Libya stretches along the northeast coast of Africa between
Tunisia and Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east; to the
south are the Sudan, Chad, and Niger. It is one-sixth larger
than Alaska. Much of the country lies within the Sahara. Along
the Mediterranean coast and farther inland is arable plateau
land. The first inhabitants of Libya were Berber tribes. In the
7th century B.C. , Phoenicians colonized the eastern section of
Libya, called Cyrenaica, and Greeks colonized the western
portion, called Tripolitania. Tripolitania was for a time under
Carthaginian control. It became part of the Roman Empire from 46
B.C. to A.D. 436, after which it was sacked by the Vandals.
Cyrenaica belonged to the Roman Empire from the 1st century B.C.
until its decline, after which it was invaded by Arab forces in
642. Beginning in the 16th century, both Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica nominally became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Tripolitania was one of the outposts for the Barbary pirates who
raided Mediterranean merchant ships