View source for Tripoli, Libya

==History==
{{For timeline|Timeline of Tripoli, Libya}}

===Oea and Tripolitania===
{{Main|Oea|Tripolitania}}

The city was founded in the 7th century BC by the [[Phoenicia]]ns, who gave it the [[Libyco-Berber]] name Oyat ([[Punic language|Punic]]: 𐤅𐤉‬‬𐤏‬𐤕‬, ''wyʿt''),<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> suggesting that the city may have been built upon an existing native [[Berbers|Berber]] city.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tripolitania {{!}} Libya, Map, History, & War {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Tripolitania |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251031200947/https://www.britannica.com/place/Tripolitania |archive-date=31 October 2025 |access-date=23 December 2025 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en }}</ref> The Phoenicians were probably attracted to the site by its natural harbor, flanked on the western shore by the small, easily defensible [[peninsula]], on which they established their colony. The city then passed into the hands of the Greek rulers of [[Cyrenaica]] as '''Oea''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Ὀία, ''Oía''). Cyrene was a colony on the North African shore, a bit east of Tambroli and halfway to [[Egypt]]. The [[Carthaginians]] later wrested it again from the [[Greeks]].

By the later half of the 2nd century BC, it belonged to the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], who included it in their province of [[Africa Province|Africa]], and gave it the name of "Regio Syrtica". Around the beginning of the 3rd century [[Anno Domini|AD]], it became known as the [[Tripolitania (Roman province)|Regio Tripolitana]], meaning "region of the three cities", namely Oea (''i.e.'', modern Tripoli), [[Sabratha]] and [[Leptis Magna]]. It was probably raised to the rank of a separate province by [[Septimius Severus]], who was a native of Leptis Magna.

[[File:Marcus Aurelius Arch Tripoli Libya.jpg|thumb|left|Roman [[Arch of Marcus Aurelius (Tripoli)|Arch of Marcus Aurelius]]]]

In spite of centuries of Roman habitation, the only visible Roman remains, apart from scattered [[column]]s and [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] (usually integrated in later buildings), is the Arch of [[Marcus Aurelius]] from the 2nd century AD. The fact that Tripoli has been continuously inhabited, unlike ''e.g.'', Sabratha and Leptis Magna, has meant that the inhabitants have either quarried material from older buildings (destroying them in the process) or built on top of them, burying them beneath the streets, where they remain largely unexcavated.

There is evidence to suggest that the Tripolitania region was in some economic decline during the 5th and 6th centuries, in part due to the political unrest spreading across the Mediterranean world in the wake of the collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]], as well as pressure from the invading [[Vandals]]. It is recorded by [[Ibn Abd al-Hakam]] that during the siege of Tripoli by a general of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] named [[Amr ibn al-As]], seven of his soldiers from the clan of Madhlij, sub branch of [[Kinana]], unintentionally found a section on the western side of Tripoli beach that was not walled during their hunting routine.<ref name="Ibn Abd al Hakam" /> Those seven soldiers then managed to infiltrate through this way without being detected by the city guards, then managed to incite a riot within the city while shouting Takbir, causing the confused Byzantine garrison soldiers to think the Muslim forces were already inside in the city and flee towards their ship leaving Tripoli, thus allowing Amr to subdue the city easily.<ref name="Ibn Abd al Hakam">{{cite web |last1=Khalid |first1=Mahmud |title=Libya in the shadows of Islam.. How did Amr ibn al-Aas and his companions conquer Cyrenaica and Tripoli? |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/midan/intellect/history/2020/10/5/%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B8%D9%90%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AD-%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%86 |website=aljazeera |access-date=5 December 2021 |page=Ibn Abd al-Hakam: al-Maqrib, pp. 198, 199 |language=ar |date=2020 |quote=Ibn Abd al-Hakam: al-Maqrib, pp. 198, 199 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602191158/https://www.aljazeera.net/midan/intellect/history/2020/10/5/%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B8%D9%90%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AD-%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%86 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[al-Baladhuri]], Tripoli was, unlike Western North Africa, taken by the Muslims very early after [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|Alexandria]], in the 22nd year of the [[Hijri year|Hijra]], that is between 30 November 642 and 18 November 643 AD. Following the conquest, Tripoli was ruled by dynasties based in [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]] (first the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]], [[Banu Khazrun]], and later the [[Mamluk]]s), and [[Kairouan]] in [[Ifriqiya]] (the Arab [[Fihrids|Fihrid]], [[Muhallabids|Muhallabid]], and [[Aghlabid dynasty|Aghlabid]] dynasties). For some time it was a part of the [[Berbers|Berber]] [[Almohad Caliphate]], [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid Kingdom]], and [[Banu Thabit]] dynasty.

===16th to 19th centuries===
[[File:Tripoli by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|left|Historic map of Tripoli by [[Piri Reis]]]]

In 1510, the city was conquered by [[Pedro Navarro, Count of Oliveto]] for Spain. In 1530, it was assigned together with Malta to the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of St. John]], who had been expelled by the [[Ottoman Turks]] from their stronghold on the island of [[Rhodes]].<ref>Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/place/Tripoli Tripoli] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919215902/https://www.britannica.com/place/Tripoli |date=19 September 2023 }}, britannica.com, USA, accessed on 7 July 2019</ref> Finding themselves in hostile territory, the Knights reinforced the city walls and built defenses. Though built on top of older buildings (possibly including a Roman public bath), much of the earliest defensive structures of the Tripoli castle (or "Assaraya al-Hamra", ''i.e.'', the "[[Red Castle of Tripoli|Red Castle]]") are attributed to the Knights of St John.

Having previously combated [[piracy]] from their base on [[Rhodes]], the Knights were given charge of the city to prevent it from being retaken by [[Barbary pirate]]s. The disruption the pirates caused to the Christian shipping lanes in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] had been one of the main incentives for the Spanish conquest of the city.

[[File:A Mapp of the Citie and Port of Tripoli in Barbary - by John Seller 1675.JPG|thumb|Tripoli, 1675, map by [[John Seller]] ]]

The knights held the city until the [[Siege of Tripoli (1551)|Siege of Tripoli]] in 1551 and their surrender to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], led by the Muslim Turkish commander [[Turgut Reis]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Reynolds, Clark G. |title=Command of the Sea&nbsp;– The History and Strategy of Maritime Empires |publisher=Morrow |year=1974 |pages=120–121 |isbn=978-0-688-00267-1 |quote=Ottomans extended their western maritime frontier across North Africa under the naval command of another Greek Moslem, Torghoud (or Dragut), who succeeded Barbarossa upon the latter's death in 1546. }}</ref> Turgut Reis served as pasha of Tripoli. During his rule, he adorned and built up the city, making it one of the most impressive cities along the North African Coast.<ref>{{cite book |author=Braudel, Fernand |title=The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, Volume 2 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mediterraneanthe01brau/page/908 908–909] |isbn=978-0-520-20330-3 |quote=Of all the corsairs who preyed on Sicilian wheat, Dragut (Turghut) was the most dangerous. A Greek by birth, he was now about fifty years old and behind him lay a long and adventurous career including four years in the Genoese galleys. |url=https://archive.org/details/mediterraneanthe01brau/page/908 }}</ref> Turgut was buried in Tripoli after his death in 1565. His body was taken from [[Malta]], where he had fallen during [[Great Siege of Malta|the Ottoman siege of the island]], to a tomb in the [[Sidi Darghut Mosque]] which he had established close to his palace in Tripoli. The palace has since disappeared (supposedly it was situated between the so-called "Ottoman prison" and the [[Arch of Marcus Aurelius (Tripoli)|Arch of Marcus Aurelius]]), but the mosque, along with his tomb, still stands, close to the Bab Al-Bahr gate.

After the capture by the Ottoman Turks, Tripoli once again became a base of operation for Barbary pirates. One of several Western attempts to dislodge them again was a Royal Navy attack under [[John Narborough]] in 1675, of which a vivid eye-witness account has survived.<ref>''The Diary of [[Henry Teonge]] Chaplain on Board HM's Ships Assistance, Bristol and Royal Oak 1675–1679. The Broadway Travellers''. Edited by Sir E. Denison Ross and Eileen Power. London: Routledge, [1927] 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-415-34477-7}}.</ref> [[File:Reinier Nooms - Dutch Ships off Tripoli.jpg|thumb|480px|Dutch ships off Tripoli by [[Reinier Nooms]], ca.1650]] Effective Ottoman rule during this period (1551–1711) was often hampered by the local [[Janissary]] corps. Intended to function as enforcers of local administration, the captain of the Janissaries and his cronies were often the ''de facto'' rulers.

In 1711, [[Ahmed Karamanli]], a Janissary officer of Turkish origin, killed the Ottoman governor, the "[[Pasha]]", and established himself as ruler of the Tripolitania region. By 1714, he had asserted a sort of semi-independence from the Ottoman Sultan, heralding in the [[Karamanli dynasty]]. The Pashas of Tripoli were expected to pay a regular tributary tax to the Sultan but were in all other aspects rulers of an independent kingdom. This order of things continued under the rule of his descendants, accompanied by the brazen piracy and blackmailing until 1835 when the Ottoman Empire took advantage of an internal struggle and re-established its authority.

The Ottoman province (''vilayet'') of Tripoli (including the dependent ''[[sanjak]]'' of [[Cyrenaica]]) lay along the southern shore of the Mediterranean between [[Tunisia]] in the west and [[Egypt]] in the east. Besides the city itself, the area included Cyrenaica (the Barca plateau), the chain of [[oases]] in the Aujila depression, [[Fezzan]] and the oases of [[Ghadames]] and [[Ghat, Libya|Ghat]], separated by sandy and stony wastelands. A 16th century Chinese source mentioned Tripoli and described its agricultural and textile products.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Yuan Julian |date=11 October 2021 |title=Between the Islamic and Chinese Universal Empires: The Ottoman Empire, Ming Dynasty, and Global Age of Explorations |url=https://www.academia.edu/59068575 |journal=Journal of Early Modern History |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=422–456 |doi=10.1163/15700658-bja10030 |s2cid=244587800 |issn=1385-3783 |archive-date=17 April 2022 |access-date=14 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417192653/https://www.academia.edu/59068575 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Barbary Wars (1801-1815)===
{{Main|First Barbary War|Second Barbary War}}
[[File:Burning of the uss philadelphia.jpg|thumb|upright|The USS ''Philadelphia'', heavy frigate of the [[United States Navy]], burning at the [[Second Battle of Tripoli Harbor]] during the [[First Barbary War]] in 1804]]
In the early part of the 19th century, the regency at Tripoli, owing to its [[piracy|piratical]] practices, was twice involved in war with the United States. In May 1801, the pasha demanded an increase in the tribute ($83,000) which the U.S. government had been paying since 1796 for the protection of their commerce from piracy under the [[Treaty with Tripoli (1796)|1796 Treaty with Tripoli]]. The demand was refused by third President [[Thomas Jefferson]], and a naval force was sent from the United States to blockade Tripoli.

The [[First Barbary War]] (1801–1805) dragged on for four years. In 1803, Tripolitan fighters captured the U.S. Navy heavy frigate ''[[USS Philadelphia (1799)|Philadelphia]]'' and took its commander, Captain [[William Bainbridge]], and the entire crew as prisoners. This was after the ''Philadelphia'' was run aground when the captain tried to navigate too close to the port of Tripoli. After several hours aground and Tripolitan gun boats firing upon the ''Philadelphia'', though none ever struck the ''Philadelphia'', Captain Bainbridge made the decision to surrender. The ''Philadelphia'' was later turned against the Americans and anchored in Tripoli Harbor as a gun battery while her officers and crew were held prisoners in Tripoli. The following year, U.S. Navy Lieutenant [[Stephen Decatur]] led a successful daring nighttime raid to retake and burn the warship rather than see it remain in enemy hands. Decatur's men set fire to the ''Philadelphia'' and escaped.

A notable incident in the war was the expedition undertaken by diplomatic Consul [[William Eaton (soldier)|William Eaton]] with the objective of replacing the pasha with an elder brother living in exile, who had promised to accede to all the wishes of the United States. Eaton, at the head of a mixed force of US Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, along with Greek, Arab and Turkish mercenaries numbering approximately 500, marched across the Egyptian / Libyan desert from [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]] and with the aid of three American warships, succeeded in [[Battle of Derna (1805)|capturing Derna]]. Soon afterward, on 3 June 1805, peace was concluded. The pasha ended his demands and received $60,000 as ransom for the ''Philadelphia'' prisoners under the [[Treaty with Tripoli (1805)|1805 Treaty with Tripoli]].

In 1815, in consequence of further outrages and due to the humiliation of the earlier defeat, Captains Bainbridge and [[Stephen Decatur]], at the head of an American squadron, again visited Tripoli and forced the pasha to comply with the demands of the United States. See [[Second Barbary War]].

===Late Ottoman era (1835–1912)===
[[File:Ottoman Clock Tower Tripoli.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Ottoman era|Ottoman]] [[Clock tower]] in Tripoli's old town medina]]
In 1835, the Ottomans took advantage of a local civil war to reassert their direct authority. After that date, Tripoli was under the direct control of the [[Sublime Porte]]. Rebellions in 1842 and 1844 were unsuccessful. After the [[French occupation of Tunisia]] (1881), the Ottomans increased their garrison in Tripoli considerably.{{Clarify|reason=vague|date=September 2015}}

===Italian era (1912–1947)===
[[File:Tripoli-Stemma (1919-1947).svg|thumb|Coat of arms used from 1919 to 1947]]
Italy had long claimed that Tripoli fell within its zone of influence and that Italy had the right to preserve order within the state.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Charles Wellington Furlong |date=December 1911 |title=The Taking of Tripoli: What Italy Is Acquiring |journal=[[World's Work|The World's Work: A History of Our Time]] |volume=XXIII |pages=165–176 |access-date=10 July 2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vv--PfedzLAC&pg=PA165 |author-link=Charles W. Furlong }}</ref> Under the pretext of protecting its own citizens living in Tripoli from the Ottoman government, it [[Italo-Turkish War|declared war]] against the Ottomans on 29 September 1911, and announced its intention of annexing Tripoli. On 1 October 1911, a naval battle was fought at [[Prevesa]], Greece, and three Ottoman vessels were destroyed.

[[File:Tripoli, Suk el Turk.jpg|thumb|[[Italian settlers in Libya|Italian settlers]] and indigenous Libyans in Tripoli, 1930s]]

By the [[Italo-Turkish War#Treaty of Ouchy|Treaty of Lausanne]], Italian sovereignty over [[Italian Tripolitania|Tripolitania]] and [[Italian Cyrenaica|Cyrenaica]] was acknowledged by the Ottomans, although the [[caliph]] was permitted to exercise religious authority. Italy officially granted autonomy after the war, but gradually occupied the region. Originally administered as part of a single colony, Tripoli and its surrounding province were a separate colony from 26 June 1927 to 3 December 1934, when all Italian possessions in North Africa were merged into one colony.{{cn|date=May 2026}} By 1938, Tripoli<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ernandes.net/ricordi/rionelido/cap01/tripolimap30.jpg |title=Map of Italian Tripoli in 1930 |access-date=3 October 2014 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006134922/http://www.ernandes.net/ricordi/rionelido/cap01/tripolimap30.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> had 108,240 inhabitants, including 39,096 Italians.<ref>''The Statesman's Yearbook 1948''. [[Palgrave Macmillan]]. p. 1040.</ref>

Tripoli underwent a huge architectural and urbanistic improvement under Italian rule:<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lrYlxdX7DIC&pg=PA17 |title=Architecture and Tourism in Italian Colonial Libya: An Ambivalent Modernism |first=Brian |last=McLaren |date=29 January 2017 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295985428 }}</ref> the first thing the Italians did was to create in the early 1920s a sewage system (that until then it lacked) and a modern hospital.

In the coast of the province was built in 1937–1938 a section of the [[Via Balbia|Litoranea Balbia]], a road that went from Tripoli and Tunisia's frontier to the border of [[Egypt]]. The [[car tag]] for the Italian province of Tripoli was "TL".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.targheitaliane.it/index_i.html?/italy/colonie/libia_i.html |title=Benvenuto in Targhe a Roma |language=it |publisher=targheitaliane.it |first=Michele |last=Berionne |access-date=8 July 2019 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304142555/http://www.targheitaliane.it/index_i.html?%2Fitaly%2Fcolonie%2Flibia_i.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:TIF.Tripoli,Libya.jpg|thumb|right|280px|''Fiera internazionale di Tripoli'' ([[Tripoli International Fair]]) in 1939]]

Furthermore, in 1927, the Italians founded the [[Tripoli International Fair]], with the goal of promoting Tripoli's economy. This is the oldest trade fair in Africa.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tif History |url=http://www.gbf.com.ly/tif37/english/tifhistory.php |work=gbf.com.ly |year=2008 |access-date=6 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330161805/http://www.gbf.com.ly/tif37/english/tifhistory.php |archive-date=30 March 2009 }}</ref> The so-called ''Fiera internazionale di Tripoli'' was one of the main international "Fairs" in the colonial world in the 1930s, and was internationally promoted together with the [[Tripoli Grand Prix]] as a showcase of [[Italian Libya]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cronologia.leonardo.it/storia/a1937f.htm |title=MUSULMANI – 1937 – L'ITALIA IN MEDIO ORIENTE |access-date=1 September 2013 |archive-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925120216/http://cronologia.leonardo.it/storia/a1937f.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Italians created the [[Tripoli Grand Prix]], an international motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli. The Tripoli Grand Prix took place until 1940.<ref>{{YouTube|KEtz-wzbs9Y|Video of Tripoli Grand Prix }}</ref> The first airport in Libya, the [[Mellaha Air Base]] was built by the [[Italian Air Force]] in 1923 near the Tripoli racing circuit. The airport is currently called [[Mitiga International Airport]].

Tripoli even had a railway station with some [[Italian Libya Railways|small railway connections to nearby cities]], when in August 1941 the Italians started to build a new {{convert|1040|km|0|abbr=off|adj=on|sp=us}} railway (with a {{convert|1435|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} gauge, like the one used in Egypt and Tunisia) between Tripoli and [[Benghazi]]. But the war stopped the construction the next year.

Tripoli was controlled by Italy until 1943 when the provinces of [[Tripolitania]] and [[Cyrenaica]] were captured by Allied forces. The city fell to troops of the British [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]] on 23 January 1943.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://olive-drab.com/od_history_ww2_ops_battles_1943tunisia.php |title=Tunisia and Kasserine Pass |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023210610/https://olive-drab.com/od_history_ww2_ops_battles_1943tunisia.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tripoli was then governed by the British until independence in 1951. Under the terms of the [[Treaty of peace with Italy (1947)|1947 peace treaty]] with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], Italy relinquished all claims to Libya.<ref>Hagos, Tecola W. (20 November 2004). [http://www.tecolahagos.com/part4.htm "Treaty Of Peace With Italy (1947), Evaluation And Conclusion"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207051037/http://www.tecolahagos.com/part4.htm |date=7 December 2012 }}. ''Ethiopia Tecola Hagos''. Retrieved 18 July 2006.</ref>

===Gaddafi era (1969–2011)===
{{Expand section|date=February 2016}}
[[File:Tripoli, Libya city seal.png|thumb|150x150px|Former Seal of Tripoli, replaced in 2011]]
Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi]] became leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after a successful coup d'état.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/tripoli-architect-remembers-its-glorious-days/ |title=Tripoli architect remembers its glorious days |publisher=Indianexpress.com |date=2 September 2011 |access-date=13 March 2022 }}</ref>

On 15 April 1986, [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] ordered major bombing raids, dubbed [[Operation El Dorado Canyon]], against Tripoli and [[Benghazi]], killing 45 Libyan military and government personnel{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}} as well as 15 civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=9 February 2010 |title=U.S. bombs terrorist and military targets in Libya {{!}} 14 April 1986 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-14/u-s-bombs-libya |access-date=31 July 2025 |website=HISTORY |language=en }}</ref> This strike followed US interception of telex messages from Libya's East Berlin embassy suggesting the involvement of Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] in a [[1986 Berlin discotheque bombing|bomb explosion on 5 April]] in [[West Berlin]]'s La Belle discothèque, a nightclub frequented by US servicemen. Among the alleged fatalities of the 15 April retaliatory attack by the United States was Gaddafi's adopted daughter, [[Hana Gaddafi]].

The [[United Nations]] sanctions against Libya imposed in April 1992 under [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 748|Security Council Resolution 748]] were lifted in September 2003, which increased traffic through the Port of Tripoli and through airports in Libya. This lifting of the resolution had a positive impact on the city's economy allowing for more goods to enter the city.

===Libyan Civil War (2011)===
{{See also|Libyan civil war (2011)|Battle of Tripoli (2011)|2019–20 Western Libya offensive}}
[[File:Battle of Tripoli.svg|thumb|400px|Front lines during the Battle of Tripoli (20–28 August 2011)]]
In February and March 2011, Tripoli witnessed intense [[2011 Tripoli clashes|anti-government protests and violent government responses]] resulting in hundreds killed and wounded. The city's [[Green Square, Tripoli|Green Square]] was the scene of some of the protests. The anti-Gaddafi protests were eventually crushed, and Tripoli was the site of pro-Gaddafi rallies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.libyafeb17.com/2011/02/pro-gaddafi-demonstrations-in-tripoli/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720154815/http://archive.libyafeb17.com/2011/02/pro-gaddafi-demonstrations-in-tripoli/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=20 July 2013 |title=Pro-Gaddafi demonstrations in Tripoli – Libya February 17th – Archive site }}</ref>

The city defenses loyal to Gaddafi included the military headquarters at [[Bab al-Azizia|Bab al-Aziziyah]] (where Gaddafi's main residence was located) and the [[Mitiga International Airport]]. At the latter, on 13 March, Ali Atiyya, a colonel of the [[Libyan Air Force (1951–2011)|Libyan Air Force]], defected and joined the revolution.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/crowd-mourns-ali-hassan-al-jabir/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712013133/http://archive.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/crowd-mourns-ali-hassan-al-jabir/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=12 July 2012 |title=Breaking: Body of Al Jazeera Cameraman Ali Al Jabir Arrives in Doha |publisher=Libyafeb17.com |date=13 March 2011 |access-date=20 March 2011 }}</ref>

In late February, rebel forces took control of [[Zawiya, Libya|Zawiya]], a city approximately {{convert|50|km|abbr=on}} to the west of Tripoli, thus increasing the threat to pro-Gaddafi forces in the capital. During the subsequent [[First Battle of Zawiya|battle of Zawiya]], loyalist forces besieged the city and eventually recaptured it by 10 March.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/10/zawiya-town-itv-regime-battle |title=Zawiya town centre devastated and almost deserted &#124; Libya |first=Bill |last=Neely |date=10 March 2011 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=13 March 2022 }}</ref>

As the [[2011 military intervention in Libya]] commenced on 19 March to enforce a U.N. no-fly zone over the country, the city once again came under air attack. It was the second time that Tripoli was bombed since the 1986 U.S. airstrikes, and the second time since the 1986 airstrike that bombed [[Bab al-Azizia]], Gaddafi's heavily fortified compound.

In July and August, Libyan online revolutionary communities posted tweets and updates on attacks by rebel fighters on pro-government vehicles and checkpoints. In one such attack, [[Saif al-Islam Gaddafi]] and [[Abdullah Senussi]] were targets.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Worth |first=Robert F. |title=Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam comes out of hiding – and wants to be president |newspaper=[[The Times]] |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/gaddafis-son-saif-al-islam-comes-out-of-hiding-and-wants-to-be-president-hsjnkjdzn |access-date=21 February 2023 |issn=0140-0460 }}</ref> The government, however, denied revolutionary activity inside the capital.

Several months after the initial uprising, rebel forces in the [[Nafusa Mountains]] advanced towards the coast, [[Second Battle of Zawiya|retaking Zawiya]] and reaching Tripoli on 21 August. On 21 August, the symbolic Green Square, immediately renamed Martyrs' Square by the rebels, was taken under rebel control and pro-Gaddafi posters were torn down and burned.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=22 August 2011 |title=Libyan rebels take Tripoli's Green Square |language=en |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/libyan-rebels-take-tripolis-green-square |access-date=8 June 2022 }}</ref>

During a radio address on 1 September, Gaddafi declared that the capital of the [[Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]] had been moved from Tripoli to [[Sirte]], after rebels had taken control of Tripoli.

In August and September 2014, [[Islamic State – Libya Province|Islamist armed groups]] extended their control of central Tripoli. The [[House of Representatives (Libya)|House of Representatives]] parliament set up operations on a Greek car ferry in [[Tobruk]]. A rival [[New General National Congress]] parliament continued to operate in Tripoli.<ref name="WPost Aug. 24">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-denies-intervening-in-libya/2014/08/24/88b364ee-2b7d-11e4-be9e-60cc44c01e7f_story.html |title=Libya's Islamist militias claim control of capital |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |date=24 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825135414/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-denies-intervening-in-libya/2014/08/24/88b364ee-2b7d-11e4-be9e-60cc44c01e7f_story.html |archive-date=25 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=guardian-20140909>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/09/libyan-parliament-refuge-greek-car-ferry |title=Libyan parliament takes refuge in Greek car ferry |author=Chris Stephen |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 September 2014 |access-date=24 September 2014 |archive-date=16 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916072346/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/09/libyan-parliament-refuge-greek-car-ferry |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Recent developments===
The [[2022 Tripoli clashes]] and [[2023 Tripoli clashes]] continued to disrupt the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why did clashes break out in Libya's Tripoli? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/17/why-did-clashes-break-out-in-libyas-tripoli |access-date=17 August 2023 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en }}</ref>

The UN-recognized Libyan government in the west of the country is expected to assert its control in May 2025 following the reported killing of powerful militia leader Abdelghani al-Kikli, also known as Gheniwa.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 May 2025 |title=Libya's prime minister asserts control after deadly Tripoli violence |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/13/libyas-prime-minister-asserts-control-after-deadly-tripoli-violence |work=Al Jazeera }}</ref>