 Libya - national flag
Since independence as a kingdom in 1951, Libya has had several flags; In
1972-77, the country's flag was the same as that of Egypt and Syria, but when
Egypt made peace with Israel, Libya changed its flag to a solid green. After
the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, the original flag, from the Kingdom of Libya, was
re-elected.
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Libya - prehistory
Human remains dating back to 500,000 BC. The different cultures have from
approximately 9000 BC left carvings in stone showing virtually all the local hunting
animals as well as humans, while rock paintings appear from approximately 7000 BC The
earliest traces of food production and ceramics can be dated to approximately 5000 BC.
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the world, such as LBY which represents the official name of Libya.
3000-2500 BC the residents of the area west of the Nile began to act as
enemies in Egyptian springs; these are the so-called tjehenu. Egyptian
images depict them according to the same color conventions by which they
reproduced themselves (reddish-brown skin for men and yellowish for women, both
with black hair), and this, along with other conditions, indicates that the
Libyans have been ethnically related to the Egyptians. Representations of
a later population group, called tjemehu, on the other hand, clearly
distinguish between these (light skin, red or maroon hair, blue or light eyes)
and the Egyptians. Tjehenu lived in the area west of the Nile Delta, but later
refers to Ta-Tjehenu('tjehenus land') the whole area west of the Nile
Valley from north to south. Around 2000 BC. tjemehu is mentioned for the first
time as the most important; they also gradually came to denote all the
residents of the area west of the Nile Valley. During Ramses III's Libyan
wars, the names of subgroups of tjemehu are mentioned: meshwesh, lebu and seped both
as enemies and as allies. Seped has presumably been circumcised; this theory is
based on the interpretation of the reliefs in Medinet Habu with depictions of
victory trophies: heaps of cut phalluses. After the fall of the Egyptian New
Kingdom, the Nile Delta was infiltrated by Libyans, and
finally Sheshonk took 1., who was of Libyan descent, in 945 BC. power in Egypt
as the first king of the 22nd, so-called Libyan dynasty.
It is the Lebu Libyans who have given their name to the Libya of the ancient
writers, which partly covers the whole of North Africa and partly the present
Libya.
Libya - history
From around 600 BC. Libya was colonized by Phoenicians and Greeks. With the
expansion of the Romans in the Mediterranean, the coastal areas became
especially important, and with the establishment of the province of Africa in
146 BC. and the Cows in 74 BC. they were incorporated into the Roman
Empire. The intermediate area was slowly integrated from the time of Emperor
Augustus. Despite the desert-like hinterland, Libya developed into an important
grain and olive-producing area with hubs in the port cities of Leptis Magna,
Oea (now Tripoli) and Apollonia. approximately 300, the Libyan territory was
separated as the independent province of Tripolitana. After the division of the
Roman Empire, it came under the Byzantine Empire. In 455 the vandals conquered
and ravaged the main towns along the coast, but the area still experienced a
slight flourishing in the 500-t.
It was in the 600-t. conquered by the Arabs, who for the first time, however,
had only control of the coastline. From 800-t. it was in the possession of the
Aghlabids, and in 900-t. it came under the Shiite Fatimids. However, they lost
control of most of Libya when the local emir of 1049 allowed a return to Sunni
Islam. Thereafter, the area was under changing rule and was also split up
between local rulers, until from 1551 it formally came
under Ottoman control. Local clans, however, managed to maintain a significant
influence, as was the case with Ahmad Qaramanli, who in 1711 secured real
control of the country, and whose family dominated politically until 1835, when
the Ottoman sultanate again succeeded in securing direct control of the area.
In 1911, Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire and sought control of
Libya. However, the Italian invasion encountered considerable resistance from
both the Ottomans and the local population. The Ottoman sultan made peace with
Italy in October 1912, but local Libyan resistance remained unchallenged, now
under the leadership of the Sanusi Order (see Muhammad ibn Ali al- Sanusi). When
the fascists took power in Italy in 1922, the war in Libya intensified, and with
the capture and execution of rebel leader Omar Mukhtar (b. C. 1858) in 1931,
Italy finally secured control of Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica, the three
territories that together constitutes Libya. That same year, rebel leader Omar
Mukhtar was executed. The twenty-year-long crackdown on local rebels is
estimated to have cost approximately 75,000 Libyans live. Eventually, the Italian
settlement made up one-eighth of the population.
Libya becomes independent
During World War II, Britain occupied Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, while the
French occupied Fezzan, and in 1947, Italy renounced Libya. In December 1951,
the UN decided that the area should be an independent united kingdom under
King Idris I, who had played a role in the long struggle against Italy. The
constitution of the new Libyan kingdom stated that Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and
Fezzan should have extensive autonomy; only foreign and economic policy had to
be managed centrally.
From independence until 1969, Libya was closely linked to the West. It was
also Western oil companies that in 1959 located the first oil fields in the
country, and soon a significant amount of oil was produced. The rising revenues
from this made it possible to implement political reforms, and in 1963 Libya was
transformed from a federal to a centralized state with a common political
system. The great dependence on the West also led to a growing criticism from
e.g. the army, and a group of young officers led by Muammar Gaddafi seized power
on September 1, 1969. The following year, 20,000 Italians were expelled as the
last colonists.
Libya after the coup
The new rulers were declared pan-Arabists (see pan-Arabism), and since 1969
Libya has repeatedly tried to enter into close supranational cooperation with a
number of different Arab countries, including Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Malta and
Tunisia. None of these attempts, however, have been realized. Libya has also
taken several initiatives to strengthen the North African Arab Union (UMA),
which has also been in vain so far.
The political system was transformed in 1977 so that power was formally
handed over to congresses of the people elected at both local and national
level. The system continues to function, but from the mid-1980's due to growing
internal opposition to the regime has been supplemented by a series of
"revolutionary committees" to ensure the circle around Gaddafi full political
control.
Libya experienced tremendous economic growth from the early 1970's until the
mid-1980's. The country's large revenues from the sale of oil were invested in
agriculture, industry and the establishment of a comprehensive health and
education system. Private investment and retail were banned in accordance with
the principles of Gaddafi's Green Paper, but were allowed again from the late
1980's because the regime felt pressured to make economic concessions to counter
the growing opposition. The large and large investments in agriculture and
industry have not lived up to expectations, and Libya remains heavily dependent
on revenues from oil exports.
The rhetorical violence that has characterized Libya since 1969 has
repeatedly led the country on a collision course with the West, including due to
Libyan demands that large parts of the Gulf of Sidra be considered Libyan
territorial waters. Disagreements over this led in 1986 to a US bombing of
Tripoli following Libyan attacks on the US Mediterranean.
Isolation and normalization
Throughout the 1990's, Libya was economically and politically isolated from
the international community as a result of the terrorist attack on a civilian
plane over Lockerbie in 1988, and only when Gaddafi in 2000 agreed to extradite
two suspects to the Netherlands so that they could be convicted there. a
Scottish court, it became possible to gradually lift the sanctions against
Libya. Later s.å. Libya was active in the effort to free 12 hostages from the
terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines. The Scottish court in 2001
convicted one of the defendants in the Lockerbie case of murder, while the other
was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Libya has subsequently paid
compensation to the families who lost relatives in the Lockerbie attack, and the
country recognized after the terrorist attack on the United States on September
11, 2001 The United States' right to retaliate.
UN sanctions against Libya were finally lifted in September 2003. Later that
year, Gaddafi announced that Libya would cease developing weapons of mass
destruction. As a result of these developments, Libya's relations with the West
have improved significantly in recent years, with Gaddafi receiving more Western
leaders and even visiting Europe for the first time in 15 years.
In May 2006, the United States announced that it would re-establish
diplomatic relations with Libya. In 2008, Libya formally became a member of the
UN Security Council, recognizing its abandonment of weapons of mass
destruction. Between 1993 and 1999, which marked the 30th anniversary of the
military coup in 1969, Gaddafi had several clashes with the political opposition
in the country. The Libyan opposition abroad is divided into several factions,
and although the internal opposition has struck several times since the early
1990's, the regime has never been seriously threatened.
In 2008, Gaddafi paid a state visit to Rome, during which a reconciliation
agreement was concluded between the two nations. The agreement included an
official apology from Italy for its actions against Libya since 1911, as well as
a promise of a gradual payment of a fine of 5 billion. US $.
In February 2011, a revolt was launched against Gaddafi and his dictatorial
regime, and in August s.å. Tripoli fell and the rebels moved into the city
(see Libyan Civil War). International sanctions were imposed on Libya, and NATO
fighter jets took part in the fight against the regime. On October 20, Gaddafi
was killed after being captured by rebel forces, and on October 23, the country
was declared free by the Libyan National Transitional Council. The uprising
against Gaddafi must be seen in continuation of the Arab Spring with its protest
waves. The head of the Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, became head of
a transitional government. The first democratic elections after Gaddafi's rule
were held in July 2012, with a liberal alliance winning almost half of the
votes. The following month, the Transitional National Council was able to hand
over power to the popularly elected National Assembly, which was to act as the
legislature in the coming year and appoint a new government. A new constitution
must also be drawn up. The chairman of the National Assembly is Mohammed
Magarief, who thus actually became head of state.
In September 2012, Islamists attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi; four
Americans, incl. the ambassador was killed. The Islamists were soon after
expelled from the city. Magarief resigned as chairman of the National Assembly
in May 2013 and was replaced by Nuri Abu Sahmein, who belongs to the Berber
minority.
Tensions between nationalists and Islamists, including groups loyal to ISIS,
led in 2014 to a real civil war in which the central government collapsed.
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