Are Tunisians “Arabs?”

[AzizAmri-ld]

I'm from Tunisia, I did DNA test last year and these are my results :
51% North Africa
22% Italian
14% Iberian
8% Ashkenazi Jews
3% Scandinavian
2% Balkan

[maaleladel]

Carthage isn't Simply Punic ( this statement is an oversimplification or at least a common mistake). It's a mixture of punic and lybic people ( Natives or Amazigh to simplify even more) . As a matter of fact, Carthage started first as a trading hub benefiting the Phoenicians primarily. It gained its sovereignty and military might only after a few centuries of Socio-cultural, political, and demographic mixing with locals. That's what separates Carthage from other Phonecian Trading Hubs like Utica, for example, which was established three centuries earlier However it's function remained purely economical.

[baku_m_salti]

As an Arab, I consider Tunisians to be brother that went off and married a foreigner, but still likes to hang out with his Arab family. They may not be completely Arab, but they sure are part of the Arab family. ♥️🇹🇳

[schusterlehrling]

Arabic speaking? Well, that's a point. Descent from the Arab peninsula? Well, most of them actually aren't.

[noname-hfty]

I love how the answers in the comments are already 50/50 😂

[AchrefBamri]

I'm a Tunisian, I did recently DNA test and these are my results :
56.2% : North Africa
18.7% : Sardinian
12.3% : Iberian
11.5% : Italian
1% : Ashkenazi Jews
0.3% : Mongolian (surprised me)

[karimjerbi]

genetically, not Arabs. but definitely Maghrebi Arabic speaking.

[annamix]

Having been to Tunisia before, they’re basically Arabic Italians (or italian Arabs?) that speak French Arabic. The french part of Tunis seems like a completely different country than Carthage or El Jem, which were originally Roman and Sidi Bou Said looks very similar to Santorini Greece. The food is a mix of french and Italian with some middle eastern foods and it’s all haram (no pork). The country is 99.5% Muslim but many are not actively practicing, like how the US could be considered a Christian country, yet most people do not practice Christianity hardcore. It’s beautiful and the people are very open and welcoming. I honestly felt safer walking around by myself there than in my hometown. I would highly recommend visiting! But don’t trust the taxi drivers!!

[RendererEP]

Idk just compromise and make them Maltese or something

[andyjay]

They're related, at least by language. The Berber language, which was the native tongue of the area before the Phoenician Arab migration from the Levant, is also part of the Afroasiatic family along with Arabic (and Hebrew BTW).

[geoffroi-le-Hook]

The scenes from Star Wars set on Tattooine were filmed near Tatouine, Tunisia

[Somm]

Barbs you have to visit your little “could be” ethnic region Tunisia, you’re more than welcome here 🇹🇳

[jowolf]

Most people groups across the globe are mixed at this point. There has been so many conquests, migrations, and other more peaceful interactions between pretty much every culture and people group on earth that there are only two possible reasons for a people to be still be unadulterated - incest or extreme xenophobia (which itself leads to incest inevitably).

[hemantpanwar]

only people from arab peninsula can be called Arab...calling Tunisian arab is a long stretch...

[dousaworldtour]

i'm from Tunisia Yes Tunisia arabs

[BrokenCableSatallite]

So technically they are a mixed race, they don't know?

[mouath_]

Comments think Tunisians origins be that simple. Pure Berbers are only a fraction of a percentage. Carthaginians already were the result of intermarriage between Berbers, Canaanites and a bunch of European people for more than a thousand years, and that's before a million other civilizations enter the place such as the Vandals, the Turks, the Arabs, etc. Tunisia is no joke, that's humanity's history right there. But since it's so hard to scope it without writing a 500p research paper, Tunisians just say arab/berber for ethnicity to simplify and Carthaginian for identity.

[sis]

As a tunisian from a little city near the desert, the ethnicity is actually complicated, in my close family even though peope married inside the same village for decades, i have several uncles that have green eye, cousins that have blue eye, my great grandpa, even though he wasn't to my knowledge link to europe, was really white, and blond with blue eyes, additionally to that, i have a lot of cousins that have like the "arab Phenotype", my self i was described by arab from the golf as "arab" and by a lot of people as "looking turk" so i dont know, from what i know, my village was created by a traveler several hundred years ago who came from the east so like middle East and some people said to me that he was from yemen so yeah it is actually a litte bit complicated and it seems that most of us are from a mix of Mediterranean people with like arabs, maybe ottoman, European like French or Italian, maybe a bit of Lebanese and Palestinian origin, and a part of indigenous people as well so yeah i find it kind of funny that there is this much of Phenotype difference from peope that use to for many years married among them but it is kinda cool, i hope to take a dna text to clearly konw more about my ethnicity

[medgray]

I'm from Tunisia, I don't know much about my genetics. But somehow, I feel Arab, and whenever I meet an Arab from another country, in a foreign country, I feel like he is a relative, like a brother that I've never met. Even if he starts talking to me in English.

[moMoeXe]

Its wrong...tunisians aint no arabs. They are mostly indigenous berber mixed with iberians, italians, vandals, ashkanezian & sephardic jews, ottomans/turks and everything else what is there. It was a hot spot for ancient people because its very near to europe and the door to africa and its not far from the middle east too. Very central point and good weather conditions + trade hub for thousands of years.