(Redirected from Misrata)
'Misratah' (rarely 'Misrata' or 'Misurata'), (
Arabic: 'مصراته', 'Mişrātah'
Libyan vernacular:'Məşrātah' ), a city and
Sha'biyah (top level administrative division) in northwestern
Libya, situated 210
km to the east of
Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misratah.
With a population of about 400,000 in 2000 and 2005 estimates, it is the third largest city in Libya after Tripoli and
Benghazi, though
Sabha is the third most important city regional-wise, (as it is the chief city of
Fezzan, one of the three traditional regions of Libya).
Geography
In the north and east, Misratah has a shoreline on the
Mediterranean Sea. On land, it borders the following municipalities:
★
Surt - south
★
Bani Walid - southwest
★
Tarhuna Wa Msalata - west
★
Tajura Wa Al Nawahi AlArba' - northeast
Qasr Ahmed is the harbor at Misratah.
History
There is no consensus among different sources on whether the city was established by the
Phoenicians (3000 years ago),
[ مصراتة (in Arabic: "Misratah") ] the
Romans,
[ Misratah ] or the
Muslim conquests (
7th century AD);
[ Misratah ][ Misratah, Libya, Pictures ] [ Misratah ] nor on what was its old name (''Thubactis'',
[ Misratah ][ Misratah, Libya, Pictures ] ''Thubaqt'',
[ Misratah ] ''Tubartis'',
[ Misratah ] or ''Tobasitis'').
Recent archaeological discoveries indicate that some sort of urban stability existed in the current location of the city since Roman times. The Roman origin theory seems to be less frequently cited and supported at least in the currently available sources and it is associated with slightly different names (''Tubartis'' or ''Tobasitis'') form those associated with the Islamic origin theory (''Thubactis'' or ''Thubaqt''). It is possible to reconcile the two theories by assuming that the city was initially founded by the Romans and was then known as ''Tubartis'' but later (after a period of disappearance or in a slightly different location for example) it was refounded by the Muslim conquests and named ''Thubactis''. In any case, in the 7th Century, it served as a caravan supply centre.
[ Misratah ] [ Misratah ] The city still preserves an old part of it with narrow streets dating backing to its early Islamic age.
[ Misratah, Libya, Pictures ]
A Resume of Misurata City
Misurata City is 0ne of the trade centers that the Phoenicians started building in the tenth century BC on the northern western part of the Libyan coast. Thus it is now three thousand years old.
The city was known in the old ages by the name of Cephale Tobactus, which means cape Misurata. It derived its importance from being on the cross roads of vital routes and amidst an agricultural area mentioned by the name of Cephale Promentium in ancient documents called Stade Somas Marcie Magna (the longest distances in the great sea) in the fourth century BC. This means that it was mentioned in those documents in a period that goes back to an era of two thousand three hundred and fifty years ago which is considered one of the oldest references in which the coastal suburb of
Qasr Ahmed where the port of Misurata is located was mentioned and was found so far. The geographer Strabo described it in the first century BC that it is a high head covered with bushes forming the great gulf of Sirt. What was mentioned by Plotemeus the famous geographer in the name of the Treron Akron for it is formed of three capes from the main land springing in the sea and inhabited by the tribe Misurata. So it was named after the name of this tribe and it is the name that is given to it now, it was also known by the name Dat Arrimal (the sandy one) for it has plenty of white and yellow sand dunes.
Misurata City lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea 211 km East of Tripoli and 825 km west of Benghazi. The location of the city forms a mixture of a dualism of sea and sand for it is surrounded by the sea from the north and east and from the south it is surrounded by the golden sands combined with the long palm trees, the shady olives and the green plains which encircle the center of the town with its modern buildings, wide streets, large factories such as the iron and steel complex and carpets and textile factories and a number of establishments, companies and trade centers.
Misurata city is the third largest of the Libyan cities with a population of 300,000. It witnesses now a big boom in all scopes of life thanks to the great first of September revolution which was the main factor behind the great development that took place in the city as well as the whole of the country.
Besides its distinguished location, which makes it a starting point for the exchange of commodities and materials with the rest of the cities of the country, Misurata enjoys a new infrastructure in the field of services such as roads, electricity and communications. It is also the seat of many national companies such as the Libyan Ports Company, Iron and Steel Company, the Libyan publishing, distribution and Advertising Company. Besides that it has branches of public and private sector banks and one locally and privately owned bank.
See also
★
[1]
Importance
Misratah today is a modern prosperous city with light industries (carpets and textiles among many others) and heavy industries (iron and steel industrial complex). The city has a great potential of expansion since it attracts a lot of internal immigration and is surrounded by uninhabited flat land with no obstacles. There is a port in the neighbouring town of
Qasr Ahmed.
Although the city has no university, there are several higher education institutions including a number of university faculties that are administratively linked to universities of other cities in Libya (e.g.
al-Tahaddi University of
Sirt and
al-Fateh University of Tripoli).
See also
★
Tripolitania
The city has one of the bigest university in Libya, it is 7 October Univessity which inclides 15 faculties. http://www.7ou.edu.ly
References
External links
★
Misratah Page on ''Encarta Online'' (encarta.msn.com).
★
Map of Misratah on the dynamic atlas of ''Encarta Online'' (encarta.msn.com).
★
Misratah dynamic map from Google Maps.
★
Image from Misratah in the article from the ''Encyclopaedia of the Orient'' (lexiorient.com).
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