Native name: قرقنة (Arabic)
Κέρκιννα(Greek)
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 Kerkennah Islands seen from space | |||||
  Kerkennah Islands | |||||
| Geography | |||||
| Coordinates | 34°42′N11°11′E / 34.700°N 11.183°E /34.700; 11.183 | ||||
| Archipelago | Mediterranean Sea | ||||
| Area | 160 km2 (62 sq mi) | ||||
| Administration | |||||
| Demographics | |||||
| Demonym | Kerkennian | ||||
| Population | 16,439 (2022-04-23) | ||||
Kerkennah Islands (Tunisian Arabic:قرقنةqarqnaⓘ;Ancient Greek:Κέρκιννα Cercinna; Spanish:Querquenes) are a group of islands lying off the east coast ofTunisia in theGulf of Gabès and to the east ofSfax, at34°42′N11°11′E / 34.700°N 11.183°E /34.700; 11.183. The Islands are low-lying, being no more than 13 metres (43 feet)above sea level. The main islands areChergui andGharbi. The archipelago has an area of 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi) and a population of 15,501 (2014).[1]
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Thenatives of Tunisia and Kerkennah originally settled there, but during the spread of theRoman Empire, Kerkennah was used as a port and look-out point by the Romans, to keep note of off-shore activity. In 2 BC,Augustus exiledSempronius Gracchus, a lover ofJulia the Elder, to the islands for 14 years for his indiscretions with his then-married daughter.Greeks called itCercina (Ancient Greek:Κέρκινα)[2][3][4][5][6] andCercinna (Ancient Greek:Κέρκιννα).[7]Strabo andPtolemaeus wrote that the city that was on the island was also called Cercinna (Ancient Greek:Κέρκιννα), same as the island.[7][8]
Among theCatholic bishops whom theArianVandal kingHuneric summoned toCarthage in 484, was a Bishop Athenius ofCercina, the seat of the bishopric being in the most easterly island of the group.[9][10] No longer a residential bishopric, Cercina is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[11]
It was proposed to locate the monastery built in 532 by SaintFulgentius of Ruspe on one of the islets of the group,[9] but it was more recently argued for an identification on theKneiss island.[12]
In 1424, the Kerkennah Islands wereraided by an Aragonese expedition.[13]
During theSecond World War, theBattle of the Tarigo Convoy was fought near the islands on 16 April 1941.
The population of the islands significantly decreased during the 1980s due todrought. The islands were unable to provide suitableirrigation systems and, with clean water rapidly running out, many islanders were forced to leave for mainland Tunisia, the nearest city beingSfax.
Kerkennah's main town,Remla (onChergui), had a population of 2,623 as of Census 2014-04-23.[14]
The islands are warm and dry, with strong prevailing winds. This is mainly due to its positioning in theGulf of Gabes, with strong sea winds (Gharbi), carried over the mainland, making them hot and dry. What little water vapour there is, is lost over cooler Tunisia first. This causes the general ecology of the island to mainly consist of tallxerophytic (and oftenhalophytic) flora, such aspalms andsaltbushes.
The land is arid and there is little agriculture, though the islanders own chickens and goats for their personal consumption.Fishing, especially for octopus, is a key industry of Kerkennah, whence it is exported to mainland Tunisia and nearby countries.
Tourism is limited in Kerkennah and it lacks grandiose sandy beaches. Many mainland Tunisians spend their holidays in Kerkennah, and many more affluent Tunisians often build private second homes on the island. Tourists also come from European countries. Temperatures on the island are high, with a minimum of 4 °C (39 °F) and often reaching 40 °C (104 °F).
The north includes a port known asKraten.
The whole archipelago is an important wintering area formigratory birds.BirdLife international classifies the Kerkennah islands as anImportant Bird Area (code TN026) particularly critical as it constitutes a major migration bottleneck (category A4i) and in that it hosts at time significant populations of some species whose distribution is mostly confined to the Mediterranean North-Africanbiome (i.e. category A3).[15]
In terms of winter-migrating birds,great cormorants,gulls andterns are the most striking: For thegreat cormorantPhalacrocorax carbo between 1,000 and 10,000 individuals can be counted some winters (the migration route can depend on the amount of rains for a given year). For gulls and terns, notable species includingslender-billed gullLarus genei,lesser black-backed gullLarus fuscus,Caspian gullLarus cachinnans,Caspian ternSterna caspia andSandwich ternSterna sandvicensis.[15]
The islands constitute acritical migration bottleneck for 3 species: the previously mentioned great cormorants, theEurasian spoonbill (400–800 individuals) and thegreater flamingo (400 to 1,500 individuals).[15]
In addition, the following 7 species that are mostly restricted to the Mediterranean North African biome see significant populations migrate through the Kerkennah (BirdLife conservation criteria A3):Barbary partridgeAlectoris barbara,Moussier's redstartPhoenicurus moussieri,Western black-eared wheatearOenantha hispanica,Sardinian warblerSylvia melanocephalia,Eastern subalpine warblerSylvia cantillans,spectacled warblerSylvia conspicillata and thespotless starlingsturnus unicolor.[15]
Finally, some species do not simply pass through butbreed on Kerkenah, such as thecommon kestrelFalco tinnunculus, thecream-colored courserCursorius cursor, theEuropean bee-eaterMerops apiaster and theGreat grey shrikeLanius excubitor.[15]
Aside from these birds, the islands are also an important stop-over site each spring and autumn for hundreds of thousands of migrantpasserines. All the islands are classified as hunting reserve, meaning that the hunting of game, including birds, is only allowed at specific times and under license.[15]
TheKerkennah Islands gerbil,Gerbillus simoni zakariai is a subspecies ofGerbillus simoni endemic to the archipelago.[15]
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