Postage stamps and postal history of Cyrenaica and Fezzan were united as the Italian colony of Libya. Stamps of colonial Cyrenaica were inscribed "Cirenaica" and printed at the Italian Government Printing Works. British stamps overprinted M.E.F. (Middle East Forces) were used from 1943 to 1948 after the area was captured by the British during World War II. From 1 July 1948 stamps overprinted "B.M.A. TRIPOLITANIA" were used. Cyrenaica enjoyed a brief period of internal autonomy in 1949-51 when the British authorities recognised Amir Mohammed Idris Al-Senussi as Emir of Cyrenaica, which ended on 24 December 1951 when Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan were unified as the Kingdom of
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