Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Marj , also spelt El Merj, formerly Barca or Barce, is a city in north eastern Libya and the administrative seat of the Marj District.It lies in an upland valley separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a range of hills, part of the Jebel Akhdar Mountains. It has an estimated population of 85,315 (As of 2004). There are a couple of banks on the main street and the main post office is in the centre of town, not far from the Abu Bakr Assiddiq mosque. Marj was the site of the 7th-century-BCE Greek colony of Barce. It was captured by the Persians in 512 BCE, and was annexed by the Ptolemies following Alexander the Great's death in 323 BCE. It was taken by the Arabs under 'Amr ibn al-'As in 641 CE.