Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica or Cirenaica (Arabic: برقه, pronounced as: Barqah, see Barqah) is the eastern coastal region of Libya and also an ex-province or State ("muhafazah" or "wilayah") of the country (alongside Tripolitania and Fezzan) in an old system of administrative divisions which was abolished in the early 1970s in favour of a system of smaller-size municipality or "baladiyat" (singular "baladiyah"). The "Baladiyat"-system was subsequently changed many times and has lately become "Sha'biyat"-system. What used to be Cyrenaica in the old system is now divided up into several "Sha'biyat", see administrative divisions in ''Libya''. In addition to the eastern coastal region, the ex-Province extended to the south to include South Eastern Libya which has not always been part of historical Cyrenaica (it was not part of Ottoman Cyrenaica for example, hence the restriction to coastal areas in some definitions and maps like the ones on the top of this article). However on maps dating back to prior to the abolishment of the old system and showing the administrative divisions of Libya during the Kingdom, Italian or Ottoman eras (e.g. [1]), Cyrenaica represents the eastern half of Libya (the western half being shared by Tripolitania and Fezzan as seen in the linked map).