Tunisia was once ruled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzanites, Vandals, Arabs, Amazigh/Berber kingdoms, Ottomans, and French.  The nation gained its independence from France in 1956 under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba.

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The dinar (Arabic: دينار, French: Dinar, ISO 4217 currency code: TND) is the currency of Tunisia. It is subdivided into 1000 milim or millimes (ملّيم). The abbreviation DT is often used in Tunisia, although writing “dinar” after the amount is also acceptable (TND is less colloquial, and tends to be used more in financial circles); the abbreviation TD is also mentioned in a few places, but is less frequently used, given the common use of the French language in Tunisia, and the French derivation of DT (i.e., Dinar tunisien).

The name “dinar” is derived from the Roman denarius, used in the Africa province, the antique territory of Carthage, modern day Tunisia

The dinar was introduced in 1960, having been established as a unit of account in 1958. It replaced the franc at a rate of 1000 francs = 1 dinar. The dinar did not follow the devaluation of the French franc in 1958, thus the exchange rate peg was abandoned. Instead a peg to the United States dollar of 1 dinar = 2.38 dollars was established which was maintained until 1964, when the dinar devalued to 1 dinar = 1.90 dollars. This second rate was held until the dollar was devalued in 1971.

Tunisia had a historically low inflation. The dinar was less volatile in 2000–2010 than the currencies of its oil-importing neighbors, Egypt and Morocco. Inflation was 4.9% in fiscal year 2007–08 and 3.5% in fiscal year 2008–09.^{[citation needed]} However, the value of the currency has been falling since then, and between 2008 and 2018, the dinar depreciated by about 55% against the U.S. dollar, from 76¢ to 34¢, and about 46% against the euro, from 55 cents to 30 cents.

It is a criminal offence in Tunisia to import or export dinar. Every year, each citizen can convert into foreign currency up to 6,000 Tunisian dinars before departure from the country.^[10] Therefore, prices at duty-free shops are in convertible currencies such as euros, US dollars and British pounds. There are many converting ATMs in the country for tourists.

• • Carthaginian shekel
  • Denarius
  • Tunisian rial or piastre
  • Tunisian Franc