Tripoli

About Tripoli

Tripoli, historically known as Tripoli-of-the-West, is the capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.317 million people in 2021. It is located in the northwest of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean Sea and forming a bay. It includes the port of Tripoli and the country's largest commercial and manufacturing center. It is also the site of the University of Tripoli.

Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians, who gave it the Libyco-Berber name Oyat (Punic: 𐤅𐤉‬‬𐤏‬𐤕, romanized: Wyʿt), before passing into the hands of the Greek rulers of Cyrenaica as Oea (Ancient Greek: Ὀία, romanized: Oía). Due to the city's long history, there are many sites of archeological significance in Tripoli. Tripoli may also refer to the sha'biyah (top-level administrative division in the Libyan system), the Tripoli District.

In the Arab world, Tripoli is also known as "Tripoli-of-the-West" (Arabic: طرابلس الغرب, romanized: Ṭarābulus al-Gharb), to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon, known in Arabic as Ṭarābulus ash-Shām (طرابلس الشام), meaning 'Tripoli of the Levant'. It is affectionately called "The Mermaid...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.