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. Libya 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. Libya comprises three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million km² (700,000 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and the 16th-largest in the world. Libya claims 32,000 square kilometers of southeastern Algeria, south of the Libyan town of Ghat. 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. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, 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, Persians, and Greeks before the entire region becoming a part of the Roman Empire. Libya was an early center 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 favor 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 the Italian occupation of Libya and the establishment of two colonies, Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica (1911–1934), later unified in the Italian Libya colony from 1934 to 1943.

During the Second World War, Libya was an area of warfare in the North African Campaign. The Italian population then went into decline. 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, ruling for 42 years. He ruled until being overthrown and killed during the 2011 Libyan 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. 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. Libya is a developing country ranking 104th by HDI and has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves in the world. Libya is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Arab League, the OIC and OPEC.

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The Libyan Desert landscape east of the Gilf Kebir.

The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the northeastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates today's Sahara, and parts of the Libyan Desert include the Sahara's most arid and least populated regions; this is chiefly what sets the Libyan Desert apart from the greater Sahara. The consequent absence of grazing, and near absence of waterholes or wells needed to sustain camel caravans, prevented Trans-Saharan trade between Kharga (the Darb al Arbein) close to the Nile, and Murzuk in the Libyan Fezzan. This obscurity saw the region overlooked by early European explorers, and it was not until the early 20th century and the advent of the motor car before the Libyan Desert started to be fully explored. (Full article...)

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

Image 1The 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 2A US Navy expedition under Commodore Edward Preble engaging gunboats and fortifications in Tripoli, 1804 (from Libya)
Image 3Oil is the major natural resource of Libya, with estimated reserves of 43.6 billion barrels. (from Libya)
Image 4The Atiq Mosque in Awjila is the oldest mosque in the Sahara. (from History of Libya)
Image 5The 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 6The siege of Tripoli in 1551 allowed the Ottomans to capture the city from the Knights of St. John. (from Libya)
Image 7UK Foreign Secretary William Hague with Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, November 2013 (from Libya)
Image 8Libyan National Security Advisor Mutassim Gaddafi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, April 2009 (from Libya)
Image 9Change in per capita GDP of Libya, 1950–2018. Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars. (from Libya)
Image 10Italian propaganda postcard depicting the Italian invasion of Libya in 1911 (from Libya)
Image 11The Atiq Mosque in Awjila is the oldest mosque in the Sahara. (from Libya)
Image 12Gaddafi was the leader of Libya until 2011 Civil War. (from Libya)
Image 13King Roger II of Sicily was the first Norman King to rule Tripoli when he captured it in 1146. (from History of Libya)
Image 14Prehistoric Libyan rock paintings in Tadrart Acacus reveal a Sahara once lush in vegetation and wildlife. (from History of Libya)
Image 15Mosque in Ghadames, close to the Tunisian and Algerian border (from Libya)
Image 16Leptis Magna (from Libya)
Image 17Temple of Zeus in Cyrene (from Libya)
Image 18Libya map of Köppen climate classification (from Libya)
Image 19Al 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 20Archaeological site of Sabratha, Libya (from Libya)
Image 21Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army, one of the main factions in the 2014 civil war (from Libya)
Image 22Libyan soldier of the Achaemenid army, c. 480 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief. (from History of Libya)
Image 23F-4J of VF-74 with Libyan MiG-23 over Gulf of Sidra in 1981 (from Libya)
Image 24Australian 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 25An oil platform off the Libyan coast (from Libya)
Image 26Districts of Libya since 2007 (from Libya)
Image 27Libya is a predominantly desert country. Over 95% of the land area is covered in desert. (from Libya)
Image 28The USS Enterprise of the Mediterranean Squadron capturing a Tripolitan Corsair during the First Barbary War, 1801 (from Libya)
Image 29King Idris I of the Senussi order became the first head of state of Libya in 1951. (from Libya)
Image 30Bazeen, a communal bread dish (from Libya)
Image 31A proportional representation of Libya exports, 2019 (from Libya)
Image 32Territorial 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 33King 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 34Omar Mukhtar was a prominent leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against Italian colonization. (from Libya)
Image 35Libya is the fourth-most water-stressed country in the world. (from Libya)
Image 36USS Enterprise of the Mediterranean Squadron capturing Tripolitan Corsair during the First Barbary War, 1801 (from History of Libya)
Image 37Pivot irrigation in Kufra, southeast Libya, 2008 (from Libya)
Image 38Demonstrations in Bayda, on 22 July 2011 (from History of Libya)
Image 39Libya has emerged as a major transit point for people trying to reach Europe. (from Libya)
Image 40A view of the Business District in Tripoli (from Libya)
Image 41Muammar al-Gaddafi, leader of Libya (1969–2011) (from Libya)
Image 42Areas 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 43A map of Libya (from Libya)
Image 44An effigy of Muammar Gaddafi hangs from a scaffold in Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, 29 August 2011 (from History of Libya)
Image 45Muammar Gaddafi, former leader of Libya, in 2009. (from History of Libya)
Image 46Omar Mukhtar was the leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against the Italian colonization. (from History of Libya)
Image 47The Siege of Tripoli in 1551 allowed the Ottomans to capture the city from the Knights of St. John. (from History of Libya)
Image 48Flag of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (lasting from 1977 to 2011), the national anthem of which was "الله أكبر" (English: Allahu Akbar=god (is) great) (from History of Libya)
Image 49Ethnic composition of the Libyan population in 1974 (CIA map)
  Arab and Arab-Berber

  Berber

  Tuareg

  Toubou

  Uninhabited
(from Libya)
Image 50Ancient Roman mosaic in Sabratha (from Libya)
Image 51An elevation of the city of Ottoman Tripoli in 1675 (from History of Libya)
Image 52Al-Fatah Revolution day decorations in Tripoli 2008 (from Libya)
Image 53A protest against the anti-Gaddafi supporters in Tripoli (from Libya)

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The central cone of Waw an Namus

Waw an Namus (also spelled Wau-en-Namus, Arabic: واو الناموس) is a volcano in Libya. Of either Pleistocene or Holocene age, it is located within the eastern Fezzan region. The origin of the volcanism there and at Al Haruj farther north is not clear. Radiometric dating has yielded an age of about 200,000 years, but other circumstantial evidence points to a formation of the volcano during Holocene or even historical times.

Waw an Namus is characterized by a caldera surrounded by an apron of dark tephra, which has a notable colour contrast to the surrounding desert terrain of the Sahara. A smaller crater lies northwest of the Waw an Namus caldera. The caldera itself contains a scoria cone. Several small lakes and associated vegetation are located within the caldera. (Full article...)

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Toyota War Chadian–Libyan conflict Muammar Gaddafi Haruj Battle of Tripoli (1825) 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 to repel migrants, the European Union has paid hundreds of millions of euros to Libyan partners known to be involved in human trafficking, slavery, and torture?

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