Libya

Facts & Figures

Map of Libya

Chairman of the General National Congress: Mohamed Magarief (2012)

Prime Minister: Ali Zidan (2012)

Total area: 679,358 sq mi (1,759,540 sq km)

Population (2010 est.): 6,461,454 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 24.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 20.1/1000; life expectancy: 77.4; density per sq km: 3

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tripoli, 2,357,800 (metro. area), 1,269,700 (city proper)

Other large city: Benghazi, 734,900

Monetary unit: Libyan dinar

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Geography

Libya stretches along the northeast coast of Africa between Tunisia and Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east; to the south are the Sudan, Chad, and Niger. It is one-sixth larger than Alaska. Much of the country lies within the Sahara. Along the Mediterranean coast and farther inland is arable plateau land.

Government

Military dictatorship.

History

The first inhabitants of Libya were Berber tribes. In the 7th century B.C. , Phoenicians colonized the eastern section of Libya, called Cyrenaica, and Greeks colonized the western portion, called Tripolitania. Tripolitania was for a time under Carthaginian control. It became part of the Roman Empire from 46 B.C. to A.D. 436, after which it was sacked by the Vandals. Cyrenaica belonged to the Roman Empire from the 1st century B.C. until its decline, after which it was invaded by Arab forces in 642. Beginning in the 16th century, both Tripolitania and Cyrenaica nominally became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Tripolitania was one of the outposts for the Barbary pirates who raided Mediterranean merchant ships or required them to pay tribute. In 1801, the pasha of Tripoli raised the price of tribute, which led to the Tripolitan war with the United States. When the peace treaty was signed on June 4, 1805, U.S. ships no longer had to pay tribute to Tripoli.

Following the outbreak of hostilities between Italy and Turkey in 1911, Italian troops occupied Tripoli. Libyans continued to fight the Italians until 1914, by which time Italy controlled most of the land. Italy formally united Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1934 as the colony of Libya.

Libya was the scene of much desert fighting during World War II. After the fall of Tripoli on Jan. 23, 1943, it came under Allied administration. In 1949, the UN voted that Libya should become independent, and in 1951 it became the United Kingdom of Libya. Oil was discovered in the impoverished country in 1958 and eventually transformed its economy.