Sfax, the City
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Sfax (صفاقس) is the second largest city in Tunisia with a population of over 340,000, and is known as a city of business. Located approximately 270 kilometers from the capital of Tunis, the city has an important economic role in the country as a center of industry, agriculture, fishing and tourism.
Sfax is rich with thousands of years of history as a Mediterranean port and trading center on the Gulf of Gabes. Founded on the ruins of earlier Punic cities in 849 AD, Sfax saw foreign powers come and go over 1200 years before Tunisian independence in 1956.
Sfax is also home to several prominent universities, including l’Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax (engineering), l’Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Sfax (business), la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sfax (humanities) and la Faculté de Médecine de Sfax (medicine).