Lake of Tunis

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

The Lake of Tunis (البحيرة El Bahira, 'Lac de Tunis') is a natural lagoon located between the Tunisian capital city of Tunis and the Gulf of Tunis (Mediterranean Sea). The lake covers a total of 37 square kilometres, about 14 square miles, in contrast to its size its depth is very shallow. It was once the natural harbour of Tunis.

History

The connection Tunis-Carthage was very important to the Romans as it meant control over the fertile hinterland. The Romans therefore built a dam through the lake. The dam is used today as an expressway for automobiles and railway connecting Tunis to the harbour La Goulette and the coastal cities of Carthage, Sidi Bou Said, and La Marsa.
The northern lake includes the island of Chikly, once home to a Spanish stronghold, and is now (since 1993) a nature reserve.

Due to the lake's continuing aggradation during the 19th century, the French colonial force traversed the lake with a 6 mi long, 150 ft wide, and 20 ft deep canal.

Development

Recently, the Tunisian government and Sama Dubai of the UAE (led by Dubai Governor Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) have joint-ventured an investment agreement to develop the southern shore of the lake into a new commercial, residential and touristic center in Tunisia and the Mediterranean. Total costs of the investment, considered the biggest in history in Tunisia, will be around 18 Billion USD. The project should be ready in the next 10 to 15 years.

References

• The equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 28 February, 2006)

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday December 29, 2007 at 09:05:32 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation