Ifriqiya

Ifriqiya (also Ifriqiyah) is the Arabic name for the eastern part of the Maghreb in North Africa, roughly corresponding to present-day Tunisia and parts of eastern Algeria and western Libya. In medieval Islamic geography the term was used to distinguish the eastern Maghreb from the western region known as the Maghrib. The core area included coastal cities such as Kairouan and Tunis, with both fertile hinterlands and desert frontiers shaping its history and culture.

Historically, Ifriqiya was governed as a distinct province under the Abbasid Caliphate during the early Islamic period, with the Aghlabid Dynasty (800–909) acting as autonomous governors based in Kairouan and expanding influence into Sicily. In 909 the Fatimid Caliphate established its base in Ifriqiya after taking over from the Aghlabids, founding a prosperous center that later moved its capital to Cairo after conquering Egypt. Following Fatimid rule, the region was ruled by local dynasties such as the Zirids and, from the 13th century, the Hafsids, who established a Tunis-centered emirate that endured for several centuries. By the early modern period the area fell under increasing Ottoman influence, with Hafsid authority waning and Ottoman control expanding in the western Mediterranean.

In contemporary usage, Ifriqiya is primarily a historical and scholarly term denoting the eastern Maghreb in the medieval and early modern eras. It does not correspond to a modern political entity. The term remains prominent in studies of North African history, urban and architectural heritage (notably Kairouan and other early Islamic centers), trade networks across the Mediterranean, and the cultural synthesis that developed in the region.