Sirte

Sirte سِرْت
Mathābah al-Madīnah, Assembly building, in Sirte (2007)
Sirte Location in Libya
Coordinates: 31°12′18″N 16°35′19″E / 31.20500°N 16.58861°E / 31.20500; 16.58861
Country	Libya
Region	Tripolitania
District	Sirt
Elevation	28 m (92 ft)
Population  (2013)
• Total	128,123
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
License Plate Code	7

Sirte (/ˈsɜːrt/; Arabic: سِرْت, pronunciation^ⓘ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups, and loyalty to Muammar Gaddafi. Due to developments in the First Libyan Civil War, it was briefly the capital of Libya as Tripoli's successor after the Fall of Tripoli from 1 September to 20 October 2011. The settlement was established in the early 20th century by the Italians, at the site of a 19th-century fortress built by the Ottomans. It grew into a city after World War II.

As the birthplace of Muammar Gaddafi, Sirte was favoured by the Gaddafi government.^[1] The city was the final major stronghold of Gaddafi loyalists in the civil war and Gaddafi was killed there by rebel forces on 20 October 2011 after sustaining major injury caused by French Air Force Bombs discharged as part of NATO. During the battle, Sirte was left almost completely in ruins, with many buildings destroyed or damaged.^[2] Six months after the civil war, almost 60,000 inhabitants, more than 70 percent of the pre-war population, had returned.^[3]