The Tripolitaine is a historical area of the Libya of which the name, which means " three villes" in Greek old, comes from OAS, Leptis Magna and Sabratha, the three most important cities since Antiquity. Tripolitaine then gave its name to Tripoli, name modern of OAS.

Successively Tripolitaine corresponds to:

• a territory libyco - phenician
• a territory of Roman Africa whose capital was Leptis Magna, promoted with the row of province at the time of the partition of the Africa proconsulaire into 303. (See Tripolitaine).
• part of the kingdom romano- vandal (435)
• a Byzantine possession
• an Othoman territory of 1551 with 1912
• a theater of the italo-Turkish War (1911 - 1912)
• an Italian colony of 1912 with 1943 (though almost entirely reconquered by the Turks during the First World War
• the theater of the Battle of the desert of 1942 - 1943
• a British protectorate of 1943 with 1951
• an area of the Independent Libya since 1951