Tripoli

Tripoli Central Business District - El Emad Towers


Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Ţarābulus - also طرابلس الغرب Ţarā-bu-lus al-Gharb^[1] Libyan vernacular: Ţrābləs) is the capital city of Libya. "Tripoli" may also refer to a "Sha'biyah" (top-level administrative division in the current Libyan system). The "Sha'biyah" includes the City, its suburbs and their immediate surroundings (City and "Sha'biyah" are almost coextensive). In older administrative systems and throughout history, there existed a Province ("muhafazah"), State ("wilayah") or City-state with a much larger area (though not constant boundaries), which is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Tripoli but more appropriately should be called Tripolitania.

Tripoli (the City or the "Sha'biyah") has a population of 1.68 million. The city is located in the northwest of the country on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean Sea and forming a bay. Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BCE by the Phoenicians, who named it Oea.^[2]

Tripoli is the largest city, the principal sea port, and the largest commercial and manufacturing centre in Libya. It is also the site of Al-Fateh University. Due to the City's long history, there are many sites of archaeological significance in Tripoli. The climate is typical Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers, cool winters and some modest rainfall.

the City was subjected to an air strike by the United States in 1986, in retaliation for what the US saw as Libya's proven support of terrorism. United Nations sanctions against Libya were lifted in 2003, which is expected to increase traffic through the port of Tripoli and have a positive impact on The city's economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripoli