Tripoli

Tripoli
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: wetterkontor.de

طرابلس; Tripoli ; Tripoli
Coordinates	32 ° 53 ' N , 13 ° 10' E Coordinates: 32 ° 53 ' N , 13 ° 10' E
Basic data
Country	Libya
Shaʿbiyya	Tripoli
ISO 3166-2	LY-TB
surface	250 km²
Residents	1,780,000 (October 2007)
density	7120 Ew. / km²
	Downtown Tripoli: Central Business District with the Dhat El Emad Towers .

Tripoli skyline

Tripoli ( Arabic طرابلس, DMG Ṭarābulus , tamazight ⵟⵔⴰⴱⵍⵙ Ṭrabls , Greek Τρίπολης , three cities , Latin Oea , Italian Tripoli ) is the capital of Libya .

Tripoli is the political, economic and cultural center as well as the transport hub of the country. To distinguish it from the Lebanese city of Tripoli , which is the same in Arabic, Tripoli is often also called Tarābulus al-gharbiyya /طرابلس الغربية / Called 'Western Tarabulus'.

geography

The city is located in the northwest of the country on the Mediterranean Sea , an average of 84 meters above sea level . The urban area of around 250 square kilometers extends around 40 km along the coast with a building depth of three to ten kilometers.

climate

Tripoli is located in the subtropical climatic zone . The average annual temperature is 20.5 degrees Celsius, the average annual rainfall is 334 millimeters.

The warmest month is August with an average of 27.7 degrees Celsius, the coldest is January with 13.4 degrees Celsius.

Most of the precipitation falls in December with an average of 67.5 millimeters. There is almost no precipitation between June and August.

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Tripoli

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	16.0	17.2	19.5	22.3	24.3	27.5	29.4	29.9	29.4	26.8	22.6	17.9	O	23.6
Min. Temperature (° C)	8.4	9.4	11.3	13.8	16.3	19.7	21.8	22.4	21.6	18.6	14.1	9.8	O	15.6

Precipitation ( mm )	73	42	24	11	5	1	0	1	10	37	65	94	Σ	363

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	5.3	6.2	6.4	7.8	8.5	9.6	11.2	10.7	8.4	6.6	5.4	4.7	O	7.6

Water temperature (° C)	16	15th	17th	18th	19th	22nd	25th	28	26th	23	20th	17th	O	20.5

Humidity ( % )	65	64	64	63	63	62	65	66	67	67	65	66	O	64.8

Source: wetterkontor.de

history

antiquity

Tripoli old town

The city of Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC. Chr. By the Phoenicians under the name Oea founded. Among the Sicilian Greeks, the region of the three cities of Oea, Sabratha and Leptis Magna Tripole ( Greek Τρίπολης , three cities ) was called. The name of the region was later transferred to the largest of these three cities. In ancient times Tripoli formed an indirect area of Carthage , the so-called Regio Syrtica .

After the second Punic War it was ceded by the Romans to Numidia and, after its submission, it was added to the Roman province of Africa . Under Septimius Severus , the Provincia Tripolitana was formed in the 3rd century AD with Oea as its capital, to which the name Tripoli was then transferred. The economic boom ended with the decline of the Roman Empire.

After invasions by nomadic peoples and the vandals , the population fell from around 30,000 to 7,000 people.

middle Ages

After the Arab invasion in the 7th century , Tripoli shared the fortunes of barberry . In 1146 the Normans conquered Tripoli and installed the family of Ibn Matruh there as vassals . This rebelled in 1158 and submitted to the rule of the Almohads in 1160 . In 1228 the city came under the rule of the Hafsids . The control of the Almohads and Hafsids over Tripoli was mostly nominal. The city often remained exposed to threats from the surrounding tribes and European invaders. In 1324 the Banu Thabit came to rule Tripoli. In 1354 the Genoese Filippo Doria plundered the city with a fleet and sold it to Ahmad bin Makki , who placed himself under the rule of the Merinids . The Banu Thabit were able to regain power in 1370. In 1401 Tripoli came back under the rule of the Hafsids. In 1460 a local sheikh named Mansur rebelled against the Hafsids. He and his descendants ruled Tripoli until 1510, when it was conquered by the Spanish Count Pietro of Navarre and a Spanish governor was appointed. Emperor Charles V gave it to the Johannites as a fief in 1530 , but it was conquered by the Turks under Turgut Reis (Dragut) as early as 1551 , who was then appointed Bey of Tripoli by the Sultan .

Modern times

In 1711, the Turkish pasha Ahmad Qaramanli (the great) made himself almost independent of the gate by only paying tribute, and founded the Qaramanli dynasty (1711-1835). The French campaign against Tripoli in 1728 ended with the almost complete destruction of the city . In 1801 the American-Tripolitan War broke out because of the pirate fraud . Only the French conquest of Algiers (1830) put an end to the piracy that had spread from Tripoli.

In 1835 the gate was forced to intervene due to the internal disruption in Tripoli and put an end to the rule of the Karamanli family, whereupon Tripoli was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire as Eyâlet (1866 Vilâyet ) .

Modern

During the Italo-Turkish War , Tripoli was occupied by Italy in 1911 and ceded to Italy under international law in 1912. Under the Italian colonial regime, there were massive attempts to Italianize through forced immigration; At times the city had about a third of the Italian population.

In the Second World War , British troops occupied on 23 January 1943, the city. In 1945 there was an anti-Semitic pogrom in Tripoli against the city's Jewish minority, in which around 140 Jews died. A further bloody pogrom took place 1948th After Libya's independence (1951) under King Idris and the formation of a unitary state, Tripoli became the country's capital in 1963. The dominant economic role of the Italian minority initially remained largely unaffected by these political changes. Only after the Libyan revolutionary regime came to power in the summer of 1969 did an exodus of the Italian population begin in 1970. Symbolic structural changes, such as the conversion of the Tripoli cathedral into a mosque, reflected these political changes.

In 1986 the city was the target of US air strikes ordered by the US government in retaliation for alleged support for terrorist activities by Libya ( Operation El Dorado Canyon ).

Civil War 2011

During the Libyan civil war , the city was firmly in the grip of the Gaddafi government, which also had its headquarters there, until it was conquered by Libyan rebels in August 2011. Demonstrations like those in the eastern part of the country were quickly broken up. In the course of the international military operation , Tripoli was therefore exposed to several NATO bombings .

Tripoli was ruled by militias after the end of the civil war. The following were usually mentioned:

the Revolutionary Council of Tripoli under Abdullah Naker (also Abdullah al-Zintani), which is part of the Sintan Brigades . His units controlled Tripoli International Airport until it was handed over to the government in April 2012. Nakar has announced that it will form a political party .
the units of the Tripoli Military Council under Abd al-Hakim Balhaj , the former leader of the Libyan Islamic Combat Group . Balhaj is said to have received financial support from the Emirate of Qatar .
the units of the Military Council of Misrata
the units of the Libyan Army , which were initially led by Chief of Staff Khalifa Haftar . On January 3rd, Yousef al-Manqoush replaced Haftar. Haftar had pushed for the disarmament of the militias, but was said to have been too interested in his own power. Al-Manqoush has good connections with Defense Minister Usama al -Juwaili, who heads the Sintan Military Committee, which in turn is linked to the Tripoli Revolutionary Council.

Civil war since 2014

After the outbreak of the new civil war in Libya, the city was taken by the militia of the opposing government in September . Since then it has acted as the seat of the opposing government and the old parliament that it reinstated. In the summer and autumn of 2014, the city was the target of air strikes by General Haftar's forces, Egypt and the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. As part of the UN-led peace process, the air strikes on Tripoli were initially suspended by the internationally recognized government.

Population development

The following overview shows the number of inhabitants according to the respective territorial status. The rapid population development since 1970 is z. In part due to incorporations.

Tripoli satellite image

year	Residents
1890	40,000
1905	30,000
1911	29,800
1915	50,000
1929	65,900
1931	74,700
1936	98,900
1938	108,200

year	Residents
1954	129,700
1960	183,500
1964	212,600
1970	264,000
1973	481.295
1978	550,400
1984	591.062
2005	1,150,990
2007	1,780,000

Attractions

Arch of honor for Emperor Marcus Aurelius

Fort as-Saraya al-Hamra

Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque on Algeria Square

The city's numerous museums include:

naturehistorical Museum
Archaeological Museum
Ethnographic Museum
Epigraphic Museum: with writings from the Phoenician, Roman and Byzantine periods
Islamic Museum

Buildings

Significant structures in Tripoli are:

Roman arch of honor , erected for Emperor Marcus Aurelius around 180 AD

Karamanlı Mosque :

Gurgi Mosque :

Spanish port- fortress : from the 16th century

Former cathedral of Tripoli : the building is now used as a mosque and bears the name Gamal Abdel Nasser .

Former governor or royal palace , converted into the Jamahiriya Museum during the Gaddafi era

Cemetery of the Nameless

In 2012 , the Bir al-Osta Milad cemetery was laid out in Tripoli for the numerous nameless people who drowned while fleeing to Europe and whose bodies were washed up off the Libyan coast .

economy

Building materials, food , textiles , clothing and tobacco products are produced in the city. In the commercial vehicle sector, the Trucks and Bus Company has a second plant in Tripoli. Thanks to its position as the market leader in Germany, the company is also one of the most important employers in the region.

In a ranking of cities according to their quality of life, Tripoli took 218th place out of 231 cities worldwide in 2018.

traffic

The largest city in Libya also has its main port and is the center of trade and production in the country. Tripoli International Airport is 34 km south of the center. Its capacity (2007: 1.5 million passengers) will soon be expanded to 20 million passengers with two new terminals.

education

National Maritime Trade Company building

Tripoli is home to the University of Tripoli (formerly Al-Fatih University), the College of Arts and Crafts, the College of Electronics , the College of Technology and the College of Telecommunications .

The city also houses the national archives with a large collection of documents on the history of Tripolitania and the government library .

Sports

The Tripoli Grand Prix was held in Tripoli from 1925 to 1930 and at the Autodromo della Mellaha from 1933 to 1940 .

The 1976 Chess Counter Olympiad took place in Tripoli in 1976 .

sons and daughters of the town

Abd al-Hakim Balhadsch (* 1966), leader of the terrorist organization Libyan Islamic Combat Group
Ayesha al-Gaddafi (* 1976), daughter of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Hannibal al-Gaddafi (* 1975), fourth son of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Mutassim Gaddafi (* between 1974 and 1977; † 2011), army officer, son of Muammar al-Gaddafi
al-Saadi al-Gaddafi (* 1973), soccer player, soccer official and film producer
Saif al-Arab al-Gaddafi (around 1982–2011), sixth son of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi (* 1972), second eldest son of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Claudio Gentile (* 1953), Italian football player and coach
Schukri Ghanim (1942–2012), from 2003 to 2006 General Secretary of the General People's Committee of Libya ( Prime Minister )
Safwan Khalil (* 1986), Australian Taekwondoin
Hala Misrati (* 1980), television presenter
Jamal Mohammed (* 1983), football player
Rossana Podestà (1934–2013), Italian film actress
Adriano Visconti (1905–1945), Italian fighter pilot in World War II

Town twinning

Egypt Cairo
Algeria Algiers
Lebanon Beirut
Serbia Belgrade
Brazil Belo Horizonte (since 2003)
Turkey Izmir
Spain Madrid
Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo (since 1976)

literature

Heinrich Rebsamen: Tripolis , in: Geographica Helvetica 18 (1963), pp. 319–323 ( digitized version )
Hans Stumme: Fairy tales and poems from the city of Tripoli in North Africa , 1898 ( Ditigalisat )
Klaus Braun, Jacqueline Passon: From the Berber tent to the modern age ; in: Rüdiger Glaser , Klaus Kremb (Ed.): Africa ; Darmstadt 2010, pp. 69–79