Sfax

Sfax, Tunisia Sifaks / ⵙⵉⴼⴰⴽⵙ / صفاقس
Hédi Chaker Street in Sfax
Sfax
Coordinates: 34°44′N 10°46′E / 34.733°N 10.767°E / 34.733; 10.767Coordinates: 34°44′N 10°46′E / 34.733°N 10.767°E / 34.733; 10.767
Country	Tunisia
Governorates	Sfax Governorate
Government
• Mayor	Moncef Abdelhedi
Population (2014)
• Total	330,440
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)

Sfax (Arabic: صفاقس‎‎  Ṣfāqes; Berber: Sifaks) is a city in Tunisia, located 270 km (170 mi) southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a population of 330,440 (census 2014). The main economic activities of Sfax are industries (phosphate processing), agriculture (olive and olive oil, nuts), fishing (largest fishing port in Tunisia) and trade (import-export). The city is often described as Tunisia's "second city" (after the capital Tunis).

During the Roman Empire Sfax was a town called Taparura.

By the end of the 10th century, Sfax, had become an independent city-state. The city was conquered by Roger II of Sicily in 1148 and occupied until it was liberated in 1156 by local forces, and was briefly occupied by European forces again; this time by the Spanish, in the 16th century, before falling into Ottoman hands this time. Sfax became an integral base of the Barbary piracy, prompting an unsuccessful invasion by Venice in 1785.