Menzel Bourguiba

Menzel Bourguiba, also spelled Manzil Bū Ruqaybah, formerly Ferryville, town located in north-central Tunisia. It lies on the southwestern shore of Lake Bizerte, 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Bizerte town and the Mediterranean Sea. Menzel Bourguiba, which is of modern origin, owes its development to the adjacent naval base and dockyard at Sidi Abdallah (Sīdī ʿAbd Allāh) and was named after Tunisia’s first president, Habib Bourguiba. Although its prosperity declined considerably following the French evacuation of naval installations in 1963, the town and its economy were greatly rejuvenated after the establishment of an iron and steel complex, an automobile assembly plant, and metallurgical and chemical industries; it is now also the home of several large garment-producing factories. Roads and a railway link Menzel Bourguiba with Bizerte. Pop. (2004) 47,742.