Tunisia Emigration and Immigration

Online Sources

 * 1878-1960 UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, at Ancestry.com, index and images. ($)
 * 1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1892-1924 New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924 Search results for Tunisia
 * 1946-1971 Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971 Ancestry, free. Index and images. Passenger lists of immigrants leaving Germany and other European ports and airports between 1946-1971. The majority of the immigrants listed in this collection are displaced persons - Holocaust survivors, former concentration camp inmates and Nazi forced laborers, as well as refugees from Central and Eastern European countries and some non-European countries.

British Overseas Subjects

 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, Tunisia, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages, Tunisia, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, Tunisia, index and images, ($)

Finding the Town of Origin in Tunisia
If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Tunisia, see Tunisia Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Tunisia Emigration and Immigration
"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Immigration into Tunisia

 * After several attempts starting in 647, Muslims conquered all of Tunisia by 697, bringing Islam and Arab culture to the local inhabitants.
 * The Ottoman Empire established control in 1574 and held sway for over 300 years.
 * The French conquered Tunisia in 1881.
 * Under French colonization, European settlements in the country were actively encouraged; the number of French colonists grew from 34,000 in 1906 to 144,000 in 1945. In 1910 there were 105,000 Italians in Tunisia.
 * From the late 19th century to the period after World War II, Tunisia was home to large populations of French and Italians (255,000 Europeans in 1956), although nearly all of them, along with the Jewish population, left after Tunisia became independent.
 * The history of the Jews in Tunisia goes back some 2,000 years. In 1948, the Jewish population was estimated at 105,000, but by 2013 only about 1000 remained.
 * Tunisia gained independence in 1957.

Emigration From Tunisia

 * Statistics of the Office of Tunisians Abroad show more than 128,000 Tunisian families in Europe with a concentration in France and Germany.
 * KNOMAD Statistics: Emigrants: 670,900. Top destination countries: France, Italy, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium