 1997, in file BATL033_.PDF in B_ATLAS.ZIP {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507083500press.princeton.edu/B_ATLAS.ZIP |date=7 May 2013 }} from Princeton University Press | Subjects | Browse Princeton Catalog by Subject | Archaeology and Ancient History | Archaeology and Ancient History | Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. R.J.A. Talbert, ed. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326070859press.princeton.edu/catalogs/subjects/arc.html |date=26 March 2012 }} | Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Edited by Richard J. A. Talbert | Map-by-Map Directory.ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) Report – The Medina of Sousse {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713072130www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/upload/patrimoine.pdf |date=13 July 2015 }} from Site Officiel de la Ville de Sousse | Découvrir Sousse {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110003434www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr/actualite.php |date=10 January 2012 }} | Histoire et Patrimoine | Sousse Patrimoine Mondial de l’humanité {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827132309www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr/histoirepatrimoine.php |date=27 August 2011 }}.Sousse Archaeological Bulletin “SOCIÉTÉ ARCHÉOLOGIQUE DE SOUSSE, Assemblée générale du 29 Février 1903, Extraits des procès-verbaux des réunions.” etc., from Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisie / National Heritage Institute (INP) | Digital Library | Sousse Archaeological Bulletin (near bottom of page).

Geography

(File:Circonscription de Sousse.png|thumb|left|Sousse district|180px)Sousse is in the center of Tunisia, on the Tunisian Sahel coast and on the Mediterranean Sea bordering the east of the country. The city covers 45 km2 and is 25 meters above sea level.Geographic : coordinates of Sousse, TunisiaSousse is between two wadis: the Wadi Bliban (and its tributary the Wadi al-Kharrub) to the north and northwest and the Wadi al-Halluf to the southeast.BOOK, Jedidi, Mohamed, Bosworth, C.E., van Donzel, E., Heinrichs, W.P., Lecomte, G., The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IX (SAN-SZE), 1997, Brill, Leiden, 90-04-10422-4, 901–2,ia600603.us.archive.org/14/items/EncyclopaediaDictionaryIslamMuslimWorldEtcGibbKramerScholars.13/09.EncycIslam.NewEdPrepNumLeadOrient.EdEdComCon.BosDonHeinLec.etc.UndPatIUA.v9.San-Sze.Leid.EJBrill.1997..pdf, 18 May 2022, SŪSA, The subsoil is mostly sedimentary with some deep alluvial deposits, which are more recent closer to the coast. Winters are generally mild, there is an average of 69 days of rainfall per year, and there is a lot of sunshine year-round with relatively few cloudy days.

Administration

The Municipality of Sousse is the capital of a governorate that extends over 2669 km2.WEB,www.populationdata.net/pays/tunisie/, Tunisie • Fiche pays • PopulationData.net, 11 March 2020, It is divided into four municipal districts:WEB,www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr/arrondissement.php, Arrondissements, www.commune-sousse.gov.tn, dead,www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr/arrondissement.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20100514144902www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr/arrondissement.php,">web.archive.org/web/20100514144902www.commune-sousse.gov.tn/fr/arrondissement.php, 2010-05-14, Sousse Nord, Sousse Sud, Sousse Médina and Sousse Riadh. The first two were created on 11 February 1976 and the last two on 19 February 1982. Its main constituencies and Delegation are four in number: Sousse Sidi Abdelhamid, Sousse Médina, Sousse Jawhara and Sousse Riadh. Its geographic code is 31.

History

File:Meduse sousse.jpg|thumb|150px|A mosaic depicting MedusaMedusa

Hadrumetum

In the 11th century{{nbsp}}BC,WEB, Medina of Sousse,whc.unesco.org/en/list/498/, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, en, 29 May 2020, {{dubious|reason=Hadrumetum gives the (also unsourced) date 9th century BC|date=December 2018}} Tyrians established Hadrumetum{{sfnp|Babelon|1911|p=802}} as a trading post and waypoint along their trade routes to Italy and the Strait of Gibraltar. Its establishment (at a river mouth about {{convert|6|mi|order=flip|disp=or|abbr=on|sp=us}} north of old Sousse){{harvp|New Class. Dict.|1860|loc=s.v. “HadrÅ«mÄ“tum”}}.{{harvp|Norie|1831|p=348}}. preceded Carthage’sSallust, Jug., 19. but, like other western Phoenician colonies, it became part of the Carthaginian Empire{{sfnp|Babelon|1911|p=802}} following {{nowrap|Nebuchadnezzar II}}’s long siege of Tyre in the 580s and 570s{{nbsp}}BC.The city featured in the Third Sicilian War, the Second and Third Punic Wars (in the latter of which it secured additional territory and special privileges by aiding Rome against what was left of the Carthaginians), and Caesar’s Civil War, when it was the scene of Caesar’s famously deft recovery: upon tripping while coming ashore, he dealt with the poor omen this threatened to become by grabbing handfuls of dirt and proclaiming “I have you now, Africa!” ()Suetonius, Div. Jul., §59. {{in lang|la}}{{nbsp}}& {{in lang|en}} The second city in Roman Africa after Carthage, it became the capital of the province of Byzacena during the Diocletianic Reforms. Its native sons included the jurist Salvius Julianus, the emperor Clodius Albinus, and numerous Christian saints. The Roman and Byzantine catacombs beneath the city are extensive.The Vandals sacked Hadrumetum in 434 but it remained a place of importance within their kingdom; a bishop and proconsul were martyred there during the Vandals’ periodic forced conversions of their subjects to Arianism. The Byzantine Empire reconquered the town in 534 during the Vandal War and engaged in a public works program that included new fortifications and churches. The town was sacked during the Umayyad Caliphate’s 7th-century conquest of North Africa. According to a 1987 ICOMOS report, Uqba ibn Nafi’s siege and capture of the city resulted in its almost complete destruction, such that no monument of Hadrumetum “subsists in situ”.

Medieval Susa

Muslim Arab armies rapidly spread Arab culture across what had been a thoroughly Romanized and Christianized landscape. Under the Aghlabids, Susa was established near the ruins of Hadrumetum and served as their main port. Their 827 invasion of Sicily was mainly launched from the town’s harbor. After the Byzantine city of Melite (modern Mdina on Malta) was captured by the Aghlabids in 870, marble from its churches was used to build the Ribat.WEB, Brincat, Joseph M., New Light on the Darkest Age in Malta’s History,melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/The%20Arabs%20in%20Malta/1995proc%20Malta%20870-1054%20by%20J.M.%20Brincat.pdf, melitensiawth.com,melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/The%20Arabs%20in%20Malta/1995proc%20Malta%20870-1054%20by%20J.M.%20Brincat.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20160304095600melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/The%20Arabs%20in%20Malta/1995proc%20Malta%20870-1054%20by%20J.M.%20Brincat.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20160304095600melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/The%20Arabs%20in%20Malta/1995proc%20Malta%20870-1054%20by%20J.M.%20Brincat.pdf, 4 March 2016, dead, A soaring structure that combined the purposes of a minaret and a watch tower, it remains in outstanding condition and draws visitors from around the world. Its mosque is sometimes accounted the oldest surviving in the region and the town’s main mosque, also built during the 9th century, has a similarly fortress-like appearance.Susa was briefly occupied by Norman Sicily in the 12th century; it fell to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th; and it was bombarded by a French and Venetian fleet in the 18th.Medieval Susa was known for its textile industries, producing silk and flax fabrics called SÅ«sÄ«. Especially renowned were its robes called {{transliteration|ar|shuqqas}}, some of which were mass-produced and sold ready-to-wear throughout the Mediterranean.BOOK, Goitein, Shelomo Dov, Sanders, Paula, A Mediterranean Society: Daily life, 1967, University of California Press, 0520048695, 180, 402,books.google.com/books?id=UzOvJHFTTeUC, 22 June 2020, After the decline of Mahdia in the 15th and 16th centuries, Susa remained as the most important town in the Sahel region, with a population of about 15,000.

Colonial Sousse

(File:The Tunisian Port of Sousse After Allied Bombing, 4 June 1943 TR1007.jpg|thumb|Damage to the port of Sousse after an Allied bombing raid, June 1943)Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881. Around the end of the 19th century, Sousse had a population of 7,000 and was the second-most-important city in Tunisia after Tunis itself. At this point, the entire population of Sousse lived in the walled medina. The medina was surrounded by agricultural settlements, two of which - Kala Kebira and Msaken - were more densely populated than the city itself. The French Protectorate reinforced Sousse’s role as a commercial and administrative center by establishing public buildings, enlarging the city’s port, and building railways. Between 1896 and 1911, railways were built connecting Sousse with Tunis, Kairouan, Sfax, Mahdia, Moknin, and Henshir Suwatir. Food industries were also established in the city.Before the First World War, Sousse had about 25,000 inhabitants, including around 10,000 French and roughly 5,000 other Europeans, mostly Italians and Maltese. The port was the garrison of the 4th Tunisian Rifle Regiment.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}The first developments outside the medina walls were begun during this period, but they were home to a relatively small number of people until after the Second World War. Sousse was devastated by the war and suffered 39 bombardments between December 1942 and May 1943. In 1946, after the war was over, the authorities decided to give a high priority to reconstruction efforts in Sousse.

Modern Sousse

When Tunisia became independent in 1956, Sousse was made a wileya capital and it continued to expand in all directions. Over the course of the 20th century, its growth was explosive: from just 8,577 residents in 1885, it had grown to 134,835 residents in 1994. Its physical area had also increased massively, from a compact 29 hectares in 1881 to 3,100 hectares in 1992. The secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy also grew accordingly.Sousse has retained the Arabian look and feel it assumed in the centuries after its initial conquest. Today it is considered one of the best examples of seaward-facing fortifications built by the Arabs. With a population of about 200,000, Sousse retains a medieval heart of narrow, twisted streets, a kasbah and medina, its ribat fortress and long wall on the Mediterranean. Surrounding it is a modern city of long, straight roads and more widely spaced buildings.Sousse was the site of the chess interzonal in 1967, made famous when American Grandmaster Bobby Fischer withdrew from the tournament even though he was in first place at the time.The Further Adventures Of Terrible-tempered BobbyOn 26 June 2015, a lone gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi, opened fire on tourists sunbathing on a beach near the Riu Imperial Marhaba and Soviva hotels, killing 38 and wounding 39, before being shot dead by the police.

Cityscape

{{wide image|Sousse-360---25-03-2017.jpg|1200px|Panorama of Sousse |alt=Sousse City}}

Demography

{{historical populations 421800568200579000590100608600621758635122648695662481677500690700703600716600737027| align = right}}As of 2019, Sousse’s population was 737,027.: Sousse – Total Population Males represent 50.1% of the population structure (with a population of 509,456) against 49.9% by females (with a population of 507,426) in 2014.: Sousse Agglomeration

Public services

(File:Tunisie Université de Sousse.jpg|thumb|left|University of Sousse|180px)The city contains the University of Sousse, formerly known as the University of the Center, including its Ibn El Jazzar, Faculty of Medicine, the Sousse National School of Engineers, and the Higher Institute of Music of Sousse, founded in 1999.There are a number of high schools, such as the pilot high school of Sousse, the boys’ high school, the Tahar-Sfar high school (formerly the young girls’ high school), the 20 – March 1934 high school (technical high school), the Abdelaziz-El-Bahi high school or the Jawhara high school, and colleges, such as the Pilot College of Sousse, the Mohamed El Aroui College and the Constantine College.Sousse is served by a hospital, the Hospital of Sahloul, the largest in the region.