Portal:Libya

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The Libya Portal

A view of the Benghazi port, 2013

Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. With an area of almost 1.8 million km² (700,000 sq mi), it is the 4th-largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and the 16th-largest in the world. Libya claims 32,000 square kilometres of southeastern Algeria, south of the Libyan town of Ghat. The largest city and capital is Tripoli, which is located in northwestern Libya and contains over a million of Libya's seven million people.

Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age as descendants from Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures. In classical antiquity, the Phoenicians established city-states and trading posts in western Libya, while several Greek cities were established in the East. Parts of Libya were variously ruled by Carthaginians, Numidians, Persians, and Greeks before the entire region becoming a part of the Roman Empire. Libya was an early centre of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century when invasions brought Islam to the region. From then on, centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb shifted the demographic scope of Libya in favour of Arabs. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ottoman rule continued until the Italo-Turkish War, which resulted in Italy occupying Libya and establishing two colonies, Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica, later unified in the Italian Libya colony from 1934 to 1943.

During World War II, Libya was an area of warfare in the North African Campaign. The Italian population then went into decline and Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A bloodless military coup in 1969, initiated by a coalition led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King Idris I and created a republic. Gaddafi was often described by critics as a dictator, and was one of the world's longest serving non-royal leaders. He ruled for 42 years until being overthrown and killed in the 2011 civil war, which was part of the wider Arab Spring, with authority transferred to the National Transitional Council then to the elected General National Congress. Since 2011, Libya has been involved in a political and humanitarian crisis, and by 2014, two rival authorities claimed to govern Libya, which led to a second civil war, with parts of Libya split between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based governments as well as various tribal and Islamist militias. The two main warring sides signed a permanent ceasefire in 2020, and a unity government took authority to plan for democratic elections, though political rivalries continue to delay this.

In March 2022, the House of Representatives ceased recognising the Government of National Unity and proclaimed an alternative government, the Government of National Stability (GNS). Both governments have been functioning simultaneously since then, which has led to dual power in Libya. The international community continues to recognise the unity government as the legitimate government of the country. Libya is a developing country ranking 92nd by HDI, the highest score in mainland Africa, and has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves in the world. Libya has the highest level of greenhouse gas emissions per person in Africa, but has made little progress toward developing climate commitments. Libya is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and OPEC. The country's official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni Muslims. The official language of Libya is Arabic, with vernacular Libyan Arabic being spoken most widely. The majority of Libya's population is Arab.

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The LSE–Gaddafi affair was a scandal in the United Kingdom that occurred as a result of relationship that existed between the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Libyan government and its leader Muammar Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

The NGO Gaddafi Foundation pledged to donate £1.5 million over five years to a research centre, LSE Global Governance, of which £300k were paid. In addition, LSE Enterprise established a contract worth £2.2 million to train Libyan officials. In 2008, the LSE granted a PhD degree to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, for a dissertation. Currently, allegations circulate that Gaddafi's thesis was ghost-written and/or plagiarised. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Libya-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The siege of Tripoli in 1551 allowed the Ottomans to capture the city from the Knights of St. John. (from Libya)
Image 2Muammar Gaddafi, leader of Libya (r. 1969–2011) (from Libya)
Image 3Bazeen, a communal bread dish (from Libya)
Image 4U.S. naval officer Stephen Decatur boarding a Tripolitan gunboat during the First Barbary War, 1804 (from Libya)
Image 5Australian infantry at Tobruk during World War II. Beginning on 10 April 1941, the Siege of Tobruk lasted for 240 days. (from History of Libya)
Image 6A view of Tripoli, c. 1766 (from Libya)
Image 7Districts of Libya since 2007 (from Libya)
Image 8Omar Mukhtar was the leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against the Italian colonization. (from History of Libya)
Image 9King Idris I announced Libya's independence on 24 December 1951, and was King until the 1969 coup that overthrew his government. (from History of Libya)
Image 10Libyan soldier of the Achaemenid army, c. 480 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief. (from History of Libya)
Image 11Leptis Magna (from Libya)
Image 12Al-Fatah Revolution day decorations in Tripoli 2008 (from Libya)
Image 13Septimius Severus, the first Roman emperor native to Roman Africa, was born in Leptis Magna. (from Libya)
Image 14Omar Mukhtar was a prominent leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against Italian colonization. (from Libya)
Image 15Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army, one of the main factions in the 2014 civil war (from Libya)
Image 16Areas of control in the Civil War, updated 11 June 2020:
Tobruk-led Government
Government of National Accord
Petroleum Facilities Guard
Tuareg tribes
Local forces (from Libya)
Image 17King Idris of Libya (from Libya)
Image 18Archaeological site of Sabratha, Libya (from Libya)
Image 19Territorial growth of Italian Libya: Territory ceded by Ottoman Empire 1912 (dark-green) but effectively Italy controlled only five ports (black), territories ceded by France and Britain 1919 and 1926 (light-green), territories ceded by France and Britain 1934/35 (red) (from History of Libya)
Image 20USS Enterprise of the Mediterranean Squadron capturing Tripolitan Corsair during the First Barbary War, 1801 (from History of Libya)
Image 21Temple of Zeus in Cyrene (from Libya)
Image 22F-4J of VF-74 with Libyan MiG-23 over Gulf of Sidra in 1981 (from Libya)
Image 23The temple of Zeus in the ancient Greek city of Cyrene. Libya has a number of World Heritage Sites from the ancient Greek era. (from History of Libya)
Image 24An elevation of the city of Ottoman Tripoli in 1675 (from History of Libya)
Image 25U.S. Ambassador Cretz Stands by Fist Crushing a US Fighter Plane Sculpture which was captured after the fall of Tripoli (from Libya)
Image 26The Atiq Mosque in Awjila is the oldest mosque in the Sahara. (from Libya)
Image 27Muammar Gaddafi, former leader of Libya, in 2009. (from History of Libya)
Image 28Libya is a predominantly desert country. Over 95% of the land area is covered in desert. (from Libya)
Image 29A protest against the anti-Gaddafi supporters in Tripoli (from Libya)
Image 30Royal Palace of Tripoli—headquarters of King Idris (from Libya)
Image 31An oil platform off the Libyan coast (from Libya)
Image 32Change in per capita GDP of Libya, 1950–2018. Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars. (from Libya)
Image 33Libya has emerged as a major transit point for people trying to reach Europe. (from Libya)
Image 34Oil is the major natural resource of Libya, with estimated reserves of 43.6 billion barrels. (from Libya)
Image 35Prehistoric Libyan rock paintings in Tadrart Acacus reveal a Sahara once lush in vegetation and wildlife. (from History of Libya)
Image 36Italian propaganda postcard depicting the Italian invasion of Libya in 1911 (from Libya)
Image 37Ethnic composition of the Libyan population in 1974 (CIA map):
  Arab and Arab-Berber

  Berber

  Tuareg

  Toubou

  Uninhabited
(from Libya)
Image 38Al Manar Royal Palace in central Benghazi – the location of the University of Libya's first campus, founded by royal decree in 1955 (from Libya)
Image 39Mosque in Ghadames, close to the Tunisian and Algerian border (from Libya)
Image 40Ancient Roman mosaic in Sabratha (from Libya)
Image 41An effigy of Muammar Gaddafi hangs from a scaffold in Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, 29 August 2011 (from History of Libya)
Image 42Flag of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (lasting from 1977 to 2011), the national anthem of which was "الله أكبر" (lit. 'God is Great') (from History of Libya)
Image 43The Arch of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna. The patronage of Roman emperor Septimus Severus allowed the city to become one of the most prominent in Roman Africa. (from History of Libya)
Image 44Demonstrations in Bayda, on 22 July 2011 (from History of Libya)
Image 45Pivot irrigation in Kufra, southeast Libya, 2008 (from Libya)
Image 46Gaddafi was the leader of Libya until 2011 Civil War. (from Libya)
Image 47Libya is the fourth-most water-stressed country in the world. (from Libya)
Image 48Libya map of Köppen climate classification (from Libya)
Image 49King Roger II of Sicily was the first Norman King to rule Tripoli when he captured it in 1146. (from History of Libya)
Image 50The Atiq Mosque in Awjila is the oldest mosque in the Sahara. (from History of Libya)
Image 51The Siege of Tripoli in 1551 allowed the Ottomans to capture the city from the Knights of St. John. (from History of Libya)

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Haruj seen from space

Haruj (Arabic: هروج, also known as Haroudj) is a large volcanic field spread across 42,000–45,000 km² (16,000–17,000 sq mi) in central Libya. It is one of several volcanic fields in Libya along with Tibesti, and its origin has been attributed to the effects of geologic lineaments in the crust.

It contains about 150 volcanoes, including numerous basaltic scoria cones and about 30 small shield volcanoes, along with craters and lava flows. Most of the field is covered by lava flows that originated in fissure vents; the rest of the flows originated within small shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes and scoria cones. Some of these vents have large craters. Volcanism in Haruj blocked ancient rivers and led to the formation of Lake Megafezzan. (Full article...)

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Toyota War Chadian–Libyan conflict Muammar Gaddafi Battle of Tripoli (1825) Waw an Namus Vandalic War Battle of Lukaya Air campaign of the Uganda–Tanzania War Alex Owumi Battle of Entebbe Fatimid invasion of Egypt (914–915)

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... that Libyan Jews and Arabs traded and bartered with each other at the fence of the Giado concentration camp?
... that cave art, indigenous dance and an ancient flute inspired the work of Libyan artist Shefa Salem?
... that after being freed from Buq Buq labor camp in Italian-occupied Egypt, Libyan Jewish prisoners had to walk home across the desert?