Tripolitania

Tripolitania

Tripolitania (trĭpˌəlĭtāˈnēə), historic region, W Libya, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. Tripoli is the chief city. The original inhabitants of the region were probably Berbers. In the 7th cent. B.C. the Phoenicians established colonies on the coast at Leptis, Oea (later Tripoli), and Sabratha. The coastal zone was later held by Carthage and was taken by Numidia in 146 B.C. Rome captured Tripolitania in 46 B.C., and in the following centuries, as Roman rule was extended far into the south, the region prospered as a trade and agricultural center. In A.D. 435, Tripolitania fell to the Vandals, and it was captured by the Byzantines a century later. In the 7th cent. the Arabs gained control of Tripolitania, and from the 9th to the 11th cent. numerous Arabs settled there. The Normans briefly held the region in the mid-12th cent., and from the mid-13th to the mid-15th cent. Tripolitania was ruled from Tunisia. The Ottoman Turks captured the region in 1553 and it became a stronghold of Barbary pirates. For later history, see Libya.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Tripolitania

 

a historical region in Libya.

In the early first millennium B.C., three Phoenician colonies— Sabratha, Leptis Magna, and Oea (now Tripoli)—were founded in the coastal area of the region. In the late sixth century B.C., these colonies achieved partial independence and, together with the lands under their control, constituted the region of Tripolita-nia. From the mid-fifth to the late third century B.C., Tripolitania was under the control of Carthage, and from the late third century B.C., of Numidia. It was conquered by Rome in the late second or the first century B.C. In the fifth century A.D. it was captured by the Vandals, and in the sixth century, by Byzantium; in the mid-seventh century it became part of the Arab Caliphate. In the early 16th century Tripolitania was conquered by Spain. In 1551 it became a vilayet (province) of the Ottoman Empire; from 1711 to 1835 it was ruled by the virtually independent Karamanli Dynasty. In the 1840’s and 1850’s the Libyans staged anti-Ottoman rebellions.

After the Italo-Turkish War (1911–12), part of Tripolitania was occupied by Italian troops (by the late 1920’s, the entire re gion had been occupied). In November 1918, through the efforts of liberation movements in Tripolitania, an independent republic was proclaimed, but it existed only until August 1919. Later, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan, united in 1939 under the authority of an Italian governor-general, were named Libya. In 1943, during World War II (1939–45), Tripolitania was occupied by British troops. From December 1951 to May 1963 it was a province of independent Libya, and in 1963 it was abolished as an administrative unit.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tripolitania

the NW part of Libya: established as a Phoenician colony in the 7th century bc; taken by the Turks in 1551 and became one of the Barbary states; under Italian rule from 1912 until World War II

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005