Government and Tripoli, which was until 1912 under the despotic rule of the sultan of Turkey, was then annexed by Italy and divided into two independent districts, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, with their respective capitals at Tripoli and Benghazi, but in 1915 they were merged in one province and is ruled by a governor appointed by the king. There are courts of first and sec ond instance and appeal. The revenues of the country are raised by direct tribute from the Arabs and district governors, a land tax, a tax on Jews and merchants and on export and import duties. The religion is Mohammedan ism and while Arabic is generally spoken, Italian is the official language. The inhabitants are mostly Berber, but Jews are numerous, especi ally on the coast, Moors in the towns and nomadic Bedouins in the country. The popu lation of Tripoli, including the dependencies, has been variously estimated at from 800,000 to 1,300,000. The town of Tripoli has a pop ulation of about 30,000; Benghazi of 35,000. Railways are under construction, over 300 kilo meters having been laid.
In ancient times Tripoli belonged successively to Carthage, Numidia and Rome. Later it passed into the hands of the Vandals and Greeks. It was captured in 644 by the Arabs, who turned the state religion from Chris tianity to Mohammedanism. The city of Tripoli was captured in 1510 by Ferdinand the Catholic and from 1530 to 1551 was under the control of the Knights of Saint John. In 1551 Tripoli be came a 'Turkish province, then fell into a state of anarchy and remained a nest of pirates until in 1835 Turkey reasserted its authority and re duced what had been known as one of the °Barbary States° to a vilayet.
As a piratical stronghold Tripoli became in volved with various European nations and finally with the United States. Both England
and France sent expeditions against it in the latter part of the 18th century, and after numer ous tributes and ransoms to insure peace had been paid by the United States to the °Barbary States° as a whole, a treaty with Tripoli was concluded in 1796 for peace without ransom. The pasha, however, inside of four years broke the treaty, demanding $225,000 and $25,000 an nually, and on refusal of payment declared war 14 May 1801. An American squadron under Commodore Dale blockaded the harbor of Trip oli and under Commodore Preble (1803-04) bombarded the port five times. The city of Derme, in Barca, was also captured by General Eaton. Fearing further bombardment from the squadron and disaster by land, as well as dis affection and insurrection among his own troops, the pasha signed a treaty of peace on 3 June 1805. In 1815 Decatur forced the pasha to re lease all ships and prisoners of whatever nation which he had seized and also to pay all indem nities on pain of having the city destroyed. Since that time several rebellions have occurred, the most notable taking place in 1842 and 1844, but all have been successfully suppressed by the Turkish government. In September 1911 war broke out between Italy and Turkey and an Italian army of invasion occupied the coun try. On 5 November Italy decreed its annex ation; but the struggle continued until 18 Oct. 1912, when by the Treaty of Ouchy, Turkey con sented to abrogate her sovereignty and the an nexation has been recognized by the great powers. See BARBARY; BARBARY POWERS, UNITED STATES TREATIES AND WARS WITH THE BARCA ; FEZZAN ; TURICO-ITALIAN WAR.