MUNASTIR, AL-

also spelled Monastir, Latin Ruspinum, city, eastern Tunisia. It lies at the tip of a small peninsula protruding into the Mediterranean Sea between the Gulf of Hammamet and the Bay of al-Munastir. The ruins of Ruspinum, a Phoenician and Roman settlement, are 3 miles (5 km) to the west of the city. Al-Munastir is now a port and, with adjacent Saqanis (Skanes), forms a fashionable beach resort complex that is served by an international airport. Its industries include textile milling (especially wool) and the manufacture of salt, soap, and olive oil. The city has a noted ribat (monastery-fortress), founded in AD 180, to which it owes its name; several old mosques; and a modern mosque, completed in 1968 and dedicated to Tunisia's first president, Habib Bourguiba, who was born in al-Munastir. Pop. (1989 est.) 47,807.