Tripoli

Tripoli (Arabic, Tarabulus al-Gharb; ancient Oea), capital of Libya, on the Mediterranean Sea, in the north-western region of the country. It is the largest city, a principal seaport, and the commercial and manufacturing centre of Libya. Goods manufactured here include processed food, textiles, clothing, building materials, and tobacco products. Tripoli International Airport is nearby.

Tripoli is the site of Alfateh University; colleges of arts and crafts, electronics, technology, and telecommunications; the National Archives, with a large collection of documents relating to the history of Tripolitania; and the Government Library. Points of interest include the Natural History Museum; the Archaeological Museum; the Ethnographic Museum, with a collection of regional cultural artefacts; the Epigraphy Museum, containing inscriptions from the Phoenician, Roman, and Byzantine periods; the Islamic Museum; a Roman triumphal arch erected in honour of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century; the Karamanli and the Gurgi mosques; and a Spanish fortress dating from the 16th century.

The settlement was probably established by the Phoenicians in the 7th century bc as Oea. It became an Arab stronghold in ad 645, and was eventually made part of the Ottoman Empire in 1551. The corsairs from Tripoli were notorious for preying on foreign shipping, resulting in the Tripolitan War of (1801-1805). When Libya was granted independence in 1951, Tripoli and Banghāzī became co-capitals of the country; Tripoli was made the sole capital in the early 1970s. Since 1963 revenues from foreign petroleum sales have greatly contributed to the development of the city. Population 2,006,000 (2003 estimate).