Barqa (usually known in European languages as Cyrenaica ) is a historic region in eastern Libya. The name Barqa, given to the region by the Arab conquerors in the first/seventh century, derives from that of the ancient city of Barce (Gk., Bárkē; today al-Marj). Barqa covers approximately 850,000 square kilometres and had a population of 1.6 million in 2006. Situated between the Gulf of Sirt and the Egyptian border, it is dominated by the mountain range of al-Jabal al-Akhḍar. Most of the region consists of