Lira is the name of several

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of

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 ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The term originates from the value of a Roman pound ( la, libra, about 329g, 10.58 troy ounces) of high purity silver. The libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire. When Europe resumed a monetary system, during the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the L ...

, the Roman system was adopted. The Roman denominations ''librae'', ''solidi'', ''denarii'' were used (becoming known in England as

£sd £sd (occasionally written Lsd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence" or pronounced ) is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe, especially in the British Isles and hence in several countries of the ...

). Particularly this system was kept during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and Modern Age in England, France, and

. In each of these countries the ''libra'' was translated into local language: pound in England, livre in France, ''lira'' in Italy. The Venetian lira was one of the currencies in use in Italy and due to the economic power of the Venetian Republic a popular currency in the Eastern Mediterranean trade. During the 19th century, 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 ...

and the

Eyalet of Egypt The Eyalet of Egypt (, ) operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17) and the ...

adopted the ''lira'' as their national currency, equivalent to 100 piasters or

kuruş Kuruş ( ; ), also gurush, ersh, gersh, grush, grosha, and grosi, are all names for currency denominations in and around the territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. The variation in the name stems from the different languages it is us ...

. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in years 1918–1922, many among the successor states kept the lira as their national currency. In some countries, such as

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

, which have belonged to both the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, the words ''lira'' and '' pound'' are used interchangeably.

Lira sign

For the

Turkish lira The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred '' kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along wi ...

, the Turkish lira sign () is used. The Lebanese lira uses (before numerals) or (after numerals) in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. The Syrian lira uses (before numerals) or (after numerals) in

and in Arabic. The

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually ...

had no official sign, but the abbreviations and and the symbols (two bars), (one bar) were all commonly used. The Maltese lira used before 1986 and thereafter (both as prefixes), though £M continued to be used in unofficial capacities. The

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...

system allocated to the Lira, to provide compatibility with a legacy HP character set. As with , where the one-bar and the two-bar versions are treated as allographs and the choice between them is merely stylistic, no evidence has been found that either style predominated in Italy or anywhere else.

Current uses

Turkey

The

was introduced in 1844 during the Ottoman reign. The Turkish lira is now the currency of Turkey and the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...

, and used in Turkish-occupied northern Syria.

Lebanon and Syria

The

Lebanese pound The pound or lira ( ar, ليرة لبنانية ''līra Libnāniyya''; French: ''livre libanaise''; abbreviation: LL in Latin, in Arabic, historically also £L, ISO code: LBP) is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 pi ...

and

Syrian pound The Syrian pound or lira ( ar, الليرة السورية, al-līra as-sūriyya; abbreviation: LS or SP in Latin, ل.س in Arabic, historically also £S, and £Syr; ISO code: SYP) is the currency of Syria. It is issued by the Central Ban ...

are both called "lira" () in

, the national language of both Lebanon and Syria.

Historic use

Italy

The lira was the currency of Italy from its unification until it was merged into the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

in 1999. A unit of currency lira had previously been used in some of the states and possessions that became Italy but their values were not necessarily equivalent. (See

Luccan lira The lira (plural: ''lire'') was the currency of the Republic of Lucca until 1800 and again of the Duchy of Lucca between 1826 and 1847. It was subdivided into 20 ''soldi'', each of 3 ''quattrini'' or 12 ''denari''. History The lira circulated unt ...

, Papal lira, Parman lira, Sardinian lira and

Tuscan lira The lira (plural: ''lire'') was the currency of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until its annexation by Napoleonic France in 1807. After that year, it unofficially remained in circulation thanks to its silver value until the restoration of Tuscan indep ...

Former currencies named lira

* Cypriot lira/pound 1879–2007; merged into the

, 2008 * French livre 781–1794; became the French franc * Israeli lira/pound 1948–1980; replaced by the old shekel in 1980. *

1861–2002; merged into the

, 1999 (notes and coins from 2002) * Italian East African lira 1938–1941; supplanted by the East African shilling * Italian Somaliland lira 1925–1926; replaced by the Italian East African lira *

until 1800 and 1826–1847; merged into the Italian lira * Maltese lira 1825–2007; merged into the

, 2008 * Neapolitan lira 1812–1813; merged into the Italian lira *

Ottoman lira The lira (sign: LT) was the currency of Ottoman Empire between 1844 when it was replaced by the Turkish lira. The Ottoman lira remained in circulation until the end of 1927, as the republic was not in a position to issue its own banknotes yet i ...

1844–1923; became the Turkish lira * Papal lira 1866–1870; became the Vatican lira at par with the Italian lira * Parman lira before 1802 and 1815–1859; merged into the Italian lira * Sammarinese lira 1860s–2002; merged into the euro * Sardinian lira 1816–1861; merged into the Italian lira * Tripolitanian lira 1943–1951; replaced by the Libyan pound *

until 1807 and 1814–1826; merged into the Italian lira * Vatican lira 1929–2002; merged into the euro * Venetian lira 1472–1807; merged into the Italian lira

References

External links

Overview of Italian lira from the BBC
{{coord, 2, 14, N, 32, 54, E, type:city_source:kolossus-rowiki, display=title Currencies of Europe Currencies of Italy Currencies of Malta Currencies of San Marino Currencies of Vatican City