Tripolitania

Tripolitania

History of Libya
This article is part of a series
Ancient Libya (before 642 AD)
Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (642-1551)
Ottoman Libya (1551-1912)
Italian colony (1912-1939)
Incorporated Italian Libya (1939-1942)
Allied occupation (1942-1951)
Kingdom of Libya (1951-1969)
Modern Libya (1969-Today)
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This 1-lire airmail stamp, depicting an Arab horseman pointing to an airplane passing overhead, was used in 1931.

Tripolitania or Tripolitana (Arabic: طرابلس, transliterated: Ṭarābulus) is a historic region and former province (muhafazah or wilayah) of Libya, situated alongside Cyrenaica and Fezzan. The system of administrative divisions that included Tripolitania was abolished in the early 1970s in favour of a system of smaller-size municipalities or baladiyat (singular baladiyah). The baladiyat system was subsequently changed many times and has lately become the "Sha'biyat" system. The region that was Tripolitania is now composed of several smaller baladiyat or sha'biyat – see administrative divisions in Libya.

In the old system, Tripolitania included Tripoli, the capital city of Libya and a vast north-western portion of the country; in the subsequent systems, the sha'biyah of Tripoli has become much smaller than the original Tripolitania, including merely the city of Tripoli and its immediate surroundings. Because the city and the sha'biyah are nowadays almost coextensive, the term "Tripolitania" has more historical than contemporary value. In Arabic the same word ( طرابلس ) is used for both the city and the region, and that word, used alone, would be understood to mean only the city; in order to designate Tripolitania in Arabic, a qualifier such as "state", "province" or "sha'biyah" is required.

[edit] Historical background

The region was originally inhabited by Berbers; in the 7th century BC Phoenicians settled in colonies along the coast, which later came under the control of Carthage. Numidia captured it in 146 BC, then the Romans came a century later, under whom Tripolitania became a prosperous area. The Vandals took over in 435, and were in turn supplanted by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. The Arabs swept through in the 7th century. The Ottoman Turks took charge in 1553, and kept it as the "vilayet of Tripoli" until 1911, when it was captured by Italy in the Italo-Turkish War.

Italy officially granted autonomy after the war, but gradually occupied the region. Originally administered as part of a single colony, Tripolitania was a separate colony from 26 June 1927 to 3 December 1934, when it was merged into Libya.

During World War II Libya was occupied by the Allies and until 1947 Tripolitania (and the region of Cyrenaica) were administered by the United Kingdom. Italy formally renounced its claim upon the territory in the same year.

[edit] Colonial and postcolonial heads of Tripolitania

Tripolitania existed as a political entity (a state or welaiya) at least since early Ottoman times (if not before in Islamic or Roman times), the list below starts from 1911 (onset of the Italian colonization era). See the timeline under external links, below, for a more comprehensive.

Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office.

[edit] See also

• Postage stamps of Tripolitania
• Karamanli dynasty
• In addition to Tripoli the following are among the largest and most important cities of Tripolitania: Misratah, Az Zawiyah, Gharyan, Al Khums, Tarhuna and Sirt.
• Libyan resistance movement

[edit] External links

• Tripolitania timeline
• Map of Tripolitania showing its important cities and towns.
• Worldstatesmen.org's History and list of rulers of Tripolitania.
• Hostkingdom.net's History and list of rulers of Tripolitania.
• Brief history of Tripolitania

[edit] Notes