Mediterranean port on the Gulf of Sidra, northeastern Libya. The site, which was located by a small fishing village destroyed during World War II, contained nothing but land mines when it was chosen as the terminal for Libya's first oil pipeline, running from Zalṭan, 105 miles (169 km) south. After 1960 a new port and town were built from prefabricated materials, including breakwaters and a wharf for supply ships, undersea pipes and floating berths for oil tankers, a power plant, housing, paved streets, and trees to hold back the sand. The first oil flowed there for shipment in 1961, and a refinery and a natural-gas liquefaction plant were subsequently opened. An ammonia-processing plant was opened in 1977. It is becoming the country's major petrochemicals centre. There is also a technical training school. The coastal highway connecting Tripoli with Banghāzī and Cairo passes through the town. Pop. (2003 est.) 12,594.