Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/21

TRIPOLI E of two. They are joined by a slur and distinguished by having the figure 3 above them. TRIPOLI, formerly a province of the Ottoman empire; the extreme E. of the Barbary states of north Africa, stretch- ing along the whole extent of both the greater and lesser Syrtes (the gulfs of Cabes and Sidra) ; bounded on the W. by Tunis, on the S. (very vaguely) by the Libyan Desert and Fezzan, on the E. — if we include the plateau of Barca — by Egypt, and on the N. by the Mediter- ranean Sea; area estimated at over 400,- 000 square miles. Pop. about 530,000. Tripoli is less mountainous than the rest of Barbary, for the Atlas range termi- nates here in a couple of chains running parallel to the coast and never exceed- ing 4,000 feet in height. There are no rivers, and rain seldom falls during the long hot summers, but the heavy dew supports vegetation in favored spots. The climate is extremely uncertain. The coast region (about 1,100 miles in length) is very fertile about Tripoli and Mesurata, where all sorts of tropical fruits, grain, wine, cotton, madder, etc., are produced; but further E., along the shores of the Gulf of Sidra, reigns sandy desolation. The interior yields senna, dates, and galls, and the carob and lotus are indigenous. Sheep and cattle are reared in great numbers, and there is a hardy breed of small but excellent horses, besides strong and beautiful mules. The commerce of the country con- sists in exporting, principally to Malta and the Levant, the products of the country and of the interior of Africa (gold dust, ivory, natron, and ostrich feathers), which are brought hither in caravans across the desert. The imports (which consist chiefly of European manufactures) have been declining gradually of late years, owing partly to the new direction which the trade of central Africa is assuming, and partly to the abolition of the slave trade, which stopped the demand for many of the commodities that supported the traffic. From the Phoenicians Tripoli passed into the hands of the rulers of Cyrenaica (Barca), from whom it was wrested by the Carthaginians. It next belonged to the Romans, who included it within the province of Africa, and gave it the name of Regio Syrtica. About the beginning of the 3d century A. D. it became known as the Regio Tripolitana (on account of its three principal cities, (Ea, Sabrata, and Leptis, which were leagued together), and was probably raised to the rank of a separate province by Septimius Sev- erus, who was a native of Leptis. Like TRIPOLITAN WAR the rest of north Africa, it was con- quered by the Arabs early in the 8th century, and the feeble Christianity of the natives was supplanted by a vigor- ous and fanatical Mohammedanism. In 1510 it was taken by Don Pedro Navarro for Spain, and in 1523 it was assigned to the Knights of St. John, who had lately been expelled by the Ottoman Turks from their stronghold in the Is- land of Rhodes. The knights kept it with some trouble till 1551, when they were compelled to surrender to the Turkish admiral Sinan, and Tripoli henceforward joined in the general piracy which made the Barbary states the terror of mari- time Christendom. In 1714 the ruling pasha, Ahmad Karamanli, assumed the title of bey, and asserted a sort of semi- independence of the Sultan, and this order of things continued under the rule of his descendants, accompanied by the most brazen piracy and blackmailing, till 1835, when the Porte took advantage of an intestinal struggle in Tripoli to reassert its authority. A new Turkish pasha, with vice-regal powers, was ap- pointed and the state was made a vilayet of the Ottoman empire. Italy had long claimed that Tripoli fell within her zone of influence and that she had the right to preserve order with- in the state. In order to protect her citizens residing in Tripoli from further indignities from the Turkish Govern- ment, Italy, on Sept. 29, 1911, declared war against Turkey and announced her intention of annexing Tripoli. On Sept. 30 a force of 40,000 men was sent to occupy the city of Tripoli. On Oct. 1, 1911, a naval battle was fought at Pre- vesa, European Turkey, and three Turk- ish vessels were destroyed. By the Treaty of Lausanne Italian sovereignty was acknowledged by Turkey, although the Caliph was permitted to exercise re^ ligious authority. TRIPOLI, probably the CEa of an- tiquity, called in Arabia Tarabulus, or Tarabulus Gharb ("Tripoli of the West") , the capital of the territory of the same name; lies on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean and forming a bay. It is a typical Moorish city irregularly built, surrounded by high bastioned walls and celebrated for its beautiful gardens. There are many mosques, besides sev- eral large churches. Though the major- ity of the inhabitants are Moslems, near- ly all the trade is in the hands of Jews and Christians. Pop. about 75,000. TRIPOLITAN WAR, a war between the United States and Tripoli in 1801- 1805. It was caused by the refusal of