The state of Libya is one of the largest countries in the African continent. Until recently, it had leading indicators of economic development in the region, in addition, its history is full of interesting facts. How did the Libyans live before and how do they live now? Description of Libya, its attractions and the legal system will be the subject of our story.
Geographical position
First, let's find out where the state of Libya is. This country is located in the very north of the African continent. On the west side, its border passes with Tunisia and the Andrr Republic , from the south - with the state of Niger, the Republic of Chad and the Sudan Republic, and on the east side - with the Egyptian state. From the north, the coast of Libya is washed by the gentle waves of the Mediterranean Sea.
The territorial area of Libya is 1.8 million km 2 . Most of it is occupied by desert lands, in particular the Sahara desert. Only in the north of the country is a narrow strip of land favorable for agriculture with a Mediterranean climate.
Among the natural resources of Libya, oil must first be highlighted.
Story
To have a better idea of the state of affairs in the present, you need to look into the past. Let's dwell on the highlights of the history of Libya.
In ancient times, its territory was inhabited by nomadic Berber tribes. The name "Libya" is of Greek origin. So the Greeks called the entire African continent.
From the 1st millennium BC e. active Phoenician and Greek colonization of the coast of Libya begins. At that time, such large colonies appeared as Cyrene, Leptis Magna, Barka, Euchesparids, Tripoli. Many of these cities exist today and are major centers of the state of Libya.
In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. a significant part of the northern part of the country was captured by Carthage, the western part was transferred to the Egyptian state of the Ptolemies. Nevertheless, by the beginning of our era, all these territories were controlled by the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, the east of Libya went to Byzantium, and the west to the barbaric state of the Vandals centered in Carthage. However, in the VI century BC. e., under the emperor Justinian, Byzantium managed to crush the vandals and include all their lands in their composition.
The south of Libya throughout this time did not submit to any state entity. Here, as before, free tribes roamed.
The situation has changed radically since the middle of the VII century, when the Arabs conquered Byzantine possessions in Africa. They also managed to conquer all of Libya, which was included in the Caliphate. Since then, the national composition of the country has changed significantly. If earlier most of the inhabitants were Berbers, now the Arabs have become the dominant nation. After the collapse of the single Arab Caliphate in the 8th century, Libya was alternately part of the states of Aglabids, Fatimids, Ayyubids, Almohad, Hafsids, Ayyubids, Mamluks, until in 1551 it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.
However, during this period, Libya had relative autonomy. Since 1711, the Karamanli dynasty began to rule here, which recognized the actual dependence on the Ottoman sultan. But in 1835, due to popular discontent, the dynasty fell, and the Ottoman Empire again established a regime of direct control of Libya.
In 1911, Italy captured these lands, having won the war against the Turks. Since that time, the country has become an Italian colony. After the defeat of Italy during the World War in 1942, this territory was occupied by British and French troops.
In 1951, Libya became an independent monarchy led by King Idris I. Thus began the country's recent history.
Gaddafi's era
The person who had the greatest influence on the modern history of Libya was Muammar Gaddafi. It was he who was the head of the conspiracy of officers against the monarchical power. In 1969, during the revolution, the power of Idris I was deposed. The Libyan Arab Republic (LAR) was formed, led by Muammar Gaddafi. In fact, it was the president of Libya, although officially he never held this position.
In 1977, Gaddafi formally resigned from all public posts, retaining only the title of Brotherly Leader, but in fact continued to rule the state. Then LAR was transformed into the Jamahiriya. This was a unique form of government that proclaimed democracy, formally built on governing the country by many communes. The foundations of the Jamahiriya were socialism, Arab nationalism and Islam. It was in this ideological field that Libya was at that time. The head of state, Muammar Gaddafi, published the Green Book, which actually replaced the constitution.
It was during this period that Libya achieved unprecedented economic development. At the same time, relations between the state and Israel and Western countries have become extremely aggravated, in which the Libyan secret services even carried out a number of terrorist attacks. The most famous of them was the plane explosion in 1988, after which economic sanctions were applied against Libya. In addition, Muammar Gaddafi was accused of suppressing political opposition in his country and violating human rights, as well as aggression against some other African states.
Civil War
Naturally, this state of affairs did not suit a significant number of Libyan residents. In 2011, unrest began against the regime of Gaddafi. When the confrontation between the rebels and the government forces reached particular intensity, a coalition of Western countries intervened in the conflict, speaking on the side of the rebels. NATO aviation carried out bombardments of government military facilities. With the support of foreign powers, the rebels managed to capture the capital of Libya - the city of Tripoli. Muammar Gaddafi was killed.
Libya became governed by the Transitional National Council. But even after the parliamentary elections, the world did not come to the country. It continues the war between several opposing forces. Actually, the disintegrated state entity is Libya. The state cannot ensure the unity of the country. In addition, the activities of several terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State (ISIS), which even managed to seize a number of territories, have intensified in Libya.
Population
The vast majority of the Libyan population are Arabs, among whom are many Arabized Berbers. In the south of the country also live nomadic Berber tribes, Tuaregs and Negroid Tubu people.
Most of the population is concentrated in the northern part of Libya. The southern part of the country is sparsely populated, due to the very dry climate of the Sahara. There are a large number of completely uninhabited territories.
The total population in the country is about 5.6 million people. It should be noted that of this number, most live in cities. For example, the total number of inhabitants in the agglomerations of the largest settlements of the country Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrat exceeds 56% of the total population of the country.
Tripoli - the capital of Libya
The capital of Libya is the city of Tripoli. It is located in the western part of the country on the Mediterranean coast. This is the largest of the cities for which the state of Libya is famous. The capital has a population of nearly 1.8 million inhabitants. For comparison, the second largest city of the Libyan state - Benghazi is inhabited by about 630 thousand people.
The city of Tripoli is known for a very ancient history. It was founded in the 7th century BC. e. Phoenician colonists and was originally called Ea. The modern name of the city was given a little later by the Greeks. Translated from Greek, it means "Three cities." For a long time it was the central city of the province of Tripolitania, and in 1951, after the declaration of independence of the country, it became the capital of Libya.
Now Tripoli is a large modern city with high-rise buildings and azure beaches, which the state of Libya can be proud of. Photos of sand dunes and dunes, which abound in information resources devoted to the sights of the corners of the globe, are fascinating, and it is hard to imagine that somewhere in the vicinity of wild desert nature high-rises rise and ... there is a war.
At the same time, despite the capital status, only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located in Tripoli from large state organizations. All other organs of the central state apparatus are concentrated in provincial towns. Even the parliament is located in the city of Sirte. This was done in the framework of the program, originating in 1988, on the decentralization of government in the country.
Political structure
At the moment, Libya is a unitary state. According to the form of government, it is a parliamentary republic. A post like the president of Libya does not exist. The head of state is considered the chairman of the House of Representatives, who is elected by parliament. Since August 2014, this post has been held by Agila Sallah Isa. In addition, the House of Representatives (parliament) also elects the country's prime minister, that is, the head of the Government. At the moment, the head of the executive branch is Abdullah Abdurrahman at-Thani. The government is in Tobruk. Abdullah at-Thani resigned several times, but to this day remains and. about. Prime Minister.
At the moment, the State of Libya controls the eastern part of the country.
At the same time, it should be pointed out that the General National Congress is simultaneously operating in Tripoli, which opposes the House of Representatives and controls the territories around the capital.
At the moment, Libya is a secular state, in which state authorities are separated from religion and religious organizations. At the same time, Islamist sentiments are quite strong in society.
Administrative division
The state of Libya is administratively divided into 22 municipalities. True, this division is rather arbitrary, because a significant part of the country’s territory is simply not controlled by the central authorities, and in fact there are their own administrative units.
In addition, in Libya there are three historical provinces, from the union of which, in fact, at one time a single state was formed: Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. The centers of these informal components, respectively, are Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha.
State symbols
Since 2011, the national flag of Libya is a banner with red, black and green stripes located from top to bottom. In the center of the banner is an Islamic crescent with a star. This flag was used as a state flag during the time of the Kingdom of Libya (1951-1969), but after the revolution Gaddafi was replaced by a red-white-black tricolor, and then, since 1977, a completely green cloth.
At the moment, the official coat of arms in the state of Libya does not exist, but there is a state emblem in the form of a yellow crescent and a star.
Since 2011, the country's anthem has been the composition “Libya, Libya, Libya”, which performed the same function during the monarchy. During the reign of Gaddafi, the musical work “Allah is Great” was used as a hymn.
Legal system
Currently, the legal system of the state of Libya is based on French as well as Italian legal norms. At the same time, from the time of Gaddafi, the influence of Islamic law, in particular Sharia, remains quite strong.
The country has a Constitutional Court, although the new Constitution has not yet been adopted. At the same time, the state of Libya has still not recognized the jurisdiction of international courts.
At the same time, it must be borne in mind that at the moment various parts of Libya control several groups, so, in fact, the country does not have a single rule of legal law that would apply to the entire territory of the state. In many parts of the country, the de facto strict laws of Islamic law (Sharia) apply.
sights
Ancient history has given us many cultural monuments that delight the eyes of tourists. Indeed, there are many historical places that the state of Libya can be proud of. Attractions are available in many regions of the country.
One of the most famous monuments of world culture located in Libya are the ruins of the ancient Roman amphitheater, which can be seen in the photo above. They are located in Sabrat, which is west of Tripoli. This amphitheater was built during Roman rule and was intended for spectacles that were supposed to entertain the public, including for gladiatorial battles.
On the territory of the country there are other ruins of the ancient buildings of the Phoenicians and Romans. Among the tourists, the ruins of the ancient city of Leptis Magna, founded by the Phoenician colonists, but then adopted the Roman way of life, are especially famous.
Among the buildings of the Islamic period, one can especially highlight the Ahmad Pasha Karamanli mosque located in Tripoli, built by this ruler of Tripolitania in 1711. The mosques of Gurga and Al-Jami are also quite interesting.
In addition, cave paintings in the Tadrart-Akakus area, whose age reaches 14,000 years, are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the days of Gaddafi, the Jamahiriya Museum was especially popular among locals and tourists.
Indeed, there is much to be proud of the people of Libya.
With faith in the future
From the very moment of its birth, Libya has experienced difficult periods. After the fall of Gaddafi’s regime, many people were confident that the days of true democracy and the rule of law would come. But their hopes were not destined to come true, as the country was mired in the abysses of the civil war, in which foreign powers interfere to one degree or another.
At present, Libya is actually split into several parts, which either require wide autonomy from the central government or do not recognize it at all. At the same time, no one denies the right of the Libyan people to build a peaceful democratic society in which the rule of law will be at the forefront. Of course, this goal Libyans sooner or later achieved. But only when it will be is a big question.