Islands Of Tunisia

 

We start off our Island month with a look at Tunisia, located in North Africa. This country has been a crossroads for various civilizations over the course of history including Romans,Phoenicians, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks and the French.

It is generally divided into 24 governorates and 4 big Island groups.

The 4 Island groups are:

1. Djerba
2. Galite
   1. La Galite
   2. Le Galiton
   3. La Fauchelle
   4. Gallo
   5. Pollastro
   6. Gallina
   7. Ecueil Des Sorelles
3. Kerkenna
   1. Chergui
   2. Gharbi
   3. Roumedia
4. Zembra

Djerba is the largest of these islands. It is actually the largest island off the coast of North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes. The largest city on Djerba which has an area of 514 square km, is Houmt-Souk. The total population of the island is 120,000.

It is a popular tourist destination with its beaches being frequented by tourists from all over Europe. It is also home to some history, being the birthplace of two Roman emperors, Trebonianus Galles and Volusianus.

From the football perspective, Djerba and more specifically the capital Houmt-Souk is home to a Tunisien Ligue Professionelle 2 (2nd tier) side, A.S. Djerba (Association Sportive de Djerba). Founded in 1946, A.S. Djerba plays at Stade Houmet Es'Souk which has a capacity of 12,000. They currently lie in 5th spot.

Another team from the island is E.S. Jerba Midoun (Espoir Sportif de Jerba)located in the town of Midoun, who currently play in the Tunisien Ligue Professionelle 3 (the 3rd tier), having been relegated in season 2007/08. Their ground, Stade de Midoun, has a capacity of 10,000. Their main achievement has been winning the Coupe de la Ligue Professionelle 2000/01 against Selection 2001. They also won the now defunct Coupe de la Ligue Professionelle 2 against Jendouba Sport on penalties.

U.S. Ettihad d'Ajim is another club from the small town of Ajim, population 20,000. They lost to E.M. Mahdia by a scoreline of 3-0 in the last Tunisian Cup.It was the location for parts of Star Wars movies.

Djerba:

1. A.S. Djerba
2. E.S. Jerba Midoun
3. U.S. d'Ajim

Galite:

This is a rocky group of islands located northwest of Cape Serrat. The main island in the group is La Galite which is 5.4 square km long. The total area of the whole group is 9 square km. The only population on La Galite is a few fishermen with their families. No club teams exist on La Galite or any other of these islets. The only possibility for soccer/football activity is among the fishermens and their families and only informal kickabouts.

La Galiton is 0.4 square km in area. Its only prominent feature is a lighthouse.It is considered a nature reserve now with no inhabitants. Same goes for even tinier La Fauchelle, which is 137 meter high.

The East Galitons group of Galite Islands is actually 3 rocks, Gallo,Pollastro and Gallina. Galllo is 119 meter high and largest among these three. There are no inhabitants and no soccer activity, past or present documented.

Consisting of 2 shallow rocky patches, the reefs of Ecueil des Sorelles, actually only 2 meters high concrete block stands out of water. Again, no possibility of any soccer, past or present.

Teams:

0

Kerkennah:

Lying in the Gulf of Gabes off the east coast of mainland, this archipelago has an area of 160 square km and a population of 14,400.. Chergui and Gharbi are the two main islands.

Remla is the main town located in Chergui island.

Kerkennah Islands are surprisingly represented on the football scene by O.C. Kerkennah (Oceano Club de Kerkennah).They currently play in the Tunisien Ligue Professionelle 3 (3rd tier). They were founded in 1963 and play their games in Stade de la cite El-Habib, which is actually located on the mainland in Sfax.They used to play in the main city of Remla in a stadium called Farhat Hached Stadium.Amazingly, this small team has played in the top professional level for 13 years and only recently suffered the torments of relegation, first to 2nd level in 97' and now to third level. Their titles include:

• Espoirs Cup
• National C League cup
• Honors Division
• Second division

Main town in Gharbi island is Mellita. No mention of any soccer activity, although it is highly likely that school level football is played and there is a town team playing at regional Sfax division.

Roumedia is an uninhabited island north of Chergui.No soccer activity.

Safnou is another uninhabited island of the north east coast of Chergui.No soccer activity.

Ghermedi is another uninhabited island. It is only separated by 500 meters from Chergui. No soccer activity.

Teams:

1. O.C. Kerkennah

Zembra:

Only 432 meter tall, this tall rock formation is manned by an outpost of the Tunisian army. There used to be an ancient port on the southern side. No soccer teams. Possibility of pickup soccer among army personnel.