Cyrenaica Reborn?:  A call for autonomy in Libya  [Flag of
Libya]Three separate historical regions compose the modern state
of Libya: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. Not until 1951
did all three parts come together to for the Kingdom of Libya.
Now, elected officials in Benghazi, Cyrenaica, are calling for
full autonomy for the eastern portion of Libya. The National
Transitional Council (NTC) does not want to grant such autonomy.
[A map of the Three Historical Regions of Libya]  The Three
Historical Regions of Libya  The history of the Libyan region is
long. It reaches back to the time when Carthage ruled much of
the Mediterranean. In the years Carthage was creating and
strengthening Punic Tripolitania, Fezzan served as the land
bridge between the Mediterranean and the Sahel States of Africa.
While the west belonged to Carthage and (later) Rome, Cyrenaica
in the east belonged to Greece. With the ebb of Punic and Greek
power, the Roman Empire united Tripolitania, Fezzan, and
Cyrenaica into the Africa Nova