The state of Libya today is one of the fairly successful African countries. It is located in the north of the mainland. The area of the state is almost 1,760 thousand km 2 . The capital is the city of Tripoli.
In the north, Libya has access to the Mediterranean Sea, thereby being the largest African country in the Mediterranean basin. Adjacent to Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Chad and Niger.
History
The country of Libya is a state whose history begins in ancient times. According to archaeological excavations, scientists have found that the sites of ancient people in this area date back to the Neolithic era. In the ancient period of history, Libya passed from hand to hand and belonged at different times to Carthage, Phenicia, Ancient Greece and Rome, Byzantium. In the VII century it became part of the Arab Caliphate.
In the Middle Ages, in the 16th century it was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Since this period, Islam has spread throughout the country. It remained part of the empire until its collapse in 1911. After becoming a colony of Italy.
Tipping point in the state
The country gained its independence in 1951, becoming the United Kingdom. However, the king was overthrown in 1969 and socialists come to power, led by Muammar Gaddafi, forming the Libyan Arab Republic. Later, the state was renamed the Jamahiriya (popular masses). This is the name given to the territory of present-day Libya. The population in 2011 during political unrest and civil war, with the help of dissidents and revolutionaries, overthrew the past power, led by Gaddafi. Since then, military clashes have been constantly taking place here, which cannot be pacified, and now the country is in a state of civil war.
State name
The name of the country comes from the ancient dialect of the Berber tribes living in these territories. The first political association of people was called “Libu”, and subsequently the state formed on these lands became so called. According to the rules for translating Arabic dialects into Russian, it would be correct to call the country "Libya", however, the previously consolidated "Libya" remained normatively fixed.
Geographic feature
Libya today is 90% desert, although in earlier times there was much more vegetation. In the west, the relief rises slightly, forming the plateau Idehan-Marzuk and Aubari. Here is the highest point in the country - Bikku Beatty (2,267 m). Closer to the coast, the desert departs, leaving a small area of arable land. This area occupies only 1% of the entire territory, but provides food for Libyan needs. The coastline is indented, its length is 1,770 km. The largest bay is Sidra.
Climate
The climate of Libya, whose population suffers from unexpected changes in weather conditions, differs in the desert regions and on the coast. In the desert, the climate is dry, tropical, with characteristic sharp temperature fluctuations day and night. The average January temperatures in the desert + 15 ° ... + 18 ° , in July + 40 ° ... + 45 ° . Often this mark rises to + 50 ° C. It is in the desert, not far from the capital, that the planet’s temperature maximum is + 57.8 ° . In the northern part of the state, the climate is a little milder - subtropical, Mediterranean type. Precipitation here falls 200-250 mm per year. In the desert part, this indicator decreases to 50-100 mm / year. Everything else in this territory is constantly blowing dust storms (hamsin, perishing). Most of the territory is unsuitable for farming. Due to climatic conditions, the animal and plant world of the country is very poor. Due to which the already small population of Libya suffers greatly - there is constant hunger.
Libyan population
Despite the large territory of the state, only about 6 million people live in Libya. Most of the locals gathered in the northern regions of the state, as the living conditions here are milder in terms of climate. 88% of people live in large cities: the capital of Tripoli and the city of Benghazi. The population density of Libya is 50 people per 1 km 2 . It is worth noting that this indicator is quite small.
A characteristic feature of the population is that one third of the people living in Libya are children under 15 years old. Such inequality is caused by the fact that more than 50 thousand people have died in recent years during the civil war. adult population. Also, more than 1 million people emigrated from the country.
Nations
In terms of national composition, the population of Libya is homogeneous. Most are Arabs. Also in the cities there are ethnic groups of Circassians, Tuaregs, Berbers. It was they who inhabited most of the territory of Libya. The population on the Mediterranean coast consists of a few communities of Greeks, Maltese, Italians. They are mainly engaged in fishing. The official language of the state is Arabic. Sometimes Italian and English are found.
97% of the population profess Sunni Islam. Christianity accounts for a little less than 3%. Representatives of other religions meet singly.
Administrative divisions and economic characteristics
Since 2007, a new administrative division system has been introduced in Libya. The state is divided into 22 municipalities.
For a long time, the fate of Libya (the population has been suffering for several centuries) was not very successful. She was one of the poorest countries on the planet, but by the 60s of the last century, the situation had changed. It was during this period that the largest oil deposits were found on the territory of the state. Due to the fact that all labor resources were devoted to the development of the oil industry, the level of development of other industries fell, and later they completely stopped developing.
In addition to oil production, in Libya only agriculture is more or less developed, which provides only the needs of the local population.
The cultural level of the country's development is medium. More than 90% of people under the age of 16 can read and write. However, the population of Libya is gradually declining, because living here and getting a higher education, including technical education, is rather difficult due to the constant armed conflicts. All financing of the country goes to military support.