Kerkennah Islands  Kerkennah Islands ( "") are a group of islands lying off the east coast of Tunisia in the Gulf of Gabès, at . The Islands are low-lying, being no more than above sea level. The main islands are Chergui and Gharbi. The archipelago has an area of and a population of 15,501 (2014). Kerkennah's main town, Remla (on Chergui), has a population of 2,000. The population of the islands significantly decreased during the 1980s due to drought. The islands were unable to provide suitable irrigation systems and, with clean water rapidly running out, many islanders were forced to leave for mainland Tunisia, the nearest town being Sfax. The natives of Tunisia and Kerkennah originally settled there, but during the spread of the Roman 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 exiled Sempronius Gracchus, a lover of Julia the Elder, to the islands for 14 years for his indiscretions with his then-married daughter. Greeks called it Cercina () and Cercinna (). Strabo and Ptolemaeus wrote that also the city that was on the island was called Cercinna (), same as the island. Among the Catholic bishops whom the Arian Vandal king Huneric summoned to Carthage in 484, was a Bishop Athenius of Cercina, the seat of the bishopric being in the most easterly island of the group. No longer a residential bishopric, Cercina is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. In 532, Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe built a monastery on one of the islets of the group. In World War 2, the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy was fought near the islands on 16 April 1941. The islands are warm and dry, with strong prevailing winds. This is mainly due to its positioning in the Gulf 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 tall xerophytic (and often halophytic) flora, such as palms and saltbushes. The land is arid and there is little agriculture, though the islanders own chickens and goats for their own personal consumption.