Bizerte Governorate

Bizerte Governorate (Arabic: ولاية بنزرت Wilāyat Benzart pronounced [bɑnˈzɑrt]; French: Gouvernorat de Bizerte) is the northernmost of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia, approximately rectangular and having a long north coast. It covers an area of 3,750 km² including two large lakes, one coastal hence saline and one freshwater being the World Heritage Site, Ichkeul lake.^[1] It had a population of 607,388 (2024).^[3] The capital is Bizerte which stands principally on inlet between Bizerte lake and the Mediterranean. The offshore Galite Islands are part of the governorate, as are the ruins of the ancient city of Utica.

Bizerte Governorate ولاية بنزرت
Governorate
Map of Tunisia with Bizerte highlighted
Coordinates: 37°16′N 9°52′E
Country	Tunisia
Created	1956[1]
Capital	Bizerte
Government
• Governor	Salem Ben Yacoub (since 2024) [2]
Area
• Total	3,750 km2 (1,450 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 13th of 24
Population  (2024)
• Total	607,388
• Rank	Ranked 7th of 24
• Density	160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01 (CET)
Postal prefix	xx
ISO 3166 code	TN-23

Geography

The governorate is centered 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the capital and borders the governorates of Ariana, Béja and Manouba.

The average temperature is 22.75 °C and annual rainfall is 300-800 millimeters.^[1]

Administrative divisions

Administratively, the governorate is divided into fourteen delegations (mutamadiyat), thirteen municipalities, seven rural councils, and 102 sectors (imadas).^[1] The delegations and their populations from the 2004 and 2014 censuses,^[3] are listed below:

Delegations of Bizerte Governorate
(Zarzouna is not shown)

Delegation	Area km2	Population 2004	Population 2014
Bizerte Nord	53.52	75,234	87,307
Bizerte Sud	398.75	45,227	55,659
Djoumine	...	35,213	29,029
El Alia	...	24,539	27,075
Ghar El Melh	...	18,525	19,477
Ghezala	...	27,799	26,977
Mateur	...	47,562	46,975
Menzel Bourguiba	...	54,804	61,919
Menzel Jemil	...	39,691	47,224
Ras Jabel	...	51,240	58,241
Sejenane	...	42,156	40,166
Tinja	...	19,444	23,455
Utique	...	18,266	19,922
Zarzouna	7.12	24,428	24,793

The following thirteen municipalities are located in Bizerte Governorate:

Code	Municipality	Population (2014)[4]
1711	Bizerte	136,917
1712	Sejnane	5,645
1713	Mateur	34,010
1714	Menzel Bourguiba	54,536
1715	Tinja	21,139
1716	Ghar al Milh	5,345
1717	Aousja	5,126
1718	Menzel Jemil	22,238
1719	Menzel Abderrahmane	19,078
1720	El Alia	18,359
1721	Ras Jebel	28,610
1722	Metline	9,904
1723	Raf Raf	9,850

Governors

A historical list of Governors of Bizerte Governorate since the independence in 1956:

• Mohsen Nouira (1956-1959)
• Mohamed Belamine (1959-1961)
• Naceur Ben Jaafar (1961-1964)
• Hédi Baccouche (1964-1967)
• Mongi Kooli (1967-31 -December 1969)
• Abdeljelil Mehiri (January-August 1970)
• Abdesselem Ghedira (1970-1971)
• Mezri Chekir (1971-1972)
• Slim Aloulou (1972-1975)
• Abdelmalek Laarif (1975-1980)
• Tahar Berrejeb (1980-1981)
• Rabah Dekhili (1981-1984)
• Salem Mansouri (1984-1987)
• Habib Sayhi (1987-1990)
• Mohamed Rahmani (1990-2 July 1991)
• Mohamed Ben Rejeb (2 July 1991-15 June 1993)
• Mohamed Soudani (15 June 1993-1995)
• Mohamed Ridha Mokrani (1995-1998)
• Sadok Marzouk (1998-2000)
• Mohamed Habib Brahem (2000-2004)
• Mehdi Chabbah (2004-2005)
• Salem Jribi (2005-2011)
• Chokri Belhassen (2 February 2011)
• Mohamed Hechmi Blouza (4 February 2011)
• Mohamed Hefdhi Mrabet (15 February 2011-22 February 2012)
• Nabil Nsiri (22 February-27 August 2012)
• Abderrazak Ben Khelifa (27 August 2012^[5]-24 August 2013)
• Ridha Lahouel (24 August 2013^[6]-14 February 2015)
• Mnaouer Ouertani (14 February 2015^[7]-16 September 2016)
• Mohamed Gouider (16 September 2016^[8]-12 August 2021)
• Samir Abdellaoui (12 August 2021^[9]-8 September 2024)
• Salem Ben Yacoub (since 8 September 2024^[10][11])