Area of E Libya, colonized by the Greeks in
the 7th century BC; later held by the
Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, Turks, and
Italians. Present cities in the region are
Benghazi, Derna, and Tobruk. The Greek
colonies passed under the rule of the
Ptolemies 322 BC, and in 174 BC Cyrenaica
became a Roman province. It was conquered by
the Arabs in the 7th century, by Turkey in
the 16th, and by Italy 1912, when it was
developed as a colony. It was captured by the
British 1942, and under British control until
it became a province of the new kingdom of
Libya from 1951. In 1963 it was split into a
number of smaller divisions under the
constitutional reorganization. There are
archaeological ruins at Cyrene and Apollonia.