The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is the point of convergence of Tunisia's major road and rail networks.

[1] La Goulette is linked to Tunis by the TGM railway and to Europe by a ferry service.

[2] The name derives from the "gullet" or "river's throat", a channel where the city is located, and not from the ship type schooner, called goélette, gulet, goleta or goletta in French, Turkish, Spanish and Italian.

[citation needed] In addition to its transit and cruise activities, the port of La Goulette also receives ships carrying cargoes such as cars, bulk cereals.

It handles a large portion of the country's imports and much of its exports (principally phosphates, iron ore, and fruits and vegetables).