Fezzan, a province of the Turkish empire, politically attached to Tripoli, to the south of which country it lies. Extending some 390 miles N. and S., and some 300 E. and W., between and lat. and and long., Fezzan belongs to the desert region of North Africa. It consists of a huge depression, fenced in on all sides except the west by low ranges of hills, and traversed by barren, stony, shelterless plateaus, between which lie long shallow valleys, containing numerous fertile oases. The northern barrier of the province is the range of Jebel es-Soda, which strikes off nearly due east from the south-east corner of the Saharan plateau called the Hammada el-Homra, and is continued towards the south-east by the Haruj el-Aswad. The Jebel es-Soda measures about 125 miles in length, and has an average altitude of 2950 feet. South of this range stretches for some 80 miles a series of low elevations, strewn with smooth stones, destitute of water, and almost entirely devoid of plant and animal life; beyond these again comes a region of sandy alluvial soil, containing saline deposits, with a tolerably good supply of water at 10 to 12 feet below the surface. South of the Hammada el-Homra Fezzan is invaded by the edeyen or Saharan sand-dunes; and these are separated from the Hammada of Murzuk on the south by the Wady Ladshal, a watercourse extending north-east for about 125 miles. The southern border of the province is formed by the Tümmo Hills, more than 2500 feet high, which connect the Ahaggar plateau in the north-west with the mountainous region of Tebesti in the south-east. The entire region slopes gently towards the east.
The oases, mostly depressions in the valleys, are the only cultivated spots, where a little grain and a few vegetables are raised, and where grows the date-palm, the principal source of food for the inhabitants and their domestic animals. Of these camels, poultry, and pigeons are alone kept in any great number. The climate is on the whole uniform and healthy, although malarial fever is very frequent. Fezzan is both hotter in summer and colder in winter than Tripoli; its temperature ranges from to , the annual mean being The atmosphere is very dry; rain scarcely ever falls. The principal winds blow from the south and east, but from December to April north and west winds are very prevalent. There is no industry, no export trade except in soda, obtained from extensive salt lakes north west of Murzuk, and very little commerce. Formerly, however, the Fezzan merchants occupied a very important position as intermediaries in the trade between Tripoli and Egypt with Bornu and Timbuktu; but the opening of new routes and the attempts to check the trade in slaves—the great staple of this route—have destroyed the commercial importance of Fezzan. The inhabitants, estimated by Nachtigal at about 50,000, are a mixed race, embracing Tuareg, Tibbu, Bornu, Hausa, and Arab elements grafted on the original nomadic stock. They are frivolous, pleasure-loving, and idle, but noted for their honesty and good-nature, as well as notorious for their immorality. In their manners and social customs they have borrowed largely from Arab originals; in religion they are Mohammedans of the Sunnite creed. The principal town of the province is Murzuk (pop. 6500).
Fezzan is the ancient Phazania, or the land of the Garamantes, who were conquered by the Roman Balbus in 20 B.C. In the 7th century the country was subdued by a lieutenant of 'Amir, the Moslem conqueror of Egypt. From the 10th century onwards, except in the 13th century, when it was held by the kings of Kanem, Fezzan was ruled by native or Arab dynasties. From the 16th century its history was a series of struggles against Tripoli, until in 1842 it became a Turkish province and part of Tripoli (q.v.).