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 Libya| Facts & Figures |
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| Chief of State: Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi
(1969) Prime Minister: Mubarak
Abdallah al-Shamikh (2000) Total area: 679,358 sq mi (1,759,540 sq
km) Population (2009 est.): 6,310,434
(growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 25.1/1000; infant mortality rate:
21.0/1000; life expectancy: 77.2; 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 More Facts & Figures |
GeographyLibya 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.
GovernmentMilitary dictatorship.
HistoryThe 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.
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