Tripolitania

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Tripolitania or Tripolitana (Arabic: طرابلس, transliterated: Tarābulus) is a historic region and an ex Province or State ("muhafazah" or "wilayah") of Libya (alongside Cyrenaica and Fezzan [1]), in an old system of administrative divisions which was abolished in the early 1970s in favour of a system of smaller-size municipality or "baladiyat" singular "baladiyah") . The "Baladiyat"-system was subsequently changed many times and has lately become "Sha'biyat"-system. What used to be Tripolitania in the old system became divided up into several "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 "Baladiyah" or "Sha'biyah" of Tripoli has became much smaller than the original Tripolitania to include merely the city of Tripoli and its more immediate surroundings. Because the City and the "Sha'biyah" are nowadays almost coextensive, the term Tripolitania is of more value for historical contexts than for contemporary ones. In Arabic the same word ( طرابلس ) is used for both the City and the region, and that word alone would be understood to mean only the City; in order to designate Tripolitania in Arabic, a word like "State", "Province" or "Sha'biyah" must be used as a qualifier.

This 1-lire airmail stamp, depicting an Arab horseman pointing to an airplane passing overhead, was used in 1937.

[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 Post-Colonial Heads of Tripolitania

It is important to note here that Tripolitania existed as an entity (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), for a more comprehensive and detailed lists, check these two links: [2] [3]. (Dates in italics below, 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 impotant cities of Tripolitania: Misratah, Az Zawiyah, Gharyan, Al Khums Tarhuna and Sirt.

[edit] External links

• 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.

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