Tobruk

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ancient Antipyrgos

Port city (pop., latest est.: 110,000), northeastern Libya.

The site of an ancient Greek agricultural colony, it later had a Roman fortress guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica. For centuries it served as a way station on the coastal caravan route. An Italian military post by 1911, it was the scene of prolonged fighting during World War II (see North Africa campaigns). The British captured it from the Italians in 1941; it fell to a German siege in 1942 but was recaptured by the British the same year. Rebuilt after the war, it was expanded in the 1960s to include a port terminal linked by pipeline to the Sarir oil field.

More on "Tobruk" from Britannica Concise:

Balbo, Italo - Italian aviator and politician.

North Africa campaigns - (1940-43) Battles in World War II for control of North Africa.

More on "Tobruk" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

Tobruk - port, northeastern Libya. It was the site of Antipyrgos, an ancient Greek agricultural colony, and thereafter of a Roman fortress guarding the Cyrenaican frontier. The town later became a way station on the coastal caravan route. Because it is Libya's only natural harbour, Tobruk was occupied by the Italians as early as 1911 and was subsequently used as a naval and air base for their military ...

Desert Rats - a group of British soldiers who helped defeat the Germans in North Africa during World War II. The Desert Rats, led by General Allen Francis Harding, were especially noted for a hard-fought, three-month campaign against the more experienced German Afrika Korps, led by General Erwin Rommel ("The Desert Fox").

Libya - The main road is the 1,100-mile national coastal highway between the borders of Tunisia and Egypt. The Sabha road runs from the coastal highway at Al-Qaddahiyah south and southwest to Ghat near the Algerian border. Other national roads run from Tripoli to Ghat and Sabha and from Ajdabiya to Al-Kufrah. About half the roads are paved. The two railroads that served Tripoli and Banghazi were closed ...

Balbo, Italo - Italian airman and fascist leader who played a decisive role in developing Benito Mussolini's air force.

Libya - Petroleum is Libya's most important mineral resource. First discovered in 1956 near the Algerian border, it has since been located mainly in the Surt Basin. The major oil fields are Zaltan, Amal, and Intisar A in the vicinity of Banghazi; the Dahra field is located near Misratah, and the Sarir field is near Darnah. Deposits have been located near Ghadamis on the western border, Murzuq in the ...

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