DARNAH

also spelled Derna, town of northeastern Libya, on the Mediterranean coast, east of Banghazi. It lies on the eastern ridges of the Jabal al-Akhdar in the delta of the small Wadi (seasonal river) Darnah. The town was founded in the 15th century on the site of Darnis, an ancient Greek colony (rock tombs remain). A ruined fort overlooking the town was built by the Americans under William Eaton, who landed there in 1805, to curb piracies on U.S. shipping. Darnah experienced several natural disasters (a plague in 1816, a cholera outbreak and an earthquake in 1834), and until the 1850s it was a slave port. Fortified by the Italians (191112) against the Turco-Libyans, it was made an integral part of metropolitan Italy in 1939 and suffered severely during the World War II North African campaigns until finally occupied by the British in 1942. Modern Darnah has whitewashed houses, vine-trellised streets, and palm gardens irrigated by perennial springs. Its minor port offers good offshore anchorage and is used as a seasonal sponge-fishing base. There is light manufacturing, including a garment factory, and local crops (bananas, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables) are marketed. Darnah is also a small winter resort. Pop. (1979 est.) 36,900.