Tripolitania
Tripolitania طرابلس | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Capital | Tripoly |
| Largest city | Cyrene |
| Official languages | Arabic and English |
| Minority languages | |
| Demonym | Tripolitan(ian) Tripoline |
Tripolitania (from Greek Τριπολιτάνια; Arabic: طرابلس, Ṭrablɘs or Ṭarábulus) is a country in northern Africa laying on the 30th parallel north. The country is mainly covered by an arid desert, with the littoral boasting a Mediterranean climate. Tripolitania is bordered by the Libyan Sea to the north; Tunisia, Tawareck, and Shamba to the west; Todaga to the south, and Egypt to the east. The country is a member of the Organization of Democratic Nations.
History
The country was under direct Ottoman rule from 1511 to the mid-18th century. Tripolitania's economy was almost entirely focused on the trans-Saharan slave trade, the exportation of salt, piracy, and Mediterranean commerce. In 1758, the Turco-Maltese renegade and molla Mustafa Kerfishi overthrew the Ottoman pascha at Tripoly, establishing the Kerfishi dynasty alongside a government that would rule Tripolitania autonomously for centuries to come.
During the Great War, a joint Anglo-Tunisian force invaded Tripolitania in February 1938 in order to dismantle Ottoman authority in the region. After the Russo-Persian War, the country sided with the rest of the Organization of Democratic Nations during the Global Oil Crisis of the 1970s.
