town, northeastern Libya. It is a new town lying on a high ridge 20 miles (32 km) from the Mediterranean Sea. Built in the late 1950s on the site of the tomb of Rawayfī ibn Thābit (a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad), it was planned as the future national capital. Although Zāwiyat al-Bayḍāʾ contains a parliament building, ministerial offices, a branch campus of Gar Younis University, and a centre for Islamic studies, Tripoli remains Libya's capital. The town is served by a modern airfield and has highway links to Banghāzī, about 110 miles (170 km) west-southwest. The ruined ancient Greek city of Cyrene is nearby. Pop. (latest est.) 67,120.