Habib Bourguiba in the context of "Neo Destour"

Avenue Habib Bourguiba (Tunisian Arabic: شارع حبيب بورڨيبة) is the central thoroughfare of Tunis, and the historical political and economic heart of Tunisia. It is named for Habib Bourguiba, the first President of Tunisia and the national leader of the Tunisian independence movement. Today, the broad Avenue aligned in an east-west direction, lined with trees and facades of shops, and fronted with street cafes on both sides, and which is compared to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, and its extension, the Avenue de France, Place de l'Indépendance marking the central roundabout with Lake of Tunis at the eastern end. Many of the important monuments are located along this avenue, including Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul, French Embassy in Tunisia and Théâtre municipal de Tunis.

Most cities in Tunisia also have an Avenue Habib Bourguiba.

Tunisian independence was a process that occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and an independence movement, led by Habib Bourguiba. Bourguiba's negotiations with France succeeded in ending the colonial protectorate and achieving independence. He subsequently became the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia following the elections of the Constituent Assembly.

The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Republic of Tunisia (Arabic: رئيس الجمهورية التونسية, romanized: Ra'īs al-Jumhūriyyah at-Tūnisiyyah), is the executive head of state of Tunisia. The president exercises executive power with the assistance of a government headed by the prime minister in a presidential system and is the commander-in-chief of the Tunisian Armed Forces. Under the Constitution, the president is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years, renewable once.

The first president of the Tunisian Republic when the position was created on 25 July 1957 was Habib Bourguiba, who remained in power for 30 years until he was removed through the coup of 7 November 1987, by his prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who appointed himself President of the Republic, and in turn remained in power for 23 years, until his fall in the Tunisian revolution on 14 January 2011. He then appointed Fouad Mebazaa as interim president, until he handed over power on 13 December 2011 to the politician Moncef Marzouki, the first democratic president in the country's history, who was elected by the Constituent Assembly.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Arabic: زَيْن الْعَابِدِين بْن عَلِيّ, romanized: Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn bin ʿAliyy, Tunisian Arabic: Zīn il-ʿĀbdīn bin ʿAlī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine, was a Tunisian politician, military officer and dictator who served as the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tunisian revolution, he was overthrown and fled to Saudi Arabia.

Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987. He assumed the Presidency on 7 November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état that ousted President Habib Bourguiba by declaring him incompetent. Ben Ali led an authoritarian regime. He was reelected in several non-democratic elections where he won with enormous majorities, each time exceeding 90% of the vote, his final re-election coming on 25 October 2009. Ben Ali was the penultimate surviving leader deposed in the Arab Spring; he was survived by Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, the latter dying in February 2020.

The prime minister of Tunisia (Arabic: رئيس حكومة تونس, romanized: re’īs ḥukūmet Tūnis) is the head of the executive branch of the government of Tunisia. The prime minister directs the executive branch along with the president and, together with the prime minister's cabinet, is accountable to the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, to the prime minister's political party and, ultimately, to the electorate for the policies and actions of the executive and the legislature.

The office was established by Monarch Ali II with the appointment of Rejeb Khaznadar as the inaugural officeholder in 1759. The office was revived again in the republican system by Habib Bourguiba with the appointment of Bahi Ladgham in 1969. The constitution of 1959 established a presidential system where the president was both the head of state and the head of government. Bourguiba transferred some of his powers to the prime minister who had a ceremonial role. After the Tunisian Revolution in 2011, the prime minister was granted major attributions and shares the executive authority with the president. 2022 Tunisian constitutional referendum turned Tunisia into a presidential republic, giving the president sweeping powers while largely limiting the role of the parliament.

The Kingdom of Tunisia (French: Royaume de Tunisie; Arabic: المملكة التونسية el-Mamlka et-Tūnsīya) was a short-lived country established as a monarchy on 20 March 1956 after Tunisian independence and the end of the French protectorate period. It lasted for a period of one year and five months between 20 March 1956, the day of the independence, until 25 July 1957, the day of the declaration of the republic. Its sole monarch was Muhammad VIII al-Amin (also known as Lamine Bey) who appointed the prime ministers Tahar Ben Ammar and Habib Bourguiba.

On 25 July 1957, the monarchy was abolished with Tunisia reorganizing as a republic. The National Constituent Assembly, the country's legislature, appointed Bourguiba as head of state until the 1959 general elections, which Bourguiba won.

Constituent Assembly elections were held in Tunisia on 25 March 1956, five days after independence. The result was a victory for the National Union, an alliance of the Neo Destour party, the Tunisian General Labour Union, the National Union of Tunisian Farmers and the Tunisian Union of Craftsmen and Merchants, which won all 98 seats, with the opposition Communists and independents only receiving a combined 1% of the vote. Following the election, Habib Bourguiba was appointed Prime Minister of a Neo Destour-dominated government. Voter turnout was 84%.

Tabarka (Arabic: طبرقة Ṭbarqa) is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, close to the border with Algeria. Tabarka was occupied at various times by Punics, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Genoese and Ottomans. The town is dominated by an offshore rock on which there remains a Genoese castle. Nationalist leader Habib Bourguiba, later president of post-independence Tunisia, was exiled on Tabarka by the French colonial authorities in 1952. Tourist attractions include coral fishing, the Coralis Festival of underwater photography, and its annual jazz festival.