1. A former Barbary state on the northern coast of Africa south and west of the ancient city of Carthage. It was conquered by the Turks in 1575 and later became a French protectorate (1881). 2. The capital and largest city of Tunisia, in the northern part of the country on the Gulf of Tunis, an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea. It occupies a site near the ruins of ancient Carthage. Population: 596,654.