Cyrenaica Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ; , , after the city of Cyrene; ) is the eastern coastal region of Libya. Also known as "Pentapolis" ("Five Cities") in antiquity, it formed part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into "Libya Pentapolis" and "Libya Sicca". During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as "Barqa", after the city of Barca. Cyrenaica was the name of an administrative division of Italian Libya from 1927 until 1943, then under British military and civil administration from 1943 until 1951, and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until 1963.
Cyrenaica salt-collecting and sponge fishing were more important than agriculture. Bomba and Tobruk have good harbors. South of the coastal highlands of Cyrenaica is a large east-west running depression, extending eastward from the Gulf of Sidra into Egypt. This region of the Sahara is known as the Libyan Desert, and includes the Great Sand Sea and the Calanshio Sand Sea. The Libyan Desert is home to a few oases, including Awjila (ancient Augila) and Jaghbub. The Berbers were the earliest recorded inhabitants of Cyrenaica, and most modern Cyrenaicans are considered to be Berber in origin. Remnants of the Berber languages spoken