May 21, 2013
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Description
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya. Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca. During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as Barqa, after the city of Barca.
Cyrenaica was the name of an administrative division of Italian Libya from 1927 through 1943, then under British military and civil administration from 1943 through 1951, and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 through 1963. In a wider sense, which is still used, Cyrenaica is composed of all of the eastern part of Libya, including the Kufra District. Cyrenaica is adjacent to Tripolitania in the northwest and Fezzan in the southwest. The region that used to be Cyrenaica officially through 1963 is now divided up into several shabiyat, the administrative divisions of Libya.
Cyrenaica was the birthplace of the Libyan civil war, and was largely under the control of the National Transitional Council for most of the war; their headquarters were in Benghazi.
(via Freebase)
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![Discontent brews in eastern Libya as elections near [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-6565000/6565511/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=06791945449c404d40ea58211e5a6e5c "Protesters set fire to piles of voting materials after storming the office of the national election commission in Benghazi July 1, 2012: REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori")
![Libya's leader threatens to use force against eastern federalists [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-1537000/1537355/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=688e3a820aef81193851a5eb2a52e157 "People with the Kingdom of Libya flags and anti-federalization signs and banners gather during a protest against transforming Libya into a federal state, near the court building in Benghazi March 6, 2012. The signs read: \"I'm from Benghazi. Al-Zubair Ahmed does not represent me\" and \"We have one recognized Transitional Council. The Chancellor is the President\": REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori")
![Milita and tribal leaders declare autonomy in east Libya [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-1493000/1493226/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=76a54d86769553331d3f64bd9ef76d21 "People stand in line to attend a founding conference of the council of the eastern Libyan province of Cyrenaica in Benghazi March 6, 2012: REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori")
