Sousse

views updated May 21 2018

SOUSSE

Northeast coastal town in Tunisia on the Gulf of Hammamet.

Sousse (also Susa; ancient Hadrumetum) was founded as a Phoenician commercial post and became the center of Sousse province under French colonialism (after the protectorate of 1881). After the independence of Tunisia in 1956, it was made the center of the Sousse governorate. In 2002, its estimated population was 177,450. It is a busy port, handling mostly phosphates and olive oil, and the tourist trade centers on a well-preserved medieval Islamic fortress.

matthew s. gordon