Talk:The Barbary Coast/@comment-5728625-20130728204733/@comment-4671453-20130728210925

Pirates actually, in one way or another, controlled all of what was considered the Barbary Coast at the time (Morocco to Tunisia) until 1805 where they were eradicated by the U.S. military. But if any government owned them officially, it would be the Ottoman Empire, and the Sultan made it a protectorate to his empire. So no, it isn't independent.