This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
Trip'oli (Tarabulus), a province of the Ottoman empire, and the easternmost of the Barbary States of North Africa, stretching along the greater and lesser Syrtes (the gulfs of Cabes and Sidra), is bounded W. by Tunis, S. (very vaguely) by the Libyan Desert and Fezzan, E, - if we inelude the plateau of Barca (q.v.) - by Egypt, and N. by the Mediterranean. The area is roughly estimated at 399,000 sq. m.; the pop. at over 1,300,000 - Libyan Berbers, Moors, and a few Arabs - with 3000 Europeans, chiefly Maltese, and 24,000 Jews. The Atlas range terminates here in two chains (4000 feet). Rain seldom falls during the long hot summers, but the heavy dew supports vegetation in favoured spots. The coast-region (about 1100 miles long) is very fertile about Tripoli and Mesurata, where tropical fruits, grain, wine, cotton, madder, etc. are produced; but further east, along the Gulf of Sidra, reigns sandy desolation. The interior yields senna, dates, and galls, and the carob and lotus are indigenous. Sheep and cattle, small horses, and strong mules are reared. The commerce consists in exporting the products of the country and of the interior of Africa (gold-dust, ivory, natron, and ostrich feathers). The imports (chiefly European manufactures) have been declining. Tripoli is subdivided into four livas or provinces - Tripoli, Benghazi or Barca (q.v.), Mesurata, and Gadames. Fezzan is but nominally attached to Tripoli. From the Phoenicians Tripoli passed to the rulers of Cyrenaica (Barca), from whom it was wrested by the Carthaginians. It afterwards belonged to the Romans, the Arabs, Spain, and the Knights of St John, and after 1551, to the Turks. Of late Italy has sought to extend her interests here. - The capital, Tripoli (anc. Œa), lies on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean. It is a typical Moorish city, with high walls, beautiful gardens, many mosques, and several large churches. Pop. 20,000.
Trip'oli (Tarabulus, or Atrabulus), a seaport of Syria, 40 miles NNE. of Beyrout. In and around the town are many remains of antiquity and traces of Saracenic architecture. Originally an important maritime city of Phoenicia, the ancient Tripolis was taken by the Crusaders in 1104, and retaken by the Mamelukes in 1289. The old town being in ruins, a new one was built about 5 miles inland on a spur of the Lebanon range. The harbour is small and shallow, and the trade has mostly shifted to Beyrout. Pop. 30,000.
 
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