Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Barca, a Turkish province on the N. coast of Africa, between Tripoli and Egypt, having a length of 500 miles from N. to S. by a breadth of 400 miles. In classical times it was known as Cyrenaica, or Libya Pentapolis, the seat of the five Greek colonies of Arsinoe, Barca, Cyrene, Apollonia, and Berenice, the last of which is the modern capital Bengazi. Since the sixteenth century it had been under the beys of Tripoli, from whom it was taken by treaty in 1869, and made dependent on the Porte. Though no rivers exist and drought is a serious drawback, the soil produces millet, maize, figs, dates, and olives.