Everything about Libya totally explained
Libya (;
Libyan vernacular: Lībya;
Amazigh: ), officially the
Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ( ), is a country in
North Africa. Bordering the
Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between
Egypt to the east,
Sudan to the southeast,
Chad and
Niger to the south, and
Algeria and
Tunisia to the west. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), 90% of which is desert, Libya is the fourth largest country in
Africa by area, and the 17th
largest in the world. The
capital,
Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.7 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are
Tripolitania, the
Fezzan and
Cyrenaica.
The name "Libya" is an indigenous (for example
Berber) one, which is attested in
ancient Egyptian texts as,
R'bw (=
Libu), which refers to one of the tribes of
Berber peoples living west of the
Nile. In
Greek the tribesmen were called
Libyes and their country became "Libya", although in
ancient Greece the term had a broader meaning, encompassing all of North Africa west of Egypt. Later on, at the time of
Ibn Khaldun, the same big tribe was known as
Lawata.
Libya has the ninth highest
GDP (
PPP) per capita of Africa, behind
Seychelles and
South Africa. This is largely due to its large
petroleum reserves and low population.
The
Flag of Libya is the only national flag in the world with just one color and with no design, insignia, or other details.
History
Archaeological evidence indicates that from as early as the 8th millennium BC, Libya's coastal plain was inhabited by a
Neolithic people who were skilled in the domestication of cattle and the cultivation of crops.
The area known in modern times as Libya was later occupied by a series of peoples, with the
Phoenicians,
Carthaginians,
Greeks,
Romans,
Vandals and
Byzantines ruling all or part of the area. Although the Greeks and Romans left ruins at
Cyrene,
Leptis Magna and
Sabratha, little other evidence remains of these ancient cultures.
Phoenicians
The
Phoenicians were the first to establish trading posts in Libya, when the merchants of
Tyre (in present-day
Lebanon) developed commercial relations with the
Berber tribes and made treaties with them to ensure their cooperation in the exploitation of raw materials. By the 5th century BC,
Carthage, the greatest of the Phoenician colonies, had extended its
hegemony across much of N.Africa, where a distinctive civilization, known as
Punic, came into being. Punic settlements on the Libyan coast included
Oea (Tripoli), Libdah (
Leptis Magna) and
Sabratha. All these were in an area that was later called
Tripolis, or "Three Cities". Libya's current-day capital Tripoli takes its name from this.
Greeks
The
Greeks conquered Eastern Libya when, according to tradition, emigrants from the crowded island of
Thera were commanded by the oracle at
Delphi to seek a new home in North Africa. In 630 BC, they founded the city of
Cyrene. Within 200 years, four more important Greek cities were established in the area:
Barce (
Al Marj); Euhesperides (later Berenice, present-day
Benghazi);
Teuchira (later Arsinoe, present-day Tukrah); and
Apollonia (Susah), the port of Bahrain. Together with Bahrain, they were known as the Pentapolis (Five Cities).
Romans
The
Romans unified all three regions of Libya, and for more than 600 years
Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica became prosperous Roman provinces. Roman ruins, such as those of Leptis Magna, attest to the vitality of the region, where populous cities and even small towns enjoyed the amenities of urban life. Merchants and artisans from many parts of the Roman world established themselves in North Africa, but the character of the cities of Tripolitania remained decidedly Punic and, in Cyrenaica, Greek.
Arabs
Arabs under General
Abdullah ibn Saad conquered Libya in the 7th century AD during the reign of Caliph
Usman. In the following centuries, many of the indigenous peoples adopted
Islam, and also the
Arabic language and culture.
Ottoman Turks
The
Ottoman Turks conquered the country in the mid-16th century, and the three States or "
Wilayat" of
Tripolitania,
Cyrenaica and
Fezzan (which make up Libya) remained part of their empire with the exception of the virtual autonomy of the
Karamanlis. The Karamanlis ruled from 1711 until 1835 mainly in Tripolitania, but had influence in Cyrenaica and Fezzan as well by the mid 18th century. This constituted a first glimpse in recent history of the united and independent Libya that was to re-emerge two centuries later. Ironically, reunification came about through the unlikely route of an invasion (
Italo-Turkish War, 1911-1912) and occupation starting from 1911 when
Italy simultaneously turned the three regions into colonies.
Italian Colony
From 1912 to 1927, the territory of Libya was known as Italian North Africa. From 1927 to 1934, the territory was split into two colonies,
Italian Cyrenaica and
Italian Tripolitania run by Italian governors.
In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Greeks for all of
North Africa, except Egypt) as the official name of the colony (made up of the three Provinces of
Cyrenaica,
Tripolitania and
Fezzan).
King Idris I, Emir of Cyrenaica, led Libyan resistance to Italian occupation between the two World Wars.
Between 1928 and 1932 the Italian military "killed half the Bedouin population (directly or through starvation in camps)."
From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under British administration, while the French controlled Fezzan. In 1944, Idris returned from exile in
Cairo but declined to resume permanent residence in Cyrenaica until the removal of some aspects of foreign control in 1947. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies,
Italy relinquished all claims to Libya.
United Kingdom of Libya
On
November 21 1949, the
UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before
January 1 1952. Idris represented Libya in the subsequent UN negotiations. On
December 24,
1951, Libya declared its independence as the
United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary
monarchy under King Idris.
The discovery of significant
oil reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income from
petroleum sales enabled one of the world's poorest nations to establish an extremely wealthy state. Although oil drastically improved the Libyan government's finances, popular resentment began to build over the increased concentration of the nation's wealth in the hands of King Idris and the national elite. This discontent continued to mount with the rise of
Nasserism and
Arab nationalism throughout North Africa and the
Middle East.
Coup of Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi
On
September 1 1969, a small group of military officers led by then 27-year-old army officer
Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi staged a
coup d’état against King Idris. At the time, Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment. His nephew, Crown Prince
Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, became King. It was clear that the revolutionary officers who had announced the deposition of King Idris didn't want to appoint him over the instruments of state as King. Sayyid quickly found that he'd substantially less power as the new King than he'd earlier had as a mere Prince. Before the end of
September 1, Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida had been formally deposed by the revolutionary army officers and put under house arrest. Meanwhile, revolutionary officers abolished the monarchy, and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic. Gaddafi was, and is to this day, referred to as the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution" in government statements and the official press.
Politics
There are two branches of government in Libya. The "revolutionary sector" comprises Revolutionary Leader Gaddafi, the Revolutionary Committees and the remaining members of the 12-person Revolutionary Command Council, which was established in 1969. The historical revolutionary leadership isn't elected and can't be voted out of office; they're in power by virtue of their involvement in the revolution.
Constituting the
legislative branch of government, this sector comprises Local People's Congresses in each of the 1,500 urban wards, 32 Sha'biyat People's Congresses for the regions, and the National
General People's Congress. These legislative bodies are represented by corresponding
executive bodies (Local People's Committees, Sha'biyat People's Committees and the National General People's Committee/Cabinet).
Every four years, the membership of the Local People's Congresses elects their own leaders and the
secretaries for the People's Committees, sometimes after many debates and a critical vote. The leadership of the Local People's Congress represents the local congress at the People's Congress of the next level. The members of the National General People's Congress elect the members of the National General People's Committee (the
Cabinet) at their annual meeting.
The government controls both state-run and semi-autonomous media. In cases involving a violation of "certain taboos", the private press, like The Tripoli Post, has been censored, although articles that are critical of policies have been requested and intentionally published by the revolutionary leadership itself as a means of initiating reforms.
Political parties were banned by the 1972 Prohibition of Party Politics Act Number 71. According to the Association Act of 1971, the establishment of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is allowed. However, because they're required to conform to the goals of the revolution, their numbers are small in comparison with those in neighbouring countries.
Trade unions don't exist, but numerous professional associations are integrated into the state structure as a third pillar, along with the People's Congresses and Committees. These associations don't have the right to strike. Professional associations send delegates to the General People's Congress, where they've a representative mandate.
Foreign relations
Libya's foreign policies have undergone much fluctuation and change since the state was proclaimed on December 24, 1951. As a Kingdom, Libya maintained a definitively pro-Western stance, yet was recognized as belonging to the conservative traditionalist bloc in the
League of Arab States (Arab League), of which it became a member in 1953. The government was in close alliance with
Britain and the
United States; both countries maintained military base rights in Libya. Libya also forged close ties with
France,
Italy,
Greece, and established full diplomatic relations with the
Soviet Union in 1955.
Although the government supported Arab causes, including the Moroccan and Algerian independence movements, it took little active part in the
Arab-Israeli dispute or the tumultuous inter-Arab politics of the 1950s and early 1960s. The Kingdom was noted for its close association with the West, while it steered an essentially conservative course at home.
After the 1969
coup, Gaddafi closed American and British bases and partially
nationalized foreign oil and commercial interests in Libya. He also played a key role in promoting oil
embargoes as a political weapon for challenging the West, hoping that an oil price rise and embargo in 1973 would persuade the West, especially the United States, to end support for Israel. Gaddafi rejected both Eastern (Soviet)
communism and Western (United States)
capitalism and claimed he was charting a middle course for his government.
In the 1980s, Libya increasingly distanced itself from the West, and was accused of committing mass acts of state sponsored terrorism. When evidence of Libyan complicity was discovered in the
Berlin discotheque terrorist bombing that killed two American servicemen, the United States responded by launching an
aerial bombing attack against targets near Tripoli and
Benghazi in April 1986.
In 1991, two Libyan
intelligence agents were indicted by federal prosecutors in the U.S. and Scotland for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of
Pan Am flight 103. Six other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the 1989 bombing of
UTA Flight 772. The
UN Security Council demanded that Libya surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. Libya's refusal to comply led to the approval of UNSC Resolution 748 on
March 31,
1992, imposing sanctions on the state designed to bring about Libyan compliance. Continued Libyan defiance led to further sanctions by the UN against Libya in November 1993.
In 2003, more than a decade after the sanctions were put in place, Libya began to make dramatic policy changes in regard to the
Western world with the open intention of pursuing a Western-Libyan
détente. The Libyan government announced its decision to abandon its
weapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost 3 billion US dollars in compensation to the families of Pan Am flight 103 as well as UTA Flight 772. The decision was welcomed by many western nations and was seen as an important step for Libya toward rejoining the international community. Since 2003 the country has made efforts to normalize its ties with the
European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, 'The Libya Model', an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation rather than force when there's goodwill on both sides.
An event considered pivotal by many in the Libyan-Western relations is the
HIV trials (1999–2007) of Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. their release is seen as marking new stage in the Libyan-Western relations.
On
May 15,
2006 the United States Department announced it would fully restore diplomatic relations with Libya if it dismantled its weapons programs. Also the State Department removed Libya from their state sponsored terrorism list which it had been on for 27 years.
On October 16, 2007 Libya was voted to serve on the United Nations Security Council for two years starting January 2008.
Human rights
According to the U.S. Department of State’s annual
human rights report for 2004, Libya’s
authoritarian regime continued to have a poor record in the area of human rights. Some of the numerous and serious abuses on the part of the government include poor prison conditions, arbitrary arrest and detention, prisoners held incommunicado, and
political prisoners held for many years without charge or trial. The judiciary is controlled by the state, and there's no right to a fair public trial. Libyans don't have the right to change their government.
Freedom of speech,
press,
assembly,
association, and
religion are restricted. Independent human rights organizations are prohibited. Ethnic and tribal minorities suffer discrimination, and the state continues to restrict the
labor rights of foreign workers.
In 2005, the
Freedom House rated
political rights in Libya as "7" (1 representing the most free and 7 the least free rating),
civil liberties as "7" and gave it the freedom rating of "Not Free," although the organization itself has been criticized as politically slanted.
See Freedom House#Criticism and praise
Municipalities
Libya was divided into several governorates (
muhafazat)
(External Link
) before being split into 25 municipalities (
baladiyat), see
map of 25 baladiyat in Municipalities of Libya. Recently, Libya was divided into thirty two
sha'biyah. These were then further rearranged into twenty two. The following list and map show the previous arrangement which is slightly different than the current one.
Geography
Libya extends over 1,759,540 square kilometres (679,182
sq. mi), making it the
17th largest nation in the world by size. Libya is somewhat smaller than
Indonesia, and roughly the size of the US state of
Alaska. It is bound to the north by the
Mediterranean Sea, the west by
Tunisia and Algeria, the southwest by
Niger, the south by
Chad and
Sudan and to the east by
Egypt. At 1770 kilometres (1100 miles), Libya's coastline is the longest of any African country bordering the Mediterranean. The portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya is often called the
Libyan Sea. The climate is mostly dry and desert-like in nature. However, the northern regions enjoy a milder
Mediterranean climate.
Natural hazards come in the form of hot, dry, dust-laden
sirocco (known in Libya as the
gibli). This is a southern wind blowing from one to four days in spring and autumn. There are also
dust storms and
sandstorms.
Oases can also be found scattered throughout Libya, the most important of which are
Ghadames and
Kufra as well as others.
Libyan Desert
The
Libyan Desert, which covers much of eastern Libya, is one of the most arid places on earth. In places, decades may pass without
rain, and even in the
highlands rainfall happens erratically, once every 5–10 years. At Uweinat, the last recorded
rainfall was in September 1998. There is a large
depression, the
Qattara Depression, just to the south of the northernmost scarp, with Siwa oasis at its western extremity. The depression continues in a shallower form west, to the oases of Jaghbub and Jalo.
Likewise, the temperature in the Libyan desert can be extreme; in 1922, the town of
Al 'Aziziyah, which is located west of
Tripoli, recorded an air temperature of 57.8 °
C (136.0 °
F), generally accepted as the highest recorded naturally occurring air temperature reached on Earth.
There are a few scattered uninhabited small oases, usually linked to the major depressions, where water can be found by digging to a few feet in depth. In the west there's a widely dispersed group of oases in unconnected shallow depressions, the Kufra group, consisting of Tazerbo, Rebianae and Kufra. The country is also home to the
Arkenu craters, double impact craters found in the desert.
Economy
The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which constitute practically all
export earnings and about one-quarter of
gross domestic product (
GDP). These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest GDPs per person in Africa and have allowed the Libyan state to provide an extensive and impressive level of social security, particularly in the fields of housing and education.
Compared to its neighbours, Libya enjoys an extremely low level of both
absolute and relative poverty. Libyan officials in the past three years have carried out economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the global capitalist economy. This effort picked up steam after
UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003, and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction.
Libya has begun some market-oriented reforms. Initial steps have included applying for membership of the
World Trade Organisation, reducing
subsidies, and announcing plans for
privatisation. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of
petrochemicals,
iron,
steel and
aluminium. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food.
Under the previous Prime Minister,
Shukri Ghanem, and current prime minister
Baghdadi Mahmudi, Libya is undergoing a business boom. Many government-run industries are being privatised. Many international oil companies have returned to the country, including oil giants
Shell and
ExxonMobil. Tourism is on the rise, bringing increased demand for hotel accommodation and for capacity at airports such as
Tripoli International. A multi-million dollar renovation of Libyan airports has recently been approved by the government to help meet such demands. At present 130,000 people visit the country annually; the Libyan government hopes to increase this figure to 10,000,000 tourists.
Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, the oldest son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, is involved in a green development project called the Green Mountain Sustainable Development Area, which seeks to bring tourism to Cyrene and to preserve Greek ruins in the area.
Demographics
Libya has a small population within its large territory, with a
population density of about 3 people per square kilometre (8.5/mi²) in the two northern regions of
Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica, and less than one person per square kilometre (1.6/mi²) elsewhere. Libya is thus one of the least densely populated nations by area in the world. 90% of the people live in less than 10% of the area, mostly along the coast. More than half the population is urban, concentrated to a greater extent, in the two largest cities,
Tripoli and
Benghazi. Native Libyans are a mixture of indigenous Berber peoples and the later arriving Arabs.
There are small
Tuareg (a Berber population) and
Tebu tribal groups concentrated in the south, living
nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are citizens of other African nations, including North Africans (primarily
Egyptians and Tunisians), and
Sub-Saharan Africans. According to the CIA Factbook, Libyan Berbers and Arabs constitute 97% of the population; the other 3% are
Greeks,
Maltese,
Italians,
Egyptians,
Afghanis,
Turks,
Indians, and
Sub-Saharan Africans. However, this only counts legal residents, as Libya is also home to a large illegal Sub-Saharan African population which according to some estimates numbers as much as a million.
The main language spoken in Libya is
Arabic, which is also the official language.
Tamazight (for example Berber languages), which don't have official status, are spoken by Libyan Berbers. Berber speakers live above all in the
Jebel Nafusa region (
Tripolitania), the town of
Zuwarah on the coast, and the city-oases of
Ghadames,
Ghat and
Awjila. In addition, Tuaregs speak
Tamahaq, the only known Northern
Tamasheq language.
Italian and
English are sometimes spoken in the big cities, although Italian speakers are mainly among the older generation.
Family life is important for Libyan families, the majority of which live in
apartment blocks and other independent housing units, with precise modes of housing depending on their income and wealth. Although the Libyan Arabs traditionally lived nomadic lifestyles in tents, they've now settled in various towns and cities. Because of this, their old ways of life are gradually fading out. An unknown small number of Libyans still live in the desert as their families have done for centuries. Most of the population has occupations in
industry and
services, and a small percentage is in
agriculture.
Education
Libya's population includes 1.7 million students, over 270,000 of whom study at the
tertiary level. Education in Libya is free for all citizens, and compulsory up until
secondary level. The literacy rate is the highest in North Africa; over 82% of the population can read and write. After Libya's independence in 1951, its first university, the University of Libya, was established in Benghazi. In academic year 1975/76 the number of university students was estimated to be 13,418. As of 2004, this number has increased to more than 200,000, with an extra 70,000 enrolled in the higher technical and vocational sector. The vast majority of Libyan Muslims adhere to
Sunni Islam, which provides both a spiritual guide for individuals and a keystone for government policy, but a minority (between 5 and 10%) adhere to
Ibadism (a branch of
Kharijism), above all in the Jebel Nefusa and the town of Zuwarah.
Before the 1930s, the
Sanusi Movement was the primary Islamic movement in Libya. This was a religious revival adapted to desert life. Its
zawaayaa (lodges) were found in
Tripolitania and
Fezzan, but Sanusi influence was strongest in
Cyrenaica. Rescuing the region from unrest and anarchy, the Sanusi movement gave the Cyrenaican tribal people a religious attachment and feelings of unity and purpose. This Islamic movement, which was eventually destroyed by both
Italian invasion and later the Gaddafi government, A Libyan form of
Sufism is also common in parts of the country.
Other than the overwhelming majority of Sunni Muslims, there are also small foreign communities of
Christians.
Coptic Orthodox Christianity, which is the Christian Church of Egypt, is the
largest and most historical Christian denomination in Libya. There are over 60,000 Egyptian
Copts in Libya, as they comprise of over 1% of the population alone. There is also a small
Anglican community, made up mostly of African immigrant workers in Tripoli; it's part of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt. There is also an estimated 40,000
Roman Catholics in Libya who are served by two Bishops, one in Tripoli (serving the
Italian community) and one in
Benghazi (serving the
Maltese community).
Libya was until recent times the home of one of the oldest
Jewish communities in the world, dating back to at least 300 BC. A series of
pogroms beginning in November 1945 lasted for almost three years, drastically reducing Libya's Jewish population. In 1948, about 38,000 Jews remained in the country. Upon Libya's independence in 1951, most of the Jewish community emigrated. After the
Suez Crisis in 1956, all but about 100 Jews were forced to flee.
Culture
Libya is culturally similar to its neighboring
Maghrebian states. Libyans consider themselves very much a part of a wider Arab community. The Libyan state tends to strengthen this feeling by considering Arabic as the only official language, and forbidding the teaching and even the use of the Berber language. Libyan Arabs have a heritage in the traditions of the nomadic
Bedouin and associate themselves with a particular Bedouin tribe.
As with some other countries in the Arab world, Libya boasts few theatres or art galleries. Conversely, for many years there have been no public theatres, and only a few cinemas showing foreign films. The tradition of
folk culture is still alive and well, with troupes performing music and dance at frequent festivals, both in Libya and abroad. The main output of Libyan television is devoted to showing various styles of traditional Libyan music.
Tuareg music and dance are popular in
Ghadames and the south. Libyan television programmes are mostly in Arabic with a 30-minute news broadcast each evening in English and French. The government maintains strict control over all media outlets. A new analysis by the
Committee to Protect Journalists has found Libya’s media the most tightly controlled in the Arab world.
Many Libyans frequent the country's beaches. They also visit Libya's beautifully-preserved archaeological sites—especially
Leptis Magna, which is widely considered to be one of the best preserved Roman archaeological sites in the world.
The nation's capital,
Tripoli, boasts many good museums and archives; these include the Government Library, the Ethnographic Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the National Archives, the Epigraphy Museum and the Islamic Museum. The Jamahiriya Museum, built in consultation with
UNESCO, may be the country's most famous. It houses one of the finest collections of classical art in the Mediterranean.
International rankings
Further Information
Get more info on 'Libya'.
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