Bizerte

Bizerte (Arabic: بنزرت, romanized: Binzart, Tunisian Arabic pronunciation: [bɪnzɑrt] ^ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of Bizerte Governorate in northern Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40 mi) north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under French control after the rest of the country won its independence from France. The city had 162,053 inhabitants in 2014.

The classical name of Bizerte, Hippo, is the latinization of a Punic name (Punic: 𐤏𐤐𐤅‬𐤍, ʿpwn), probably related to the word ûbôn, meaning "harbor". To distinguish it from Hippo Regius (the modern Annaba, in Algeria), the Greeks and Romans used several epithets. Scylax of Caryanda mentions it as Hippo Acra and Hippo Polis ("Hippo the City"). Polybius mentions it as Hippo Diarrhytus (Ancient Greek: Ἱππὼν διάρρυτος, Hippōn Diárrhytos), "Hippo Divided-by-the-Water", in reference to the town's prominent canal. It also appears in Roman, Vandal, and Byzantine sources as Hippo Zarytus. Its Arabic name Binzart (بنزرت) and the French and English forms derived from it all represent phonetic developments of its ancient name.

Arab armies took Bizerte in 647 in their first invasion of the area, but the city reverted to control from Constantinople until the Byzantines were defeated and finally driven from North Africa in 695–98. The troops of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire captured the city in 1535; the Turks took it in 1574. The city then became a corsair harbour associated to the Ottoman Tunisia and struggled against the French, the Venetians and the Spanish viceroyalty of Sicily.

With its occupation of Tunisia in 1881, France gained control of Bizerte and built a large naval harbour in the city.

In 1924, after the French government officially recognized the Soviet Union (USSR), the western military fleet of White Russia that had been kept in the port of Bizerte was returned to the Soviet government. The ships were never moved from the port and finally were sold there as scrap metal.

In March 1939, towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republican Navy Commander Miguel Buiza ordered the evacuation of the bulk of the Republican fleet. Three cruisers, eight destroyers and two submarines left Cartagena harbor and reached Bizerte, where the French authorities impounded them.

During the Second World War, the German and Italian armies occupied Bizerte until Allied troops defeated them on 7 May 1943. During the fighting between the Allied forces and the German Army, many of the city's inhabitants fled to the countryside or to Tunis. The city suffered significant damage during the battle.

Due to Bizerte's strategic location on the Mediterranean, France retained control of the city and their naval base after Tunisian independence in 1956. In 1961 Tunisian forces blockaded the area of Bizerte and demanded French withdrawal. The face-off escalated when a French helicopter took off and drew fire. The French brought in reinforcements; when these were fired upon, France took decisive military action against the Tunisian forces. Using superior weapons and decisive force the French took Bizerte and Menzel Bourguiba. During three days in July 1961, 700 Tunisians died (1200 wounded); the French lost 24 dead (100 wounded).