Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa and the sixteenth largest country in the world. It is on the Mediterranean with Egypt to the east, Tunisia to the northwest, Algeria to the west, Niger and Chad to the south, and Sudan to the southeast. Although the oil discoveries of the 1960s have brought immense wealth, at the time of its independence it was an extremely poor desert state whose only important physical asset appeared to be its strategic location at the midpoint of Africa's northern rim.
Libya lay within easy reach of the major European nations and linked the Arab countries of North Africa with those of the Middle East, facts that throughout history had made its urban centres bustling crossroads rather than isolated backwaters without external social influences. Consequently, an immense social gap developed between the cities, cosmopolitan and peopled largely by foreigners, and the desert hinterland, where tribal chieftains ruled in isolation and where social change was minimal.
Geographical summary
Libya's topography.
The Mediterranean coast and the Sahara Desert are the country's most prominent natural features. There are several highlands but no true mountain ranges except in the largely empty southern desert near the Chadian border, where the Tibesti Massif rises to over 2,200 metres. A relatively narrow coastal strip and highland steppes immediately south of it are the most productive agricultural regions. Still farther south a pastoral zone of sparse grassland gives way to the vast Sahara Desert, a barren wasteland of rocky plateaus and sand. It supports minimal human habitation, and agriculture is possible only in a few scattered oases.
The Sahara desert is connected to the Gulf of Sidra on the coast by a barren zone, known as the Sirtica, which has great historical significance.
Along the shore of Tripolitania for more than 300km, coastal oases alternate with sandy areas and lagoons. Inland from these lies the Jifarah Plain, a triangular area of some 15,000 square km. About 120km inland the plain terminates in an escarpment that rises to form the Nafusa Mountains, with elevations of up to 1,000 metres, which is the northern edge of the Tripolitanian Plateau.[1]
In Cyrenaica there are fewer coastal oases, and the Marj Plain – the lowland area corresponding to the Jifarah Plain of Tripolitania – covers a much smaller area. The lowlands form a crescent about 210km long between Benghazi and Derna and extend inland a maximum of 50km. Elsewhere along the Cyrenaican coast, the precipice of an arid plateau reaches to the sea. Behind the Marj Plain, the terrain rises abruptly to form Jabal al Akhdar (Green Mountain), so called because of its leafy cover of pine, juniper, cypress, and wild olive. It is a limestone plateau with maximum altitudes of about 900 metres.
From Jabal al Akhdar, Cyrenaica extends southward across a barren grazing belt that gives way to the Sahara Desert, which extends still farther southwest across the Chadian frontier. Unlike Cyrenaica, Tripolitania does not extend southward into the desert. The southwestern desert region, known as Fezzan, was administered separately during both the Italian regime and the federal period of the Libyan monarchy. The large dune seas known as ergs of the Idehan Ubari and the Idehan Murzuq cover much of the land of Fezzan.
In 1969 the revolutionary government officially changed the regional designation of Tripolitania to Western Libya, of Cyrenaica to Eastern Libya, and of Fezzan to Southern Libya; however, the old names were intimately associated with the history of the area, and during the 1970s they continued to be used frequently. Cyrenaica comprises 51%, Fezzan 33%, and Tripolitania 16% of the country's area.
Before Libya achieved independence, its name was seldom used other than as a somewhat imprecise geographical expression. The people preferred to be referred to as natives of one of the three constituent regions. The separateness of the regions is much more than simply geographical and political, for they have evolved largely as different socioeconomic entities – each with a culture, social structure, and values different from the others. Cyrenaica became Arabized at a somewhat earlier date than Tripolitania, and Beduin tribes dominated it. The residual strain of the indigenous Berber inhabitants, however, still remains in Tripolitania. Fezzan has remained a kind of North African outback, its oases peopled largely by minority ethnic groups.
The border between Tripolitania and Tunisia is subject to countless crossings by legal and illegal migrants. No natural frontier marks the border, and the ethnic composition, language, value systems, and traditions of the two peoples are nearly identical. The Cyrenaica region is contiguous with Egypt, and here, too, the border is not naturally defined; illegal as well as legal crossings are frequent. In contrast, Fezzan's borders with Algeria, Niger, and Chad are seldom crossed because of the almost total emptiness of the desert countryside.
Other factors, too, such as the traditional forms of land tenure, have varied in the different regions. In the 1980s their degrees of separation were still sufficiently pronounced to represent a significant obstacle to efforts toward achieving a fully unified Libya.
Area and boundaries
A dust storm over the Tripolitania region of Libya. Over 90% of Libya is desert.
Within Libya as many as five different climatic zones have been recognized, but the dominant climates are the hot-summer Mediterranean climate and the hot desert climate (Köppen climate classificationCsa and BWh). In most of the coastal lowland, the climate is Mediterranean, with hot or very hot summers and extremely mild winters. Rainfall is scant.
The weather is cooler in the highlands, and frosts occur at maximum elevations. In the desert interior, despite the relatively high elevation, the climate has long, extremely hot summers and high diurnal temperature ranges due to the permanence of cloudless skies and excessively dry atmosphere. The highest purported temperature ever recorded was on 13 September 1922 at 'Aziziya, Libya,[3] but in 2012 the World Meteorological Organizationdiscredited the dubious reading and stated that Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California had recorded the real highest temperature in the world at 56.7°C (134.1°F).[4]
Less than 2% of the national territory receives enough rainfall for settled agriculture, the heaviest precipitation occurring in the Jabal al Akhdar zone of Cyrenaica, where annual rainfall of 400 to 600mm (15.7 to 23.6in) is recorded. All other areas of the country receive less than 400mm (15.7in), and in the Sahara Desert 50mm (1.97in) or less occurs. Rainfall is often erratic, and a pronounced drought may extend over two seasons. For example, epic floods in 1945 left Tripoli underwater for several days, but two years later an unprecedentedly severe drought caused the loss of thousands of head of cattle.
Deficiency in rainfall is reflected in an absence of permanent rivers or streams, and the approximately twenty perennial lakes are brackish or salty. In 1987 these circumstances severely limited the country's agricultural potential as a basis for the sound and varied economy Gaddafi sought to establish. The allocation of limited water is considered of sufficient importance to warrant the existence of the Secretariat of Dams and Water Resources, and damaging a source of water can be punished by a heavy fine or imprisonment.
The government has constructed a network of dams in wadis, dry watercourses that become torrents after heavy rains. These dams are used both as water reservoirs and for flood and erosion control. The wadis are heavily settled because soil in their bottoms is often suitable for agriculture, and the high water table in their vicinity makes them logical locations for digging wells. In many wadis, however, the water table is declining at an alarming rate, particularly in areas of intensive agriculture and near urban centers. The government has expressed concern over this problem and because of it has diverted water development projects, particularly around Tripoli, to localities where the demand on underground water resources is less intense. It has also undertaken extensive reforestation projects.
There are also numerous springs, those best suited for future development occurring along the scarp faces of the Jabal Nafusah and the Jabal al Akhdar. The most talked-about of the water resources, however, are the great subterranean aquifers of the desert. The best known of these lies beneath Kufra Oasis in southeastern Cyrenaica. An aquifer with even greater reputed capacity is located near the oasis community of Sabha in the southwestern desert.
In the late 1970s, wells were drilled at Kufra and at Sabha as part of a major agricultural development effort. An even larger undertaking is the so-called Great Manmade River, initiated in 1984. It is intended to tap the tremendous aquifers of the Kufra, Sarir, and Sabha oases and to carry the resulting water to the Mediterranean coast for use in irrigation and industrial projects.
Climate data for Tripoli (1961–1990, extremes 1944–1993)
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms
Environment - current issues:desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities
↑ Barich, Barbara E.; Garcea, Elena A.A.; Giraudi, Carlo (2015). "Between the Mediterranean and the Sahara: geoarchaeological reconnaissance in the Jebel Gharbi, Libya". Antiquity. 80 (309): 567–582. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00094047. ISSN0003-598X.
↑ Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress, (1987), "Climate & Hydrology of ", U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
↑ "Klimatafel von Tripolis (Flugh.) / Libyen"(PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
↑ "Klimatafel von Benina (Bengasi-Flugh.) / Libyen"[Climate table of Benina (Benghazi Airport), Libya](PDF) (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Temperatures and precipitation days 1945–1977, precipitation 1961–1990, humidity 1973–1993
↑ "Klimatafel von Sebha / Libyen"(PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ "Station 62124 Sebha". Global station data 1961–1990—Sunshine Duration. Deutscher Wetterdienst. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
Morocco is the northwesternmost country which spans from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean on the north and the west respectively, into large mountainous areas in the interior, to the Sahara desert in the far south. Morocco is a Northern African country, located in the extreme northwest of Africa on the edge of continental Europe. The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Morocco with a 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) span of water. Morocco borders the North Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the western Mediterranean Sea to the north, and has borders with Algeria and disputed Western Sahara.
Algeria comprises 2,381,740 square kilometres (919,590 sq mi) of land, more than 80% of which is desert, in North Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia. It is the largest country in Africa. Its Arabic name, Al Jazair, is believed to derive from the rocky islands along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. The northern portion, an area of mountains, valleys, and plateaus between the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert, forms an integral part of the section of North Africa known as the Maghreb. This area includes Morocco, Tunisia, and the northwestern portion of Libya known historically as Tripolitania.
Cyrenaica or Kyrenaika, is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, was part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca. During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as Barqa, after the city of Barca.
In Libya there are currently 106 districts, second level administrative subdivisions known in Arabic as baladiyat. The number has varied since 2013 between 99 and 108. The first level administrative divisions in Libya are currently the governorates (muhafazat), which have yet to be formally deliniated, but which were originally tripartite as: Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest; and later divided into ten governorates.
Kufra or Kofra, also spelled Cufra in Italian, is the largest district of Libya and the second largest such district in Africa. It is slightly smaller than the country of Turkmenistan. Its capital is Al Jawf, one of the oases in Kufra basin. There is a very large oil refinery near the capital. In the late 15th century, Leo Africanus reported an oasis in the land of the Berdoa, visited by a caravan coming from Awjila. It is possible that this oasis was identical with either the Al Jawf or the Taiserbo oasis, and on early modern maps, the Al Kufra region was often labelled as Berdoa based on this report.
Nuqat al Khams is one of the districts of Libya. It is in the northwest of the country, in what had been the historical region of Tripolitania. Its capital is Zuwara. Nuqat al Khams has a northern shoreline on the Mediterranean Sea. To the west, it borders the Medenine Governorate of Tunisia. Domestically, it borders the districts of Zawiya to the east, Jabal al Gharbi to the southeast, and Nalut to the southwest. Nuqat al Khams is a part of the Tripolitania geographical region of Libya.
Zawiya, officially Zawia, is one of the districts of Libya. It is located in the north western part of the country, in what had been the historical region of Tripolitania. Its capital is also named Zawia. the province of Az Zawiya has three major municipalities; according to the new laws of local governance, includes Central Az Zawiya municipality, Southern Az Zawia municipality and Eastern Az zawiya municipality. In the north, Zawiya province has a shoreline bordering the Mediterranean Sea, while it borders Tripoli in east, Jafara in southeast, Jabal al Gharbi in south, Surman in the west.
Derna is one of the districts of Libya. It is in the northeast of the country, in the historical region of Cyrenaica. Its capital is Derna. In 2007 the district was enlarged to include what had been the Al Qubah District. In the north, Derna has a shoreline on the Mediterranean Sea. On land, it borders Butnan in the east, Jabal al Akhdar in the west and Al Wahat to the south.
Fezzan is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara Desert. The term originally applied to the land beyond the coastal strip of Africa proconsularis, including the Nafusa and extending west of modern Libya over Ouargla and Illizi. As these Berber areas came to be associated with the regions of Tripoli, Cirta or Algiers, the name was increasingly applied to the arid areas south of Tripolitania.
The Jebel Akhdar is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya. It is located in the modern shabiyahs or districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and Marj.
Kufra is a basin and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of nineteenth century Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.
Marj is an administrative division of northeastern Libya, lying on the Mediterranean Sea coast. Its administrative seat is the city of Marj, which was formerly known as Barca. Marj is situated on the Cyrenaica Plateau at the western edge of the Jebel Akhdar. In the 2007 administrative reorganization part of the territory formerly in Al Hizam al Akhdar District was transferred to Al Marj. In the north, Marj has a shoreline on the Mediterranean Sea. On land, it borders Jabal al Akhdar in the east, Al Wahat in south and Benghazi in the west.
The Provinces of Libya were prescribed in 1934, during the last period of colonial Italian Libya, and continued through post-independence Libya until 1963 when the Governorates system was instituted.
Hun or Houn is an oasis town in the northern Fezzan region of southwest Libya. The town is the capital of the Jufra District. The "International Autumn Tourism Festival" is an annual festival usually held at the end of September.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Libya:
Jabal al Gharbi or The Western Mountain is one of the districts of Libya. It is named after the Nafusa Mountains. It was formed in 2007 from the former districts of Yafran, Gharyan and Mizda. From 1995 to 1998 Jabal al Gharbi also existed as a Baladiyah. Jabal al Gharbi borders Sirte and Misrata to the east, Murqub to the northeast, Jafara and Zawiya to the north, Nuqat al Khams to the northwest, Nalut to the west, Tripoli to the north, Wadi al Shatii to the south and Jufra to the southeast.
Tripoli District is one of the 22 first level subdivisions (بلدية) of Libya. Its capital and largest city is Tripoli, the national capital. Tripoli District is in the Tripolitania region of northwestern Libya. The district has a shoreline along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north, Zawiya in the west, Jafara in the southwest, Jabal al Gharbi in the south and Murqub in the east.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Fezzan and Ghadames, both now part of Libya.
The Southern Military Territory was a jurisdictional territory within the colony of Italian Libya (1911–1947), administered by the Italian military in the Libyan Sahara.
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