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Libya
Libya is an Arab country in northern Africa. It lies on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea. The country is bordered by Egypt and Sudan on the
east, Chad and Niger on the south, and Algeria and Tunisia on the west.
Tripoli is Libya's capital and largest city.
Berbers are a people of northwest Africa and the Sahara. There are about
15 million Berbers, and they speak a variety of Berber dialects. Many
follow Arabic customs and traditions. Almost all Berbers are Muslims.
Facts in brief about Libya
Capital: Tripoli.
Official language: Arabic.
National anthem: ("God Is Greater Than the Aggressor's Malice").
Flag: The flag of Libya is entirely green. Green is the traditional
color of Islam, the religion of most Libyans. Adopted in 1977.
The vast, dry Sahara covers most of Libya, and the country has few
natural resources. But the discovery of petroleum in 1959 injected huge
sums of money into Libya's economy. The government of Libya used some of
this wealth to improve farmland and provide services for the people.
Almost all of Libya's people are of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry and
are Muslims. Until the early 1900's, Libya consisted of three separate
geographical and historical regions. It became a united, independent
country in 1951. Libya's official name is the Great Socialist People's
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Government: Muammar Muhammad al-Qadhafi is Libya's head of state, but he
holds no official title. In 1969, Qadhafi led a military revolt that
overthrew the ruling monarchy.
Libya's government is based on popular assemblies. All Libyan citizens
age 18 or older may vote and hold public office. About 1,000 local
groups elect a representative to the General People's Congress (GPC),
which officially runs the national government. The General People's
Congress meets every year to consider legislation and to select the
members of the General People's Committee, which develops national
policy.
Libya is divided into 24 political units called baldiyas. A local
People's Congress administers each baldiya. Political parties have not
been permitted since 1952. In 1971, the Arab Socialist Union was formed
as Libya's only political alliance. But a number of underground
opposition groups exist.
Population and ancestry. About 80 percent of Libya's people live along
the Mediterranean coast or in the upland regions just south of the
coast. More than 90 percent of Libya's population is of mixed Arab and
Berber ancestry. The Berbers lived in Libya before the Arabs arrived in
the A.D. 600's.
Languages. Arabic, the official language, is spoken by almost all
Libyans. Many educated Libyans speak a second language, particularly
English or Italian.
Religion. Islam is Libya's official religion. Almost
all Libyans are Muslims and belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The
1977 constitutions ordered that all legislation must
agree with Islamic law.
Education. When Libya became independent in 1951, only about 20 percent
of the population could read and write. But oil revenues provided the
country with money to attack widespread illiteracy. Today, well over
half of Libya's adults can read and write.
The huge Sahara, the desert that extends across northern Africa, covers
about 95 percent of Libya. Except for scattered desert oases, only the
land near the Mediterranean Sea in northern Libya is inhabitable and
useful for agriculture.
History: Early days. Berbers are believed to be the earliest
inhabitants of Libya. In the 600's B.C., Greek colonists
settled in the northeastern part of the region. Their province became
known as Cyrenaica. In the 400's B.C., the ancient city of Carthage, in
what is now Tunisia, established trading centers in the northwestern
part of the region. This province became known as Tripolitania.
The Romans destroyed Carthage in 146 B.C., and Tripolitania became part
of the Roman province of Africa Nova. A Germanic tribe called the
Vandals captured the region in A.D. 431. In the 500's, Byzantine forces
conquered the region. Rebellions by Berber tribes created instability
that aided Arab entry into the region.
Arab soldiers, spreading their new religion of Islam,
entered Cyrenaica in 642 and occupied Tripoli in 643. A succession of
Arab and Berber dynasties then controlled what
is now Libya. The culture of northwestern Libya developed along
with the political units just west of it, while development in the east
was strongly influenced by neighboring Egypt.
In 1551, the Ottomans captured Tripoli. They incorporated Tripolitania,
Cyrenaica, and the southwestern region known as the Fezzan into their
empire, which was centered in Asia Minor (now Turkey). But local rulers
had almost complete freedom. From the 1500's to the early 1800's,
private ships commanded by Barbary corsairs (sea raiders) preyed on
European and U.S. shipping in the Mediterranean. The United States
fought a war against the corsairs in the early 1800's.
Italian control. Italy invaded the coastal regions in
1911 and
took control of the three provinces in 1912. During the
1920's and 1930's, the Italians sponsored many improvement projects,
such as towns, roads, and irrigation systems, luring thousands of
European immigrants to the country. But in
Cyrenaica, the Sanusi brotherhood, a Muslim religious
and social reform group, organized stiff opposition to Italian rule.
During World War II, members of the Sanusi
brotherhood cooperated with the British in Egypt against
Italy, their common enemy. In 1942, the
United Kingdom established
a military administration in the north.
French forces took control of the Fezzan.
Independence. In December 1951, the United
Nations (UN) called for the independence of all of
Libya. A federal state came into being, with Muhammad Idris al Mahdi
as-Sanusi, leader of the Sanusi resistance,
as king. The three provinces-Cyrenaica,
Tripolitania, and the Fezzan-had considerable authority to rule
themselves. But their separate geographical and cultural development
fostered an atmosphere of localism and rivalry that complicated the
nation-building process. The provinces were abolished in 1963, and Libya
became a united kingdom controlled largely by the central government.
The discovery of oil in Libya in 1959 transformed the country from
a
poverty-stricken nation into one of the wealthiest in the world. But
widespread discontent resulted, because the ruling class controlled the
wealth.
In September 1969, a group of officers known as the Revolutionary
Command Council (RCC) overthrew King Idris and seized power.
Colonel
Muammar Muhammad al-Qadhafi, who led the revolution, became the head of
Libya's government. Under his rule, the government took control of most
economic activities. Qadhafi tried to forge unions with a number of Arab
states. But none of these efforts succeeded for more than a brief
period.
During the 1970's, oil revenues were used to fund ambitious social and
economic development projects. Existing political institutions were
replaced by popular assemblies. Despite the appearance of democracy, Qadhafi's government tolerated no political opposition.
Libya supported a number of political movements throughout the world,
particularly the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Polisario Front, in Western Sahara. It backed a rebellion in Chad.
Libya
also supported Iran's declaration of an Islamic republic in 1979.
Strained relations with the United States. The leaders of many nations
have denounced Qadhafi for interfering in the affairs of other
countries. During the 1980's, bitter antagonism surfaced between Libya
and the United States. The United States accused Qadhafi of aiding
terrorists. Libya, in turn, charged that the United States was
attempting to overthrow its government.
In January 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan broke all economic ties
with Libya. That March, Libya fired missiles on U.S. military aircraft
over the Gulf of Sidra. In April, Reagan ordered U.S. planes to bomb
military installations at Tripoli and Benghazi. Reagan claimed to have
evidence that linked Libya to the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub, in
which an American serviceman was killed and many were injured. Conflict
again erupted in early 1989, when two American aircraft downed two
Libyan jets over the Mediterranean. The American airmen claimed that the
Libyan planes were armed and aggressively heading toward them.
During the 1980's, increased production and decreased consumption of
petroleum throughout the world caused Libya's oil revenues to decline.
Nevertheless, the government moved forward with certain development
projects, including a pipeline for carrying water from underground
springs in the Sahara to the more densely populated coastal regions.
Recent developments. In April 1992 and December 1993, the United Nations
imposed sanctions on Libya for refusing to turn over Libyans suspected
of placing bombs aboard an American civilian airliner that exploded over
Scotland in 1988 and a French civilian airliner that blew up over West
Africa in 1989.
The two explosions killed 441 people. Sanctions included
the cancellation of international air service to Libya, the suspension
of military sales, and the reduction of Libya's diplomatic corps abroad.
In 1999, Libya turned over to UN officials two men suspected of planting
the bomb on the American airliner.
The United Nations suspended its
sanctions on Libya after the men were in custody. In May 2000, a special
Scottish court set up in the Netherlands began its trial of the two
suspects. The court announced its verdicts in January 2001. It convicted
one of the suspects, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, of murder and
sentenced him to life imprisonment. It acquitted the other suspect,
Lamen Khalifa Fhimah.
• Exactly 2520 years from the exile of
Benjamin, Iceland became an independent nation.
•
The first tribe to be conquered by the
Assyrians was Manasseh, in 745 B.C. Exactly
2520 years later America became a nation on
July 4, 1776.
• Study the book: Abrahamic Covenant,
(A study outline of the identity of God's people) By E. Raymond Capt -
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