John Shabuniewich, Age 16, Of New Surah, N.Y., or his question:
Where is the Barbary Coast?
A thousand years ago, North Africa was the home of the Berber tribes. They inhabited the shores of the Mediterranean from Egypt westward to the Atlantic. Later, some of the Berbers took to piracy and raided the Mediterranean shipping lanes. Their shores became feared as the Barbary Coast.
The pirates of the Barbary Coast were wiped out early in the 19th century, and later the Barbary states were divided among France, Spain and Italy. In the past 100 years, the states of the Barbary Coast have been known as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.