Map of traditional provinces of Libye-en

The Provinces of Libya were prescribed in 1934, during the last period of colonial

Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica a ...

, and continued through post-independence

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

until 1963 when the Governorates system was instituted. The three main provinces of the country follow the original colonial divisions of Italian Libya: Tripolitania province,

Cyrenaica province Cyrenaica province is one of the three traditional Provinces of Libya. It was a formal province from 1934 until 1963, when it was subdivided into the Governorates of Libya. Its capital was the city of Benghazi. Between 1911 and 1934 it had been ...

and

Fezzan province Fezzan province is one of the three traditional Provinces of Libya. It was a formal province from 1934 until 1963, when it was subdivided into the Governorates of Libya. Its capital was the city of Sabha. In 1963, the province was split into: * ...

Italian colonial era

After

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

took the area from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1912, it was administered as a single administrative unit, called

Italian North Africa Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica a ...

. Then, from 1927 to 1934, the territory was split into two separate colonies, each of which run by its own Italian governor:

Italian Cyrenaica Italian Cyrenaica (; ) was an Italian colony, located in present-day eastern Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, alongside Italian Tripol ...

and

Italian Tripolitania Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony, located in present-day western Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. Italian Tripolitania included t ...

. In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (Italian Libya) as the official name of the reunified area and administratively divided it up into the three provinces of

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

and

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ber, ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ, Fezzan; ar, فزان, Fizzān; la, Phazania) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ...

. In 1937, the Cyrenaica and Tripolitania provinces split, with northern Cyrenaica becoming

Benghazi Province Benghazi Province, or ''Provincia di Bengasi'' in Italian, was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937. Characteristics Benghazi Province was located in northern Italian Libya, in western Cyrenaica. Its admi ...

and

Darnah Province Darnah Province (called in Italian ''Provincia italiana di Derna'') was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937 with the official name: "Commissariato Generale Provinciale di Derna". Derna province was called ...

and northern Tripolitania splitting into

Tripoli Province Tripoli Province (''Provincia di Tripoli'' in Italian) was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937, with the official name: ''Commissariato Generale Provinciale di Tripoli''. It lasted until 1947. Characterist ...

and

Misurata Province Misrata ( ar, مصراته , Libyan Arabic: ''Məṣrātah''), also spelt ''Misurata'' or ''Misratah'', is a sha'biyah (district) in northwestern Libya. Its capital is the city of Misrata. In 2007 the district was enlarged to include what had bee ...

.Rodogno, D. (2006). Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War. p. 61. Fezzan was not split in 1937, but the whole southern

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

area was militarily administered as the Southern Military Territory (''Territorio del Sahara Libico'' or ''Il Territorio Militare del Sud Libico''). The Libyan Sahara Territory was divided into four military districts administered from the desert

oases In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body o ...

, Brak, Murzuk and Hun. The

Senussi The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi ( ar, السنوسية ''as-Sanūssiyya'') are a Muslim political-religious tariqa ( Sufi order) and clan in colonial Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi ( ar, السنوس ...

order

Kufra Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of nineteenth century Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...

oasis area in the southeastern

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates t ...

was not separately administered by the Italians, but in 1932, they built a fort at the holy place of El Tag above it. This territory was administered only by the Italian military and in 1936 was increased with the

Aouzou Strip The Aouzou Strip (; ar, قطاع أوزو, Qiṭāʿ Awzū, french: Bande d'Aozou) is a strip of land in northern Chad that lies along the border with Libya, extending south to a depth of about 100 kilometers into Chad's Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...

.Hodder, Lloyd, McLachlan (1998). ''Land-locked states of Africa and Asia, Volume 2''
p. 32
Frank Cass, London, Great Britain.

World War II and independence

The French and British occupied Libya in 1943 after the Western Desert Campaign victories, when it was again split into three provinces:

in the northwest,

in the east and Fezzan-Ghadames in the southwest."Map of Libya 1943-1951" ''Zentrale für Unterrichtsmedien''
/ref> After independence in 1951, the three provinces continued as the subdivision system in the

Kingdom of Libya The Kingdom of Libya ( ar, المملكة الليبية, lit=Libyan Kingdom, translit=Al-Mamlakah Al-Lībiyya; it, Regno di Libia), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa which ca ...

, with boundaries slightly shifting, until 1963. The provinces were then replaced by the ''Muhafazah'' governorates system (''

muhafazah A ' ( ; ) is a first-level administrative division of many Arab countries, and a second-level administrative division in Saudi Arabia. The term is usually translated to "governorate", and occasionally to "province". It comes from the Arabic roo ...

'') system in the kingdom and subsequent

Libyan Arab Republic Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comm ...

until they were superseded by the 1983 ''Baladiyat'' districts system.

Notes

{{Regions of Libya Italian Libya

Italian colonial era

World War II and independence

See also

Notes