Libya

Libya (Berber: Libu, Arabic: ‏دولة ليبيا), officially the State of Libya, is a sovereign country North African Republican. Its capital is Tripoli. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Tunisia and Algeria to the west, Niger and Chad to the south, Sudan to the southeast, and Egypt to the east.

Until 2011, the country was claimed to have the highest life expectancy in Africa (behind only the Spanish cities and islands of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, and the British island of Saint Helena), at 77.65 years old. It also had the highest (nominal) GDP per capita on the African continent, and second place in terms of GDP per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP). It also had one of the highest records in Africa in the Human Development Index (HDI), but since 2011 it has seen notable decreases.

Since the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century century, Libya has been a land of Islamic religion and has had the Arabic as the predominant language. In the 16th century the Spanish Empire and the Order of Malta occupied Tripoli until the beginning of Ottoman rule in 1551. Libya participated in the Barbary wars of the XVIII and XIX. Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya, which brought about the colonial period of Italian Libya (1911-1943). During World War II the country was a battlefield of the North African campaign. It became independent as a kingdom in 1951, ruled by Idris I until a military coup overthrew him in 1969; This event marked the beginning of a period of brutal repression of all dissent. The most prominent of the coup leaders was Muammar Gaddafi, who seized power during the Cultural Revolution and held it until the 2011 war, in which NATO supported the rebels who rose up against him. Since then, Libya has experienced political instability and violence that have seriously affected trade and oil production. The European Union has promoted an operation to prevent the action of human trafficking networks that exploit refugees fleeing the war to settle in Europe.

Since 2014 there has been a duality of political bodies that claim to be the Government of Libya. The House of Representatives, resulting from the June 2014 elections, is recognized in international circles as the legitimate legislative chamber, but it controls no territory in the capital, Tripoli; meets in the Cyrenaic city of Tobruk and supports a so-called Interim Government based in the city of Al Baida. As of August 2014, the duality occurred with the General Congress of the Nation (CGN; see also: National General Congress); but today it can be confirmed that the CGN has already concluded its activity.

On December 17, 2015, an agreement to form a unified and interim government was signed in Skhirat, establishing a Presidential Council (a collegiate presidency of nine members, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj), and a provisional National Accord Government of seventeen, until new elections are held within two years. The General Congress of the Nation was integrated into the new structures and its former members formed a new Chamber of a consultative nature, the Superior Council of State. But the House of Representatives refused to confirm the Presidential Council.

Therefore, the current duality is between the House of Representatives in Tobruk —recognized only as a legitimate Parliament— and the Presidential Council and Government of National Accord in Tripoli. The United Nations continues to support the dialogue between the two.

Toponymy

The Libu (R'bw, Ribou, Labu Laguatan, or Lwatae) were an ancient Berber tribe, from which the country name "Libya" derives. Their occupation of Ancient Libya is attested in Egyptian texts from the New Kingdom, especially from the Ramesside period. The first mention is in an inscription of Ramesses II. Laguatan was the name used by Roman authors to refer to the nomadic tribes of Cyrenaica. They have been described as hunters and nomads, but some consider them sedentary and hunters.

History

The earliest mentions of Libya in history refer to Libyan mercenaries hired by Ancient Egypt, in the first millennium BC. C. The Carthaginian army of Hannibal Barca will also later have these mercenaries who will constitute the strongest point of the infantry of his army in his famous expedition to the Italian peninsula through the Alps. The country's coastal strip was visited by the Greeks and Phoenicians, and later dominated by the Roman Empire, the Vandal kingdom of Genseric, the Byzantine Empire, the Arabs, the Ottoman Empire, and the Italian Empire.

Phoenician and Greek Colonial Period

The Phoenicians were the first to found commercial establishments in Libya, when the merchants of Tire (in present-day Lebanon) developed commercial relations with the Berber tribes and signed treaties with them to ensure their cooperation in the exploitation of raw materials. During the V century a. C., the largest of the Phoenician colonies, Carthage, had extended its hegemony in most of North Africa, where a civilization existed, known as Punic. Punic settlements on the Libyan coast included Oea (later Tripoli), Libdah (later Leptis Magna), and Sabratha. These three cities were in an area that would later be called Tripoli, or 'Three Cities', from which Tripoli, the capital of modern Libya, would take its name.

In 630 B.C. In BC, the ancient Greeks colonized eastern Libya and founded the city of Cyrene. Two hundred years later, four major Greek cities settled in the area known as Cyrenaica: Barce or Barca (later Marj); Euhesperides (later Berenice and today Benghazi), Taucheira (later Arsinoe, today's Tocra); Balagrae (later Bayda and Beda Littoria under Italian occupation, today often spelled Al Baida) and Apollonia (later Susa), the port of Cyrene. Along with Cyrene, they were known as the Pentapolis (" Five Cities").

Cyrene was one of the great intellectual and artistic centers of the Greek world, famous for its medical school, academies, and architecture. The Greeks of the Pentapolis resisted the incursions of the ancient Egyptians from the east, as well as those of the Carthaginians from the west, until in 525 B.C. C. the Persian army of Cambyses II invaded Cyrenaica, which for the next two centuries would remain under Persian or Egyptian rule. Alexander the Great was well received by the Greeks when he entered Cyrenaica in 331 BC. C., Eastern Libya falling back under the control of the Greeks, this time as part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom founded by Ptolemy I. Later, a federation of the Pentapolis would be formed that would be governed by a king usually belonging to the house Ptolemaic royal.

Ptolemy Apion, the last Greek ruler, bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome, which formally annexed the region in 74 BC. C. and united it with Crete as one of the Roman senatorial provinces.

Roman Libya

Severe Septimium Arch in Leptis Magna.

After the fall of Carthage, the Romans did not immediately occupy Tripolitania (the region surrounding Tripoli), but left it under the control of the Numidian kings, until the coastal cities asked for and obtained their protection. During the Roman civil wars, Tripolitania (not yet formally annexed) and Cyrenaica supported Pompey and Mark Antony against, respectively, Caesar and Octavian. The Romans completed their conquest of the region in the time of Augustus, occupying northern Fezan ("Fasania") with Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Less. As part of Africa Nova the Regio Tripolitana or province of Tripolitania achieved great prosperity, and reached its golden age in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when the city of Leptis Magna, the birthplace of the Severan dynasty, was at its peak. On the other hand, the first Christian communities were established in Cyrenaica at the time of Emperor Claudius, but it was devastated in great in part during the Kitos War and, although it would be repopulated by Trajan through military colonies, from then on it would begin its decline. Despite everything, for more than 400 years, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were part of a cosmopolitan state whose citizens shared a common language, a legal system, and a Roman identity.

Roman ruins such as those at Leptis Magna and Sabratha in present-day Libya bear witness to the region's former vitality, when populous cities and even smaller towns enjoyed the comforts of urban life in the form of forums, markets, public shows or baths, found in all corners of the Roman Empire. Traders and artisans from various parts of the Roman world settled in North Africa, but the character of the cities of Tripolitania remained decidedly Punic and, in Cyrenaica, the Greek character. Tripolitania was a major exporter of olive oil, as well as a center for the trade in ivory and wild animals brought to the coast by the Garamantes, while Cyrenaica was an important center for the production of wine, medicinal herbs (silphium), and horses. The bulk of the population in the countryside consisted of Berber farmers, who in the west were almost completely "Romanized" in language and customs. Until the 19th century X the Romance language of Africa remained in use in parts of Tripolitania, mainly near the Tunisian border.

When, on the death of Emperor Theodosius, in the year 395, the Roman Empire was divided, the Pentapolis or Cyrenaica became part of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Regio Tripolitana became part of the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire falls in the year 476; It is a time of crisis, which in North Africa facilitates the arrival of the vandals, whose domain extends to Tripolitania. Under the reign of Justinian I, the Eastern Roman Empire tries to regain control over the lost regions; General Belisario launches a series of campaigns in the western Mediterranean, which, among other successes, allow the vandals to be expelled from Numidia and the Regio Tripolitana. In that period, an Exarchate of Africa was established, with its capital in Roman Carthage, which extended to the Regio Tripolitana. However, the crisis, the centrifugal tendencies with respect to the Empire and the instability of an end of time persist throughout the region.

Islamization of Libya

The Atiq mosque in Awjila is the oldest mosque in the Sahara.

The coastal territory corresponding to present-day Libya was conquered by Muslim Arabs in the mid-VII century along with the rest of the North Africa or Maghreb. Arab rule was established there around 642-644, during the reign of Caliph Omar (or Úmar ibn al-Khattab), through the campaigns of the military leader Amr ibn al-As, the Arab conqueror of Egypt.

After obtaining the surrender of Alexandria and thus securing rule over Egypt, Amr ibn al-As led his troops west in late 642 AD. C. his army advanced without opposition to Barca (Barqa). The Byzantine garrison fled the city and the population reached a peace agreement with Amr ibn al-As in exchange for a head tribute (the jizya) amounting to thirteen thousand dinars.

After Barca, the Arabs headed towards the old Regio Tripolitana. They laid siege to Oea (Tripoli), which had to capitulate after a month. Amr advanced with the Arab army towards Sabratha, which was taken and sacked; Leptis Magna was also conquered. Following these campaigns, Amr ibn al-As returned to Egypt. The expedition had been a raid rather than a conquest, and Amr left only Muslim forces in the city of Barca, of which he made Uqba ibn Nafi, who had accompanied him on the expedition, governor.

After the conquest, various Arab tribes settled in the region (in a process that lasted until the arrival of the Beni Sulaim and Beni Hilal tribes in the 11th century) and the former Berber population quickly became Islamized. The Muslim religion replaced the Christian since then, although some small enclaves remained in the Berber areas of Libya until the year one thousand. The Arabic language prevailed, displacing the Neo-Latin language of Tripolitania and the Greek of Cyrenaica, although the Berber language retained a part of its presence (and remains to this day in certain areas and cities). This process is the one that is at the origin and the basis of the current ethnic and tribal composition of Libya.

During the Middle Ages, the western part of present-day Libya, the coastal strip of Tripolitania, was ruled as part of the Ifriquiya, while the eastern part was ruled by Egyptian-based dynasties such as the Fatimids and more. late the mamluks

Libya under the Ottoman Empire

In 1510, the Castilian troops led by Pedro Navarro, at the service of King Ferdinand the Catholic, took Tripoli; later King Carlos I of Spain (Carlos V) ceded the city in 1530 to the Knights of Saint John (the Order of Malta) who had been expelled from Rhodes by the Turks. The Christians were defeated and driven from Tripoli in August 1551 by Turkish corsairs, acting on behalf of the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans then established the Ottoman Eyalate of Tripoli or Tripolitania. This stretched along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, between Tunisia to the west and Egypt to the east. Apart from the city and the territory of ancient Tripolitania, their territories included the Barka region and plateau (according to Turkish script; see: Barca), that is, ancient Cyrenaica, and the oases of Aujila and Fezzan, separated between yes by sand and stone. In short, the Eyalet of Tripoli came to include a territory that has a certain similarity with that of present-day Libya.

Constantinople would maintain a sovereignty over the area that became almost only nominal when in 1711 the Janissary officer Ahmed Karamanli seized power, founding the Karamanli dynasty, which lasted until 1835. During that period the two wars took place Berbers with the United States of America (the first in 1801 to 1805 and the second in 1815).

Karamanli rule came to an end in 1835, when Sultan Mahmut II used local conflicts to regain direct Ottoman Empire authority over the territory, known from 1865 as the Valiat of Tripoli.

However, due to the weakness of Ottoman power at the time, much of the coast and desert was beyond their control. In the east, the Sufi cleric Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi (born near Mostaganem in Algeria), called the Great Senussi, founded a religious movement, the Sanusi order, and called for resistance to Ottoman rule, establishing its headquarters in the oasis of Al Jaghbub, in Cyrenaica. His son, Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi, considered a great orator and an excellent administrator, expanded the movement's influence throughout the Sahara region and consolidated its structures in the territory of Cyrenaica, moving its capital to Kufra. The harsh response of the Ottoman governors increased the prestige of the Senussi and their call to resist foreign occupation.

The Senussi dynasty later resumed resistance against the new invasion, the Italian one, and when the independence of Libya arrived one of its descendants, a grandson of the Great Senussi, was the first head of state of independent Libya, as king with the title of Idris I.

Italian occupation of Libya

Omar Al-Mukhtar was the leader of the Libyan resistance in Cirenaica against Italian colonization.

In September 1911, the territory of Libya was invaded by Italy. Until then, due to its low economic and strategic value, the territory (at the time controlled by Bedouin chiefs) had been spared from the voracity of the European imperialist powers. But the Italians, who wanted to create a colonial empire, had no better land to invade, to which the geographical proximity of the territory to their own peninsula was added. After a bloody war of "pacification" which lasted about ten years, the Italians began to successfully colonize the territory, especially on the coast where Governor Italo Balbo (who united Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1934 to create today's 'Libya') founded several small farming towns.

Libya's economy underwent tremendous development, from viability with new ports and airports to the creation of a "Grand Prix" internationally famous car park in Tripoli. Local Arabs were also associated with the development of Italian Libya, to the point that by 1940 there were two divisions of Libyan soldiers in the Italian colonial army.

Italian rule over Libya lasted until the end of World War II, a conflagration in which the Libyan territory was the scene of the campaign in North Africa, with the fight between Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, on behalf of the Axis, and Montgomery's troops, by British and allied forces.

Kingdom of Libya

King Idris I proclaimed Libya's independence on December 24, 1951; he reigned until 1969, when he was overthrown by a coup d'etat.

At the end of World War II, the Allies fail to agree on the future of the former Italian colony. At that time it was a territory more than five times the size of Italy itself. However, the population did not exceed one million inhabitants, so it represented an appropriate destination for the remnant of the population of Italy that began to look for places to emigrate to after the war. The misgivings between the West and the Soviet Union finally make the UN decide to give the country independence, leaving it in the hands of King Idris.

In this way Libya was the first African colony to achieve independence (Egypt had achieved it earlier, but from the legal point of view it was a British protectorate, with a monarch who already reigned before decolonization, unlike Libya). Later the European powers would regret this fact, since it contributed to triggering the different struggles for African independence. They also lost the last chance to build a European-style state on the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

“London favored the emergence of a monarchy controlled by Saudi Arabia [and] the Senussis dynasty. The foreign regime promoted Anglo-Saxon economic and military interests. [...] The wealth from oil did not translate into benefits for the population."

Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Republic

Muamar the Gaddafi.

Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi was the main leader of the group of colonels and other officers who carried out the revolution that overthrew King Idris I in 1969. Initially, a pan-Arabist republic was formed; but from 1977 Gaddafi introduced a socialist government regime known as the Jamahiriya (“State of the masses”), which was intended to be a direct government system where the people exercised power through direct and leading participation in decision-making (popular power), based on pan-Arabism and Islam.

The regime undertook an agrarian reform, nationalized the oil industry, promoted a social security system, free medical care, and worker participation in the profits of state companies. Electricity began to reach the population free of charge; literacy increased from 5 to 83 percent.

From 1977 onwards, the country's GDP per capita rose to over $11,000, the fifth highest in Africa, and the Human Development Index rose to fifth in Africa and higher than that of Africa. Saudi Arabia. This was achieved without borrowing abroad, keeping Libya debt-free. The Great Man-Made River was also built to allow free access to fresh water in large parts of the country. In addition, financial support was provided for scholarships university and employment programs.

Gaddafi doubled the minimum wage, introduced statutory price controls, and implemented rent reductions. Gaddafi also wanted to combat the strict social restrictions placed on women by the previous regime, establishing the Revolutionary Women's Formation to encourage reform. In 1970, a law was introduced affirming the equality of the sexes and insisting on wage parity. In 1971, Gaddafi supported the creation of a General Federation of Libyan Women. In 1972, a law was enacted criminalizing the marriage of women under the age of sixteen and ensuring that the woman's consent was a necessary prerequisite for marriage.

From 1978 to 1987, there were conflicts between Libya and Chad, due to Libya's participation in the Chadian civil war. Libyan forces supported one faction, brought troops and supplies to the border area, and at one point managed to advance to the capital. Finally the Chadians managed to get the Libyans to withdraw from their territory, in the so-called "War of the Toyotas".

In 1986, Ronald Reagan ordered the bombing of Libya's two major cities, Tripoli and Benghazi in response to the La Belle nightclub bombing and other allegedly Libyan-sponsored terrorist attacks; Several civilians died in these actions, including an adoptive daughter of Gaddafi, Jana. In the late 1980s, two planes were blown up in terrorist attacks, one in the UK and one in Africa. The United States, the United Kingdom and France accused Libya of these actions and launched a series of sanctions that led to the isolation of the country. In 2003, the Libyan government recognized the responsibility of Libyan citizens in these attacks and reached agreements by which it undertook to compensate the relatives of the victims of the two planes. As a consequence, the sanctions that existed on the country were lifted.

2011 civil war and rebellion

Demonstrations in Al Bayda for rebellion.

At the beginning of 2011, a series of protests took place in the Arab world and a part of the Libyan population demonstrated against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi while another segment maintained its support. The opponents controlled through popular committees the cities of Tobruk, Derna, Al Bayda, Al Marj, Benghazi and Ajdabiya in the east; Misurata, Bani Walid, Al Khums, Tarhunah, Gharyan, Zuara, Al Jufrah, Zaouiya and Nalut in the west, surrounding the capital. Gaddafi, with 120,000 regime loyalists — some said they were Chadian mercenaries, which he himself The Chadian government categorically denied—it controlled the cities of Tripoli and Sirte in the west and Sabha in the south. It was alleged that Gaddafi cracked down with great force through mercenaries and airstrikes, but this was never proven. In Benghazi, at least 130 soldiers were killed for allegedly refusing to fire on the unarmed people. Two Libyan pilots told news outlets that they deserted to avoid carrying out orders to fire on the civilian population, and several ministers, ambassadors and religious leaders who abandoned Gaddafi. The UN estimated more than 2,000 civilian deaths at the hands of the regime, and issued United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970, thus calling for an international investigation into the violent repression that included crimes against humanity. The International Coalition against War Criminals also counted 3,980 wounded and at least 1,500 missing. The situation in the cities of Zlitan and Al 'Aziziyah, in the west and near Tripoli, was uncertain and there was fighting in Misurata and Zaouiya, where Gaddafi's troops were pushed back by opponents.

On March 17, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 was approved establishing a no-fly zone. At 19:30 on March 19, the United States and the United Kingdom launched Tomahawk missiles on Libyan military targets near Tripoli, according to Operation "Odyssey at Dawn," an operation that begins when French warplanes launched attacks against forces loyal to the regime of Muammar al-Gadhafi. Libyan television, at one point, has said that it has shot down a French plane. Countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, and Denmark joined the Allied offensive the next day. Hours later, Qatar would be the first Arab country to join the fight against Gaddafi.

War of Libya 2014-2016:
House of Representatives of Libya Higher Council of State (de facto) Islamic State Tuareg

On August 22, after the battle for Tripoli, the Gaddafi regime collapsed. On August 29, Jean Ping, president of the African Union, denounced the killing of blacks by members of the National Transitional Council, with the excuse of being mercenaries. The city of Bani Walid was taken on October 17.

On October 20, 2011, this armed conflict ended with the capture of Sirte, the last remaining Gadafist stronghold. Colonel Gaddafi was captured and executed without trial by the rebels on October 20, 2011.

The National Transitional Council was plagued by internal divisions during its tenure in Libya as interim governing authority. The formation of an interim caretaker government was postponed several times during the period before Muammar Gadhafi's death in his hometown of Sirte on October 20. At the time of the announcement of the liberation of Libya on October 23, the TNC had not yet formed an interim government, but it assured that it would do so within thirty days. On October 23, it was announced that consultations were taking place to form a transitional government within a month, followed by elections for a Constituent Assembly in eight months, and parliamentary and presidential elections to be held within a year.

The 2012 elections: formation of the National General Congress (CGN)

The National Transitional Council had been conceived as an interim organization and, although it functioned as a government after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, it had no legitimacy to lead the transition.

In order to get out of improvisation and provide legitimacy to the process, in 2012 elections were organized for a legislative chamber that had to conclude the transition. Thus, the Libyan General National Congress (CGN) was elected in 2012 with the task of completing Libya's transition through a democratic Constitution; for this reason, a reduced term of 18 months was set for him.

The composition of the CGN was 200 deputies. But the system for the election of the CGN was mixed. Only a part of the deputies were chosen through the lists of political parties: 80. The remaining 120 deputies were chosen from individual candidacies. In the party list elections, the winner was the Alliance of National Forces, led by Mahmoud Jabril, which obtained 39 deputies, and in second place was the Justice and Construction Party (affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood). However, the results of the individual candidacies distorted the functioning of the CGN. Mahmoud Jabril could not be elected president and an alternative candidate was sought. Mohamed Yousef al-Magariaf was elected as its president, but in 2013 after the approval of the Political Isolation Law, he had to retire. He was replaced by Nuri Abu Sahmain, who had the support of the CGN Islamists and who remained in office until the body was abolished.

On October 14, 2012, the National General Congress elected Ali Zeidan as prime minister, who was forced to leave office on March 11, 2014 after losing a vote of no confidence.

The mixed system used for the election generated a confused operation of the CGN. The clashes between moderates and Islamists and the lack of consensus in the approval of the laws prevented the objectives set from being met.

2014 Libyan War

It is the ongoing conflict between rival groups seeking control of Libyan territory in the face of the power vacuum that has persisted since the 2011 war. Two governments are vying for power supported by different militias: one supported by the UN in Tripoli, with the support of various militias, and another in the east under the military ascendancy of Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan armed forces.

After the 18-month period in which the CGN should have concluded its mission, work on the new Constitution was just beginning and the CGN tried to unilaterally extend its mandate, but was forced to hold elections for a new legislative body, The House of Representatives. In this evolution, General Khalifa Haftar played an important role, who ordered the dissolution of the CGN in Tripoli, which he considered dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. At the same time he launched with the support of much of the Libyan National Army the so-called Operation Dignity against jihadist and Islamist groups in Benghazi, some of whom were also loyal to the CGN.

These armed clashes, in which forces from the cities of Zintan and Misurata also participated, constituted the beginning of the second Libyan War (2014-present). In this atmosphere of confrontation, the elections were held in June 2014, although voter turnout was very low (18% of the electorate). As a result, the new Parliament or Majlis was created, generally referred to in the international media as the Libyan House of Representatives, which opened its sessions on August 4, 2014.

But in Tripoli a minority group of former CGN members, headed by the outgoing president, Nuri Abu Sahmain, refused to recognize the House of Representatives and declared itself the General Congress of the Nation to continue the legitimacy derived from the 2012 elections. Although it should have dissolved after the June 2014 elections, on August 25 it met and proclaimed a Government of National Salvation, appointing Omar Al Hassi as prime minister.

The Operations Room of the Libyan Revolutionaries (SORL), an armed group loyal to Nouri Abu Sahmain, and the so-called Libyan Dawn supported that proclamation.

The House of Representatives, chaired by Saleh Agilah Issa (Aguilah Issa) had to leave Tripoli and settled in Tobruk, in the east of the country, where the Libyan National Army had established its domain. The House of Representatives in turn appointed an Interim Government, headed by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani.

On the other hand, the Tripoli-based Supreme Court declared in November 2014 that the Tobruk/Beida government is unconstitutional, but it rejected the ruling on the grounds that it had been passed under duress.

Since August 2014, the CGN ceased to be internationally recognized as Libya's legitimate parliament and this title passed to the House of Representatives. However, the problems derived from the dual governments and the armed conflict required a solution, but the country's groups were unable to reach an agreement.

At the same time, parts of Libya were escaping the control of the two governments, and various rebel, tribal and Islamist groups were running towns in some areas. The crisis escalated when Daesh, the self-styled Islamic State, reached Libya.

The international community was forced to provide mediation. The United Nations Organization supported the holding of peace negotiations through a series of meetings in Geneva and in Sjirat (Morocco) between the governments of Tripoli and Tobruk.

On December 17, 2015, an agreement to form a unified and interim government was signed in Skhirat, under which the Presidential Council, a nine-member collegiate presidency headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, and a government of the provisional National Agreement of seventeen, until the holding of new elections in a period of two or three years. The National General Congress was integrated into the new structures and its former members formed a new Chamber of a consultative nature, the High Council of State or Superior Council of State, while the House of Representatives received confirmation as a legislative power. But the House of Representatives refused to confirm the Presidential Council, remained in Tobruk and persisted in working with the so-called Interim Government.

Therefore, the current duality is between the House of Representatives of Tobruk -recognized only as a legitimate Parliament- on the one hand, and the Presidential Council and Government of National Accord of Tripoli, recognized as holder of the executive power, on the other hand. The United Nations continues to support the dialogue between the two.

Government and politics

Executive Branch

Old Town Hall in Tripoli, the capital.

In April 2009, Moatassem Gadafi met with Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State

The National Transitional Council was a political body that was formed to represent Libya by anti-Gaddafi forces during the 2011 war. On March 5 the council declared itself the sole representative of the entire state. By October it had already been recognized by 100 countries, including France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Qatar and Turkey. It was also supported by several other Arab countries and European countries. On September 16, the UN officially recognized him. The council formed a provisional governing body, the Executive Council, on March 23 with Mahmoud Jibril as chairman. The United States officially recognized the National Council in July. The UK followed suit days later, expelling all Libyan government diplomats from the country ahead of the accreditation of a National Council envoy to the Libyan embassy in London.

Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the center of resistance against Gaddafi during the war, served as the TNC's provisional headquarters for the months following its creation. In August, Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni announced that the NTC was moving to Tripoli, presenting it as the capital of Libya, effective immediately. However, it was not until the beginning of September, when the NTC offices and ministers, including its president Mustafa Abdul Jalil, withdrew from Benghazi, because this city is safer and the infrastructure is well established.

The following year the Council was formally dissolved, without having been recognized by States such as Nicaragua, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Bolivia and Venezuela. Uruguay abstained. It was replaced by the current General Congress of the Nation.

Legislative branch

The Unicameral National Congress is made up of two hundred senators elected by almost seventy constituencies and the other eighty senators are elected by another twenty constituencies.

The first elections for the National Congress took place in mid-2012. On February 20, 2014, there were elections to choose the constituent commission with very little participation.

Judicial branch

Libya's judicial system is based on sharia, or Islamic law. However, after the 2011 rebellion, the transitional government has had difficulties enforcing the law. As of 2014, the Libyan judicial system was still under development and was run by state and non-governmental entities.

Armed Forces

The Libyan land army had 45,000 members in 2003 and a navy of 9,000; the air forces numbered 25,000 men. There are thirteen military bases in Libya.

Human Rights

In the field of human rights, with regard to membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Libya has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Libya	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Territorial organization

After the independence of 1951, the laws established the territorial structure of Libya in three Governorates (muhafazah, plural muhafazat): Tripolitania, Cyrenaica (Barka) and Fezzan (corresponding to the provinces of the Ottoman period)., but the 1963 reform established 10 governorships.

During the period of Muammar Gaddafi, the changes continued: in 1983 the Governorates were abolished and the country was divided into 46 departments or municipalities, the baladiyas or baladiyah (plural: baladiyat), reduced to 25 in 1987. Subsequently, in 1995 a division into districts or communities (shabiyat) was introduced: 13 in 1995, 26 in 1998, 32 in 2001 (the three administrative regions are then also reintroduced); and 22 in 2007 (Shabiyat is a Gadafian neologism in Arabic that means "popular, relative to the people"; that is, it is a neologism to express the concept of "popular communities").

In 2012, after the fall of Gaddafi, Law 59 introduced a new administrative division, which returns to the name of baladiyas or baladiyah. Based on Under that law, 99 baladiyas were established in 2013 (a number that has since been expanded, apparently reaching 124).

In Law 59 of 2012 in force, in addition to establishing the baladiyas or baladiyah, the Libyan State is structured into three Governorates, recovering the three more or less historical divisions of Libya, that is, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica (Barka / Barca) and Fezzan. Although in this Law they are reintroduced as Governorships (or muhafazat), the reality is that this legal provision has not been developed, since the smaller entities (the baladiyas) are they resist a reorganization that would take away their power. Although on paper the three Governorates continue to exist, in practice today they lack real powers and government structures (they are present more as geographical or historical regions).

Libyan Administrative Division from 2006 to 2012.

Municipalities

Name of the municipalities (baladiyat) according to the 2013 decree (and their correspondence with the previous districts or shabiyat of the period 2006-2012).

NOTE: After 2013, several municipalities have been divided and according to the updated information at the moment (May 2018) there are 124 municipalities or baladiyas. However, no updated list or revised map is available.

Geography

Map of Libya.

The desert of Libya is the main ecosystem of the country, and one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.

The country is characterized by its large expanses of Saharan desert that cover the entire country except for a narrow coastline, where the country's main population centers are located, such as Tripoli and Benghazi. In the region, this desert takes the name of the Libyan desert.

Libya has 1,770 km of coastline on the Mediterranean Sea, but in the interior of the country there is no presence of surface water. The territory is completely dry, but the subsoil has enormous water reserves in the south of the country, in the border with Chad. These reserves form a groundwater table of fossil water that covers an area equivalent to the total area of Germany.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, most of Libyan territory (90%) has a dry desert climate, with hot summers and extreme temperatures. A small portion of the country located on the coast has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cool winters. Rainfall is scarce in most of the country, and only 2% of the area is used for agriculture. The wettest region is Al Jabal al Akhdar in the northeast, which annually receives between 400 and 600 mm of rain. The rest of Libya receives less than 400 mm of annual rainfall, and some desert regions less than 50 mm, with Kufra being the driest place in Africa with an average rainfall of 0.86 mm annually. For 90 years, Libya has had the record for the highest temperature recorded, 58 °C in El Azizia in 1922, which was invalidated in 2012 due to errors in the measurement and in the place where the station was located.

Ecology

WWF divides the Libyan desert into four ecoregions: the northern Sahara steppe in the north, the central and southern Sahara desert, the western Sahara xeric bush, in the foothills of Tassili n'Ajjer, on the border with Algeria, and the xeric forest of the Tibesti massif and Mount Uweinat, in the Tibesti massif, on the border with Niger.

Several saline depressions (chotts) are part of the Saharan salt marsh. On the coast there are several enclaves of Mediterranean forest, which are divided between the North African Mediterranean forest and the Mediterranean shrub-steppe.

Libya has been a pioneer state in North Africa in the protection of species, with the creation of the El Kouf protected area in 1975. The fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime encouraged intense poaching: " Before Gaddafi's fall, even hunting rifles were banned. But since 2011, poaching has been carried out with weapons of war and sophisticated vehicles in which up to 200 gazelle heads can be found killed by militiamen hunting to pass the time. We are also witnessing the emergence of hunters with no connection to the tribes that traditionally hunt. They shoot anything they find, even during the breeding season. More than 500,000 birds are killed in this way every year, when protected areas have been taken over by tribal chiefs and appropriated. All the animals that lived there have disappeared, hunted when they are edible or released when they are not,' explains zoologist Khaled Ettaieb.

Economy

Historical developments in per capita GDP in Libya

Libya's economy is based on oil, which makes up almost all of its exports (95%). Libya has belonged to OPEC since its foundation. There is also industry related to oil and refining, energy, as well as consumer goods, cement and textiles. Libya's economy is the sixth in Africa, after those of South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.

Libya is building the Great Man-Made River, one of humanity's largest and most expensive (approximately $24 billion) engineering projects. It includes the installation of huge pipes to transport water from the fossil aquifers of the Sahara (natural underground deposits that survive from the time when the desert was a fertile savannah and forest) from the south of the country to the coast, where the population is concentrated..

In the Kufra region, in the south of the country, there is a major water and irrigation project that aims to develop vegetable crops in the desert. Irrigation is done with groundwater, since rainfall in the region is practically non-existent. Irrigation is carried out through the radial system. The Kufra oasis is one of the human creations that can best be seen from space. Each circle is approximately 1 km in diameter.

Financial zone of Tripoli.

In 2017, 60% of the Libyan population suffers from malnutrition. 1.3 million people out of a total population of 6.4 million are waiting for emergency humanitarian aid.

Agriculture

Libya's arable land is located in the north, in the Tripolitania region. 17% of the active population of Libya works in agriculture. The main crops in Libya are:

• Cereals (215 000 tons)
• Fruit (385 000 tons)
• Vegetables (850 000 tons)
• Oleaginous (45 000 tons)

Only 1.2% of Libyan territory is cultivated, 0.2% permanently, having to import 75% of the food consumed in the country.

Petroleum platform of the Italian company ENI at the Libyan site of Bouri.

Mining

Oil is the main resource in Libya, which belongs to OPEC, followed by gas. It is the most important source of income, 50% of state revenue and 25% of GDP. In 2002 Libyan crude production was 481,589,800 barrels. In smaller quantities, Libya produces other minerals, such as Potassium and Sea Salt, and has gypsum deposits.

Currency

The Libyan dinar is the unit of currency. In 2003, 1.29 dinars equaled 1 US dollar. The Central Bank of Libya is the issuing bank of the country, regulates credit and supervises the financial system. The Libyan Arab Foreign Bank was created in 1972 to manage activities abroad.

Transportation and communications

The country's main highways run along the coast, connecting Tripoli with Tunis, Benghazi with Tobruk, and Alexandria. The main road to the center of the country is the one that connects the City of Sabha with the coastal cities. Libya has approximately 100,024 km of roads, of which 57.214% are paved.

The main Air Transport service is in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, both with international flights. Libya has 137 airports spread throughout the country.

In terms of maritime transport, the main ports are Tripoli, Marsa al Burayqah, Ra's Lanuf, Benghazi, Tobruk and Misurata.

Libya's telecommunications system is state-run, but since 2007 it has had an independent television channel and radio station.

Demographics

Population growth since 1800.

Map of the ethnic and tribal composition of Libya.

Libya's population went from having close to one million inhabitants —mostly nomads— at the end of World War II, to integrating today 6,597,960 inhabitants. Despite having multiplied by six in this period, the population density of the country is one of the lowest in the world, due to the great extension of its territory.

More than three quarters of the population (78%) live in cities. The main cities of Libya are:

• Tripoli: 2 006 000 inhabitants.
• Bengasi: 1 054 000 inhabitants
• Misurata: 476 000 inhabitants
• Tobruk: 210 000 inhabitants

Libya has a 3% immigrant population, a result of the country's privileged economic situation within African standards. In 2003 it had 166,510 foreigners.

It has one of the lowest death rates in the world, 3.4 per 1,000 inhabitants, and a high birth rate, 24.04 per 1,000 inhabitants.

Ethnic and tribal composition

The ethnic and tribal composition of Libya is the result of a complex historical process of human migrations that begins as early as 8000 BC. C. and that to this day still explains the political and social reality of the African nation.

Although the Libyan borders were formally defined in the 20th century, they respond to the will of the European colonial powers and they fail to represent the ethnic complexity of the country, made up mainly of peoples of Arab and Berber origin —including the Tuareg— and of so-called black Africa.

The country is believed to be made up of about 140 different tribes and clans, many of which extend as far as Tunisia, Egypt or Chad. Only 15% of the population have no tribal affiliation.

Religion

Mosque in Gadames, near the border with Tunisia and Algeria. 97 per cent of Libyans are followers of Islam.

The predominant religion in Libya is mainly Sunni Islam, which is practiced by 97% of the population. Islam is the official state religion. A small part of the population, 0.70%, is Catholic.

Language

The official languages are Arabic and Berber. Italian and English are widely understood in the cities. Libyan Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken in the country, which has two variants: the western, spoken in Tripoli, and the eastern, spoken in Benghazi.

Health

In 2010, health expenditures represented 3.88% of the national GDP. In 2009, there were 18.71 doctors and 66.95 nurses for every 10,000 inhabitants. Life expectancy at birth was 74.95 years in 2011, 72.44 years for men and 77.59 years for women.

Education

In 2004 there were more than 1.7 million Libyan students, of these, more than 270,000 were in some higher education course. Basic education is free and compulsory for all its citizens, up to secondary school. In 2010, the literacy rate was 89.2%, one of the highest rates on the African continent. After Libya's independence in 1951, a royal decree established its first university in Benghazi, the University of Libya. In the 1975-76 school year, the number of university students was estimated at 13,418. By 2004, this number had surpassed 200,000 students, in addition to another 70,000 enrolled in the technical and vocational school sector. The rapid increase in the number of applicants for higher education was reflected in the increase in the number of university institutions in the country.

Culture

Roman Mosaic of Sabratha.

Traditionally, the Libyan aside is eaten with the index and a half fingers.

Libya's culture is similar to that of other Maghreb nations. Furthermore, Libyans consider themselves part of the Muslim community and much of their traditions and customs are governed by the Islamic religion. 82.6% of the Libyan population can read and write, and young people study up to an average of 17 years.

Due to the dictatorship, for many years there were no public theaters, and only a few movie theaters showed foreign feature films. Autochthonous traditions are still alive and deeply rooted by the population, so there are many groups that perform folk music and dances at festivals nationally and internationally. The country's official documents and archives are located in the capital, Tripoli, where the National Library is also located. However, the largest library in the country, containing some 300,000 volumes, is located in the city of Benghazi, at Garyounis University. Most of the country's museums are located in Tripoli, highlighting the Leptis Magna Museum in the city of Al Khoms.

Libya has five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Leptis Magna Archaeological Site, Sabratha Archaeological Site, Cyrene Archaeological Site, Tadrart Acacus Rock Site and the Old City of Ghadames.

Gastronomy

Libyan cuisine is rooted in Mediterranean and North African traditions, with an Italian influence, a legacy from the days when Libya was an Italian colony. Thus, as in the rest of North Africa, in Libya there is couscous, a food consisting of grains of durum wheat semolina with vegetables and chickpeas, which is accompanied with lamb, chicken or sometimes camel.

One of the most popular Libyan dishes is a thick, heavily spiced soup called Sharba Libya or Libyan Soup. Sharba Libiya contains many ingredients from many other Libyan dishes, such as onions, tomatoes, lamb (or chicken), bell peppers, cayenne pepper, saffron, snow peas, mint, coriander, and parsley.

Asida is an Arab dish consisting of a piece of cooked wheat flour dough, similar to porridge. The Libyan variant of asida is served with a sweet syrup, usually date honey (rob), but also with honey.

Sports

The most popular sport in Libya is soccer, where the Libyan soccer team is among the best in North Africa. His first victory was winning the 2014 African Nations Championship, on February 1, 2014 against Ghana in South Africa. The stadium with the largest capacity in the country is the Estadio 11 de Junio, in the capital. The second most practiced sport is basketball, excelling in this, the Libyan team that got 5th place in the Afrobasket 1965.

A well-known championship in Libya is the Tour of Libya, in which teams of cyclists compete in a tour around the country starting in Tripoli and finishing in another point in Libya every March. Cycling in Libya, which was introduced to the country by the Italian colonizers, is highly valued and the routes to do the tour are usually the same. Other widely practiced sports, although difficult to access, are golf, tennis, horse riding and swimming. For golf, tennis or swimming, you have to go to golf courses in the most populated cities of the country or to tennis courts and courts to play tennis. The beaches of Benghazi are also considered the best place for surfing, windsurfing or kitesurfing, while near Tripoli, sailing stands out.