Administrative subdivision of Italian Libya

Benghazi Province, or ''Provincia di Bengasi'' in Italian, was one of the

provinces of Libya The Provinces of Libya were prescribed in 1934, during the last period of colonial Italian Libya, and continued through post-independence Libya until 1963 when the Governorates system was instituted. The three main provinces of the country follo ...

under Italian rule. It was established in 1937.

Characteristics

Benghazi Province was located in northern

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 ...

, in western

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 ...

. Its administrative center was the city of

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

on the Mediterranean coast. It was divided in three sections ("Circondari" in Italian) called in Italian language: * Bengasi. * Agedabia * Barce The Italians conquered from the Ottomans in 1911 a region around Benghazi that was very poor and underdeveloped: it had no asphalted road, no telegraph services, no sewage systems, and no hospitals (in 1874 Benghazi had been depopulated by the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

). In ten years they built all these infrastructures and by the early 1930s a new port & airport and a railways station were created in Benghazi. Indeed in those years in Benghazi were created -for the first time in Cyrenaica's History- the first manufacturing industries, that included salt processing, oil refining, food processing, cement manufacturing, tanning, brewing and sponge and tuna fishing. In the 1920s in the Benghazi province was created a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

between Benghazi (called ''Bengasi'' in Italian) and Barce: a 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) (later 950 mm) gauge railway was built east from Benghazi; the main route was long to Marj and was opened in stages between 1911 and 1927. Benghazi also had a branch to Suluq opened in 1926. In the late 1930s in the Benghazi province were settled thousands of

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

as farmers in special villages. Most of the Italians were concentrated in

Italian Benghazi Italian Benghazi (called ''"Bengasi italiana"'' in Italian language) was the name used during the Italian colonization of Libya for the port-city of Benghazi in Italian Cyrenaica. History On October 19, 1911 the Ottoman city of Benghazi was oc ...

, where they were in 1939 nearly one third of the population. According to the 1939 Census Benghazi had 66,801 inhabitants, of whom 23,075 were Italians.Censimento 1939. TCI "Libia" In the late 1930s the province had a huge economic development, mainly in agriculture and commerce, but

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

destroyed it.

Demographics

According to the 1936 census, which allowed citizens to declare their ethnicity, Benghazi's native population was made up of 95.8%

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

, 0.3%

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

, 0.3%

Blacks Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

, 0.2%

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

, and 3.6% Others..

Notes

Bibliography

* Capresi, Vittoria. ''I centri rurali libici. L´architettura dei centri rurali di fondazione costruiti in Libia – colonia italiana – durante il fascismo (1934-1940)''. Vienna University of Technology. Vienna, 2007 * Chapin Metz, Helen, ed., ''Libya: A Country Study''. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987 * Guida d'Italia del TCI. ''Possedimenti e colonie'' Edizioni Touring Club. Milano, 1929

Characteristics

Demographics

Notes

Bibliography

See also