Misrata Governorate (or Misurata Province before WW2) was one of the governorates (muhafazah) of Libya from 1963 to 1983. Its capital was the town of Misrata. [1] Initially in the 1930s was called "Provincia di Misurata" of Italian Libya. It was created out of the eastern part of Tripolitania province.
The governorate's population was 145,894 in 1964 and had risen to 156,980 by 1972. [2]
Before WW2 it was called Provincia di Misurata and had the same extension and capital. it was one of the four provinces of Italian Libya, that were created in 1937 as a "Metropolitan region" of the Kingdom of Italy. [3]
It was divided in 3 sections (called "Circondari" in Italian):
Some villages for Italian colonists were created in this 'province', greatly improving the farm production of the area: the most important was Villaggio Crispi. [4]
The population in the 1939 Census was of nearly 225,000 inhabitants, most of which were Arabs and Berbers. The Italians were nearly 10,000 and were concentrated in Misurata, Homs and some newly created villages [5] for Italian colonists (Gioda, Crispi, Littoriano, Corradini, etc. [6] )
Most of the population was Muslim, but there was a growing community of Catholics due to the Italian colonists immigration. [7] Additionally there were nearly one thousand Jews in Misurata. [8]
The province from 1939 was considered officially part of the Kingdom of Italy, with the same laws. It was one of the 4 new Italian provinces of the so-called Quarta Sponda (4th shore) of Mussolini's Greater Italia. Indeed, on January 9, 1939, the colony of Italian Libya was incorporated into "metropolitan Italy" and thereafter considered an integral part of the Italian state (the French, in 1848, had incorporated French Algeria in the same manner).
According to the 1939 Italian Census of Libya, [9] these were the main population data:
| CITY' | INHABITANTS | ITALIANS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Littoriano | 150 pop. | 150 | Italian colonists village, now abandoned |
| Corradini | 420 pop. | 420 | Italian colonist village, built in 1939 |
| Homs | 35,316 pop. | 1,156 | Italians nearly 3% |
| Misurata | 46,321 pop. | 1,472 | Italians 3% |
| Gioda | 1,550 pop. | 1,550 | Italian colonists village, built in 1939 |
| Taworgha | 5,174 pop. | - | village populated mostly by Blacks and a few Berbers |
| Sirte | 15,014 pop. | 303 | Italians 2% |
| Nofaliya | 3,459 pop. | 35 | Italians nearly 1% |
| Zliten | 1,300 popo. | 30 | Italians nearly 3% |
The provinces of Italy are the second-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, on an intermediate level between a municipality and a region. Since 2015, provinces have been classified as "institutional bodies of second level".
Misrata is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated 187 km (116 mi) to the east of Tripoli and 825 km (513 mi) west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With a population of about 881,000, it is the third-largest city in Libya, after Tripoli and Benghazi. It is the capital city of the Misrata District and has been called the trade capital of Libya. The harbor is at Qasr Ahmad.
Tripolitania, historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya.
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Libya was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitania, which had been Italian possessions since 1911.
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Tripoli Province was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937, with the official name: Commissariato Generale Provinciale di Tripoli. It lasted until 1947.
Benghazi Province, or Provincia di Bengasi in Italian, was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937.
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The Italian refugees from Libya were the Italian settlers and their descendants who were forced out of Libya after the end of WWII. Most took refuge in Italy, mainly after their expulsion in 1970, ordered by Muammar Gaddafi.
The Scioa Governorate, also known as the Shewa Governorate, was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with its administrative capital being Addis Abeba.
Italian Benghazi was the name used during the Italian colonization of Libya for the port-city of Benghazi in Italian Cyrenaica.
The Fourth Shore or Italian North Africa was the name created by Benito Mussolini to refer to the Mediterranean shore of coastal colonial Italian Libya and WWII Italian Tunisia in the fascist era Kingdom of Italy, during the late Italian Colonial Empire period of Libya and the Maghreb.
Vittorio Camerana was an Italian general who commanded the III Army Corps of World War I. At the end of the war, he was promoted to General of the Army Corps and decorated with the Grand Officer Cross of the Military Order of Savoy.
Tripolitania province is one of the three traditional Provinces of Libya. It was a formal province from 1934 until 1963, when it was subdivided into the Governorates of Libya. Its capital was the city of Tripoli. Between 1911 and 1934 it had been the separately governed colony of Italian Tripolitania.
