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'''Tunis''' ({{lang-ar|تونس}} ''{{audio|help=no|tounes bel tounsi.wav|Tūnis}}'') is the capital and largest city of [[Tunisia]]. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants, making it the third-largest city in the [[Maghreb]] region (after [[Casablanca]] and [[Algiers]]) and the [[List of largest cities in the Arab world|sixteenth-largest]] in the [[Arab world]].
Situated on a large [[Mediterranean Sea]] gulf (the [[Gulf of Tunis]]), behind the [[Lake of Tunis]] and the port of [[La Goulette]] (Ḥalq il-Wād), the city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it. At its core lies [[Medina of Tunis|its ancient medina]], a [[World Heritage Site]]. East of the medina through the Sea Gate (also known as the ''[[Bab el Bhar]]'' and the ''Porte de France'') begins the modern city, or Ville Nouvelle, traversed by the grand [[Avenue Habib Bourguiba]] (often referred to by popular press and travel guides as "the Tunisian [[Champs-Élysées]]"), where the colonial-era buildings provide a clear contrast to smaller, older structures. Further east by the sea lie the suburbs of [[Carthage (municipality)|Carthage]], [[La Marsa]], and [[Sidi Bou Said]]. As the [[capital city]] of the country, Tunis is the focus of Tunisian political and administrative life
== Etymology ==
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