What is "ifriqiya"

Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah ( ) or el-Maghrib el-Adna (Lower West) was the area during medieval history that comprises what is today Tunisia, Tripolitania (western Libya) and the Constantinois (eastern Algeria); all part of what was previously included in the Africa Province of the Roman Empire.

The southern boundary of Ifriqiya was far more unchallenged as bounded by the semi-arid areas and the salt marshes called el- Djerid. The northern and western boundaries fluctuated; at times as far north as Sicily otherwise just along the coastline, and the western boundary usually went as far as Bejaia. The capital was briefly Carthage, then Qayrawan (Kairouan), then Mahdia, then Tunis. The Arabs generally settled on the lower ground while the native population settled in the mountains.

The Aghlabids, from their base in Kairouan, initiated the invasion of Sicily beginning in 827 and establishing the Emirate of Sicily, which lasted until it was conquered by the Normans.