Tripoli (Arabic Tarabulus; ancient Tripolis), city in northwestern Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a rail and highway center and is the terminal of an oil pipeline. The chief industries are soap manufacturing, tobacco cultivation, sponge fishing, and oil refining. Citrus, oil, and wool are among the chief exports. Founded after 700 BC, Tripoli was the capital of a Phoenician federation. In AD 638 the city was taken by Muslims, and in 1109, it was captured by Crusaders. The city was destroyed in warfare with the Egyptians in 1289, but it was rebuilt and made a part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1920 it was incorporated into Lebanon. Population (1998 estimate) 160,000.
