Tripoli

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Tripoli (Tarabulus) Capital and chief port of Libya, on the Mediterranean Sea. The city was founded as Oea in the 7th century bc by the Phoenicians and was developed by the Romans. From the 7th century ad, the Arabs developed Tripoli as a market centre for the trans-Saharan caravans. In 1551, it was captured by the Ottoman Turks. In the 17th century, Tripoli was a notorious base for pirates. In 1911, it was made capital of the Italian colony of Libya, and during World War 2 it functioned as an important base for Axis forces. After intensive Allied bombing in 1941–42, Britain captured the city in 1943. In 1986, the US Air Force bombed Tripoli in retaliation for Libya's alleged support of worldwide terrorism. The city is the commercial, industrial, transport and communications centre of Libya. The oases comprise the most fertile agricultural area in n Africa. Pop. (2002 est.) 1,223,300.

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