TUNISIA | THE GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
Tunisia is distinguished as the country with the second most number of unique Star Wars film sites. Spread across more than some 500 kilometers of diverse geography and climate in southern Tunisia, the film sites (12 total) range from remote Saharan landscape locations to historic heritage structures in coastal and hilltop settings.
Fictional Tatooine scenes collectively shot at the film sites by Lucasfilm in March/April 1976, July/August 1997, and September 2000 appear in four Skywalker saga live-action movies: A New Hope (7 sites), The Phantom Menace (6 sites), Attack of the Clones (3 sites), and Revenge of the Sith (1 site). Disney purchased in 2019 third-party footage from Tunisia (1 site) for The Mandalorian (Chapter 5: “The Gunslinger”) live-action series.
Tunisian architecture, landscape, and names/references are ubiquitous in Star Wars canon. Fictional Tatooine in many respects is a direct reflection of Tunisia. No other real-world destination offers the same level of organic immersion into the Star Wars universe.
Tunisia is also synonymous with Indiana Jones tourism. An assortment of film sites (5 total)—spanning from rugged desert settings in southern Tunisia to UNESCO-identified cities in central Tunisia—were used to produce extensive footage set in both Egypt and Greece for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). In many ways the visuals, dialogue, and stunts shot in Tunisia set the tone for the entire Indiana Jones franchise.
