State of Libya: Map & History

History

The coastal plain of Libya was inhabited by Neolithic peoples from as early as 8000 BC. The Afroasiatic ancestors of the Berber people are assumed to have spread into the area by the Late Bronze Age. The earliest known name of such a tribe was the Garamantes, based in Germa. The Phoenicians were the first to establish trading posts in Libya. By the 5th century BC, the greatest of the Phoenician colonies, Carthage, had extended its hegemony across much of North Africa, where a distinctive civilisation, known as Punic, came into being.

In 630 BC, the ancient Greeks colonised the area around Barca in Eastern Libya and founded the city of Cyrene. Within 200 years, four more important Greek cities were established in the area that became known as Cyrenaica.

Economy

The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which account for over half of GDP and 97% of exports. Libya holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa and is an important contributor to the global supply of light, sweet crude. During 2010, when oil averaged at $80 a barrel, oil production accounted for 54% of GDP. Apart from petroleum, the other natural resources are natural gas and gypsum. The International Monetary Fund estimated Libya's real GDP growth at 122% in 2012 and 16.7% in 2013, after a 60% plunge in 2011.

In 2023 Libya emitted around 23.77 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, about 0.17% of the world's total emissions.

Culture

Many Arabic speaking Libyans consider themselves as part of a wider Arab community. This was strengthened by the spread of Pan-Arabism in the mid-20th century, and their reach to power in Libya where they instituted Arabic as the only official language of the state. Under Gaddafi's rule, the teaching and even use of indigenous Berber language was strictly forbidden. In addition to banning foreign languages previously taught in academic institutions, leaving entire generations of Libyans with limitations in their comprehension of the English language. Both the spoken Arabic dialects and Berber, still retain words from Italian, that were acquired before and during the Libia Italiana period.

Geography

Libya extends over 1,759,540 square kilometres (679,362 sq mi), making it the 16th-largest nation in the world by size. Libya is bounded to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, the northwest by Tunisia, the west by Algeria, the southwest by Niger, the south by Chad, the southeast by Sudan, and the east by Egypt, as well as maritime borders with Greece, Italy and Malta to the north. Libya lies between latitudes 19° and 34°N, and longitudes 9° and 26°E. Libya comprises three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica.

At 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi), Libya's coastline is the longest of any African country bordering the Mediterranean.