Official name: Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Capital city: Tripoli
Internet country code: .ly
Flag description: Plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion)
Geographical description: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia
Total area: 679,358 sq. mi. (1,759,540 sq. km.)
Climate: Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior
Nationality: noun: Libyan(s); adjective: Libyan
Population: 6,036,914 (July 2007 CIA est.)
Ethnic groups: Berber and Arab 97%, other (including Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians) 3%
Languages spoken: Arabic, English, French, Italian
Religions: Sunni Muslim 97%, other 3%
| British Evacuation Day | Mar 28 |
| Day of Mourning | Oct 26 |
| Declaration of Jamahiriya Day | Mar 2 |
| Evacuation of Foreign Bases Day | Jun 11 |
| Independence Day | Dec 24 |
| Italian Evacuation Day | Oct 7 |
| Revolution Day | Sep 1 |
(Greek Libye, from Libyes, the name of the tribes inhabiting North Africa west of Egypt), the ancient Greek name for Africa or, more precisely, for the portion of it known in antiquity. Until the fifth century B.C. this area was regarded as part of Asia. With the broadening of geographic knowledge at the time of Herodotus and Scylax (fifth and fourth centuries B.C.), “Libya” came to denote the area adjoining the Mediterranean that lay between Egypt (sometimes the Isthmus of Suez) and the Atlantic Ocean, including the adjacent oases.
Libyan Arab Republic (al-Jumhuriyya al-Arabiyya al-Libiya).
A state in North Africa, Libya is bounded by Tunisia and Algeria on the west, Niger and the Republic of Chad on the south, the Sudan on the southeast, the Arab Republic of Egypt on the east, and the Mediterranean Sea on the north. Area, 1,759,500 sq km. Population, 2.08 million (1972 estimate). The capital is Tripoli (since 1975). Administratively, Libya is divided into 46 municipalities.
Libya is a republic and has belonged to the Federation of Arab Republics since 1971. The Constitutional Proclamation of Dec. 11, 1969, serves as an interim constitution.
The highest state organ, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), is also a legislative body and determines the government’s overall policies. The chairman of the RCC, who is the supreme commander in chief of the armed forces, is regarded as the head of state. The RCC appoints the government—the Council of Ministers—which drafts legislation for confirmation by the RCC; the parliament was dissolved after the coup d’etat of Sept. 1, 1969.
The muhafazat are administered by local councils and the cities by municipal councils. Districts are headed by mutasarrifs and subdistricts by mudirs.
The judicial system includes the Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the RCC, three appellate courts, courts of the first instance, and summary courts having one judge. A decree of October 1969 created the People’s Court to consider cases involving political or administrative corruption and various other cases referred to it by the RCC. There is a system of sharia (Islamic) courts.
A subtropical semidesert in the north and a tropical desert in the south account for 98 percent of the country’s total area. The coastline is not highly indented, with only one large gulf, the Gulf of Sidra. West of the gulf the coast is primarily low-lying, sandy, and rimmed with lagoons, and to the east it is steep and mountainous.
TERRAIN AND GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. Most of the country is a plateau with elevations ranging from 200 to 600 m, divided by vast depressions into three sections: al-Hammadah al-Hamra and the Jabal Nafusah scarp (to 968 m) in the northwest, in Tripolitania; al-Jabal al-Akhdar (876 m) in the northeast, in Cyrenaica; and sandstone plateaus and spurs of the Tibesti Highlands (to 2,286 m) in the south. The eastern portion of the country is occupied by the Libyan Desert, and the western part, by the vast Fezzan Basin, covered with large sand dunes (Ide-han-Ubari, Idehan-Muruq). Some ridges of these dunes are dozens or hundreds of km long and attain relative heights of 150–200 m.
Geologically, Libya forms part of the northern slope of the African platform. In the extreme south, the center, and the southeast, crystalline Precambrian rocks are exposed in outcroppings of the basement. Depressions in the basement (the Khamfa, Muruq, al-Kufrah, and East Libyan basins) are covered with a sedimentary mantle of marine and continental deposits of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. Central Libya is traversed by fractures associated with young lava fields. The Mediterranean coast is also rimmed with fractures. Adjoining the Gulf of Sidra on the southeast is the Sidra graben, filled with marine deposits (chiefly carbonaceous and some of reef origin) of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene. The major petroleum deposits are found here. In 1971 proven petroleum reserves amounted to 3,282,500,000 tons.
CLIMATE. Libya has a tropical, desert climate, with sharp seasonal and daily temperature variations and extremely dry air. In the north the climate is of the subtropical, Mediterranean type. The average temperature in the coolest month, January, is 11°-12°C in the north and 15°-18°C in the south. Temperatures for the hottest month, July, average 27°-29°C in the north and 32°-35°C in the south. The maximum temperature (more than 50°C) occurs in the center of the Libyan Desert. The northern sections receive the most precipitation, ranging from 250–350 mm in Tripoli to 400–625 mm in Cyrenaica. To the south and east, annual precipitation decreases to 100 mm, and in the Libyan Desert, to 25 mm. Hot desiccating winds and dust storms —the ghibli and khamsin —often sweep over the country.
RIVERS AND LAKES. Although Libya has no perennially flowing rivers, there are large groundwater reserves. Oases with fertile soils are found where the water lies close to the surface. There are many dry valleys, called wadis, particularly near the coast of the Gulf of Sidra, in Cyrenaica, and in Fezzan.
SOILS, FLORA, AND FAUNA. Subtropical semidesert flora predominates in the coastal region. Here sparse acacias, sycamores, and tamarisks grow on sierozem and gray-cinnamon soils; in moister places there are maquis thickets and cedar and juniper groves. Wormwood and tough, low grasses and shrubs grow between the coastal belt and the desert. The vast desert expanses, virtually devoid of a plant cover, support only sparse shrubs, xerophytic prickly shrubs and semishrubs, and saltworts.
Fauna is represented by few species, chiefly snakes and lizards, and there are many scorpions. Hyenas, jackals, foxes, hares, and wild boars inhabit the northern regions, and birds nest in the oases.
M. B. GORNUNG
Libyans constitute more than 90 percent of the population (1970 estimate). There are also about 75,000 Berbers, who are almost indistinguishable from the Arabs (the majority speak Arabic). Small groups of Hausa and Tubu live in Jabal Nafusah and in oases of the Libyan Desert. The official language is Arabic. The state religion is Islam (most Muslims are Sunnites). Both the Muslim (Hegira) and Gregorian calendars are used.
Between 1963 and 1971 the annual population growth rate, both natural increase and immigration, averaged 3.7 percent. The work force totals 514,000 persons (1970 estimate), of whom 43 percent are employed in agriculture, about 25 percent in industry and construction, and about 32 percent in trade, handicrafts, and other occupations. Population distribution is extremely uneven: about 90 percent of the people live in the north, either along the coast or on the adjoining plateau. The most densely settled muhafaza is Tripoli, where about one-fourth of the total population lives. In the Libyan Desert the density is less than one person per sq km. The development of the petroleum industry has resulted in the mass migration of the rural population to the cities and settlements that have developed around the petroleum ports. A portion of the population is nomadic. Most of the people in the northwestern part of the country lead a settled way of life, raising field crops and fruit. In the northeast and southwest, in addition to the settled population, there are a number of seminomadic and nomadic tribes. The settled population of the desert lives in oases and oil-drilling centers. Urban dwellers accounted for 30.5 percent of the total population in 1970. The largest cities are Tripoli (344,000 inhabitants in 1972) and Benghazi (280,000 inhabitants in 1971).
To THE EARLY 16TH CENTURY. The territory of present-day Libya was first settled by man in earliest antiquity. The nomadic tribes inhabiting ancient Libya—ancestors of the Berbers—engaged in hunting and, later, in livestock raising. The primitive communal system existed for several thousand years. Libyan territory was conquered by foreigners in ancient times, but Libyans also often conquered neighboring countries. From the mid-tenth to the mid-eighth century B.C., dynasties of Libyan origin ruled Egypt. Three Phoenician colonies, Leptis Magna, Sabratha, and Oea, were founded in western Libya in the first half of the first millennium (the Greek name for western Libya, Tripolitania, means three cities). In the seventh century Greek colonies were established in eastern Libya, the most important of which was Cyrene. (The historical region of Cyrenaica derived its name from the colony.) In the mid-fifth century a large part of Libya, chiefly in the west, came under the domination of Carthage. The Achaemenids conquered part of Cyrenaica in the late sixth and early fifth centuries, and later it was conquered by Alexander the Great.
After the fall of Carthage in the second century B.C., Libya was conquered by Rome. In the fifth century A.D. it was captured by the Vandals, and in the sixth century it became part of the Byzantine Empire. In the seventh century, as a result of the Arab conquests, it was incorporated into the Arab Caliphate of the Umayyads and later the Abbasids. Subsequently, it fell completely or partially under the domination of the Muslim feudal dynasties ruling over neighboring Egypt and Tunisia—the Aghlabids, Fatimids, Almohads, Hafsids, and Mamelukes. The mass migration of Arab tribes to Libya resulted in the gradual Arabization of the local population. Islam became the dominant religion.
FOREIGN RULE (16 TH CENTURY TO 1951). In the 16th century Libya became part of the Ottoman Empire (the pasalik of Tripoli). The Turkish sultan’s power over Libya had virtually disappeared by the early 18th century, and from 1711 to 1835 the country was ruled by the Karamanli dynasty. Although the Turks reestablished their rule in 1835, they actually controlled only the coastal regions. The second period of Turkish rule was marked by the Libyan people’s numerous anti-Turkish actions. In the mid-19th century the struggle was led by the Sanussi brotherhood.
In the late 19th century Libya became an objective in the struggle between the imperialist powers. In 1911, Italy began an imperialist war with Turkey for control of Libya, resulting in Italian sovereignty. However, the Italians succeeded in occupying only the coastal regions. The local population stubbornly resisted the Italian colonialists. During World War I (1914–18), Italy had to withdraw a large part of its forces from Libya, holding only the cities of al-Khums, Tripoli, and Benghazi. Cyrenaica was controlled by the Sanussi brotherhood, and a republic was proclaimed in Tripolitania in 1918. Threatened with the loss of its colony, the Italian government made concessions. It recognized Idris al-Sanussi, head of the Sanussi brotherhood, as ruler of the unoccupied region of Cyrenaica, and in 1919 it signed an agreement with representatives of the Republic of Tripolitania granting it internal autonomy and a constitution.
In January 1922, Idris al-Sanussi and representatives of the government of Tripolitania signed a pact declaring Tripolitania’s and Cyrenaica’s cooperation in the struggle against the Italian invaders. Idris al-Sanussi was proclaimed emir of both regions. After the fascists came to power in Italy in 1922, the Italian government resumed military operations in Libya, accompanied by the mass annihilation and deportation of the local population. In Cyrenaica alone, more than 4,000 people were executed and about 142,000 driven from their homeland or killed between 1923 and 1929. The land owned by the local population was expropriated and given to Italian colonists. By 1940, more than 800,000 hectares of land had been confiscated, and more than 100,000 colonists had settled in Libya. All branches of the economy came under Italian control.
The movement to drive out the Italian imperialists intensified. Not until 1928 did the Italian aggressors capture Tripolitania; in 1930 they gained control over Fezzan. The armed resistance in Cyrenaica was led by the Sanussi sheikh Omar al-Mukhtar. Despite the military superiority of the Italian colonialists, the Libyans continued their heroic resistance into the early 1930’s. In 1939, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan became part of Italy, under an Italian governor-general.
During World War II (1939–45), Italy planned to use Libya as a base for further conquests in Africa. Colonial troops were recruited, military bases and highways built, and ports equipped and modernized. However, the Italian army that invaded Egypt from Libya in late 1940 was repulsed by British forces, who occupied Cyrenaica in January and February 1941. After Rommel’s tank corps was sent to Libya, Italo-German forces captured Cyrenaica. After Hitler’s forces were routed at Stalingrad, the Italian and German forces were withdrawn from all of Libya. In late 1942 and early 1943, the French occupied Fezzan, and the British held Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. The people of Libya, as well as military units composed of Libyan patriots who had been in exile in Egypt, took an active part in expelling the Italian and German forces.
In 1943, a British military administration was established in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, and the French administered Fezzan. Great Britain, France, and the USA established military bases on Libyan soil (the USA, Wheelus Air Base; Great Britain, bases in Tubruq and al-Adem; and France, bases in Fezzan).
Libya’s fate, as well as that of the other former Italian colonies, was discussed between 1945 and 1948, first in the Council of Foreign Ministers (an international body established to prepare postwar peace treaties) and then in the UN. Striving to maintain the occupation regime, the governments of the imperialist countries prevented the adoption of a unanimous resolution and insisted on the partition of Libya and on the maintenance of military bases on Libyan soil. Libya’s national interests were consistently defended by the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries, which advocated granting immediate independence to a unified Libya, withdrawal of foreign troops, and removal of military bases.
In November 1949 the General Assembly of the UN adopted a resolution granting Libya independence by Jan. 1, 1952. The National Constituent Assembly, convened in 1950, adopted a constitution, and on Dec. 24, 1951, the independent United Kingdom of Libya was proclaimed, a federation consisting of the provinces of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan. Idris al-Sanussi (Idris I) became king.
INDEPENDENCE. As a result of protracted foreign rule, Libya was an underdeveloped feudal country in the early 1950’s. Nomadic or seminomadic tribes constituted the greater part of the population. Most of the industrial enterprises and farms producing for the market belonged to Italian colonists. Libya remained dependent on the imperialist states. The Anglo-Libyan treaty of 1953 and the American-Libyan treaty of 1954 reaffirmed the right of Great Britain and the USA to maintain troops and military bases in Libya.
In the mid-1950’s, when rich petroleum deposits were discovered, there was a great influx of foreign capital. Between 1954 and 1964 alone, foreign oil monopolies invested $1.5 billion in Libya. Petroleum production increased rapidly, and a working class emerged, composed chiefly of workers in the petroleum industry. The position of the national bourgeoisie was strengthened somewhat; national capital was invested chiefly in trade, handicrafts, light industry, and housing construction.
After the proclamation of independence, several measures were taken to develop the national economy. Between 1960 and 1963 the Council of Economic Development was created, a special committee to protect Libyan enterprises from foreign competition was formed, and several national companies were organized. Also established were the Central Bank of Libya, the National Planning Council, and the Ministry of Planning and Development. Steps were taken to strengthen the machinery of government. In 1963, Libya was declared a unitary state. Women gained the right to vote. Public opinion and the active anti-imperialist struggle in other Arab countries caused the government to consider the removal of foreign military bases in 1964. In the spring of 1966 some British troops were evacuated (French troops had been withdrawn in 1956). However, British and American military bases remained. The great feudal lords and tribal sheikhs, who supported the royal regime, continued to dominate economic and political life. The developing democratic movement was brutally suppressed. In 1952 a law was enacted banning political parties; in 1955 a decree was issued giving the government the right to declare a state of emergency; and in 1956 a law was passed restricting assemblies and demonstrations and banning strikes. The difficult economic situation, Libya’s dependence on the imperialist monopolies, the presence of foreign military bases, and the country’s isolation from progressive Arab states caused discontent among broad strata of the population, including the intelligentsia, military circles, and the national bourgeoisie.
On Sept. 1, 1969, a coup d’etat was staged by a group of young army officers belonging to the secret political organization Free Unionist-Socialist Officers. The royal regime was overthrown, and the Libyan Arab Republic (LAR) was proclaimed. Power passed to the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), headed by one of the organizers of the Free Officers, Captain M. al-Qaddafi. The crown prince and all the high officials of the royal regime were arrested (King Idris I was abroad at the time). Political prisoners were released. In its first proclamations, the RCC stated that the LAR rejected capitalism as Libya’s path of development. In subsequent speeches the leaders of the LAR stressed that Libya would build “Libyan Islamic socialism.” In November 1971 the RCC established a commission to review all legislation in accordance “with the basic principles of the Islamic sharia.” Measures aimed at strengthening the national economy were carried out between 1969 and 1972, and in 1970 all foreign military bases were removed.
A labor law permitting workers to organize trade unions according to industry was enacted in May 1970. The RCC raised the minimum wage from 15 to 40 dinars a month and reduced the cost of medical services. A trade union center, the General Federation of Trade Union Workers of the LAR, was organized in 1972. The country’s sole political organization, the Arab Socialist Union (ASU), was also founded in that year. The ASU proclaimed the “third theory,” based on religion and nationalism, to be its ideological foundation. By an edict of June 31, 1972, all political activity outside the ASU was banned.
In foreign policy, the RCC proclaimed a policy of “positive neutrality” and declared the necessity of participating more actively in the Arabs’ struggle against imperialism and Israeli aggression and of consolidating the Arabs into a single state. On Sept. 1, 1971, Libya, Egypt, and Syria formed the Federation of Arab Republics (FAR).
Diplomatic relations between Libya and the USSR were established in 1955. In 1963 a trade agreement was signed by Libya and the USSR, and in 1972 an agreement on economic and technical cooperation was concluded.
N. A. ARSHARUNI
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. In the colonial period Italian capital dominated the main branches of the economy. Prior to World War II (1939–45), the economy was based on nomadic livestock raising and, to a lesser extent, farming. After the proclamation of independence in 1951, the government took measures to develop the national economy. The fundamental social and economic problems, however, were not solved. In agriculture, the chief form of land tenure remained the leasing of land from landlords in return for labor services or sharecropping; the Italian colonists owned about 250,000 hectares. The discovery and development of large petroleum deposits in the 1950’s considerably altered the country’s economy. Oil production, begun in 1961, grew at a rapid rate and came to occupy the leading place in the economy (about 80 percent of the country’s revenues). Libya is the leading oil-producing country in Africa and the sixth largest producer in the capitalist world (1972), after the USA, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Kuwait. The rich oil deposits are exploited by foreign oil companies, chiefly US; in 1969 these companies owned 80 percent of the capital investments and 87.5 percent of the oil produced. The country’s oil revenues, including taxes and royalties, amounted to about $2 billion in 1971.
The government that came to power in September 1969 began to restrict the activity of foreign capital, nationalizing the land holdings of foreigners without compensation (1970). The functions of the Libyan National Oil Company (Linoco, the former Libyan Oil Company, founded in 1968) were expanded, and its role in the oil industry grew substantially. The country’s income increased as a result of the higher price of Libyan oil and higher taxes on the profits of foreign oil companies. By a decree issued in January 1971 all mineral resources were nationalized, and prospecting and extraction of minerals were to be carried out only with the permission of the government. In August 1971 state control was established over the import trade. In December 1971 the British Petroleum Company, which owned 50 percent of the shares of the Serir deposits, was completely nationalized, and in June 1973 the remaining 50 percent of the shares of the American oil company Bunker Hunt were nationalized. In September 1973 the government of Libya nationalized 51 percent of the property of all foreign oil companies. Between 1969 and 1971 foreign banks, all Italian-owned land, and the immovable property (including gas stations) belonging to foreign companies were nationalized. Thus, the present economy has a mixed structure: capitalist relations predominate in industry, and in agriculture vestiges of the tribal system are combined with feudal and capitalist relations.
The three-year development plan (1973–75) was intended to create a diversified national economy in order to lessen the country’s dependence on foreign products. The plan provided for the strengthening of the state sector and for the development of industry (32 percent of all allocations), agriculture (21 percent), and other branches. In 1971 the per capita gross national product was 675 Libyan dinars (in current prices).
AGRICULTURE. According to the agricultural census of 1960, large landowners with holdings exceeding 50 hectares (ha) accounted for only one-eighth of all farms but about two-thirds of the cultivated land; peasants with plots of up to 5 ha accounted for one-third of all farms and only 3 percent of the cultivated area. In July 1971 the Organization for Agrarian Reform and Land Reclamation was established, and in September a law was enacted on the sale of state lands to certain categories of peasants. The cooperative movement was encouraged. In 1969 agricultural land and wooded areas occupied 4.2 million ha (about 2.4 percent of the total area), of which 2.5 million ha (including perennial plantings) were cultivated land (nearly all in the northwest) and 1.1 million ha were pasture. Dry farming predominates; irrigated lands total 124,000 ha (1970). The principal crops are cereals (barley and wheat). Vegetables (chiefly potatoes and tomatoes), fruits (dates, citrus fruits, and grapes), peanuts, olives, and tobacco are also grown. The main farming regions lie along the coast (west of Misratah) and on the Al-Jabal al-Akhdar Plateau. Esparto grass, used in making higher grades of paper, pulp, and wicker products, is harvested in the northwestern regions.
| Table 1. Sown area and yield of main crops | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sown area (hectares) | Yield (tons) | |||||
| 1948–521 | 1961–651 | 1971 | 1948–521 | 1961–651 | 1971 | |
| 1 Yearly average 21970 3Estimate NA indicates not available | ||||||
| Wheat..... | 124,000 | 149,000 | 250,000 | 11,000 | 37,000 | 70,000 |
| Barley..... | 354,000 | 350,000 | 350,000 | 84,000 | 87,000 | 100,000 |
| Potatoes... | 1,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| Tomatoes... | 1,000 | 5,000 | 7,000 | 13,000 | 55,000 | 136.0002 |
| Dates..... | NA | NA | NA | 34,000 | 36,000 | 50,0003 |
| Olives..... | NA | NA | NA | 27,000 | 45,000 | 105,0003 |
| Peanuts.... | 2,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Tobacco.... | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 300 | 1,000 | 1,600 |
Livestock raising is important. In such regions as the Libyan Sahara it is the traditional primary occupation of most nomads and seminomads. The population of northern Libya practices transhumance stockraising, combined with farming. In 1970–71 there were 2.2 million head of sheep, 1.2 million goats, 109,000 head of cattle, 160,000 camels, 24,000 horses, and 96,000 donkeys. Tuna and sardines are caught in the coastal waters, and sponges are gathered.
INDUSTRY. The chief industry is petroleum extraction, conducted by oil monopolies: the American monopolies Esso, Oasis Oil Company of Libya, Occidental Oil of Libya, and Amoseas; the US-West German firm Mobil-Gelsenberg; and the state corporation Linoco. The principal deposits that are worked are located in northern Libya, relatively close to the coast. In early 1969, there were 869 oil wells, each with an average annual output of about 170,000 tons (one of the highest rates in the world). The main deposits are Zelten, Intisar, Jalo, Serir, Nefoora, Amal, Waha, and Raguba. By 1970 oil production was 18 times that of 1962, reaching 162 million tons (as compared with 41.6 million tons in 1964 and 72.5 million tons in 1966). A policy of protecting oil reserves from depletion caused output to fall to 132 million tons in 1971 and 108 million tons in 1972.
The extraction of natural gas began in 1968. The total capacity of electric power plants was 140 megawatts in 1970. Steam power plants, fueled by oil, produced 560 million kilowatt-hours in 1971–72. The most important steam power plant is in Tripoli, and there is another large plant in Benghazi.
The chief manufacturing industries are oil refining, gas liquefaction, the processing of food and condiments, and the production of textiles, leather, and cement. About 75 percent of the industrial enterprises are concentrated in Tripoli, with the remaining 25 percent in Benghazi and other cities. Oil refining, gas liquefaction, and chemical production are developing rapidly. The Esso company has built an oil refinery with a capacity of 1,400 tons of crude oil per day and a large gas liquefaction plant in the port of Marsa al-Burayqah. Occidental Oil is building (1973) plants for the production of ammonia, liquefied gas, and gasoline near the Intisar deposits. The other manufacturing industries are represented by domestic and semidomestic enterprises. The food and condiments industry produces vegetable oil (chiefly from olives), canned vegetables and fish, flour and baked goods, and tobacco. The oldest light industry is the textile industry, which manufactures chiefly woolen fabrics. There are also garment, leather, footwear, and soap enterprises. Handicrafts are well developed both along the coast and in the interior regions; carpet weaving is important, particularly in Misratah.
TRANSPORTATION. Motor vehicles provide the basic means of transportation (100,000 automobiles and 45,400 trucks in 1970). There are about 5,000 km of roads (1970). The major artery is a highway running along the Mediterranean coast from the Egyptian to the Tunisian border. Paved and dirt roads link the coast with interior regions; the most important of these are the highway to the oases of Sabhah and Ghat (1,250 km) and the Waddan-Surt Highway (260 km). Most of the country has only unpaved roads and caravan tracks. The total length of pipelines is about 1,800 km. The longest pipelines are the Zelten-Marsa al-Burayqah, Raguba-Marsa al-Burayqah, Jalo-Waha-Samah-Dahra-al-Sidr, Hofra-Ras al-Unuf, Serir-Marsa al-Hariqa, and Intisar-al-Zuwaytinah.
Sea transport is used to export petroleum and to carry nearly all other foreign-trade commodities. Some 75 percent of foreign trade (excluding oil) passes through the port of Tripoli, and 20 percent is handled by the port of Benghazi. Oil is exported through the oil ports of Marsa al-Burayqah, Ras al-Unuf, al-Sidr, Marsa al-Hariqa, and al-Zuwaytinah. Air transportation is provided chiefly by foreign airlines; the national carrier is Libya Arab Airlines. There are international airports at Tripoli, Benghazi, and Sabhah.
FOREIGN TRADE. Oil accounted for more than 99 percent of the country’s exports in 1971. It is exported chiefly to Italy (24 percent of the total value of oil exports), the Federal Republic of Germany (17.5 percent), Great Britain (16.5 percent), France (12.5 percent), and the Netherlands (9.5 percent). In 1970 machinery and equipment for the petroleum industry accounted for 30 percent of imports; foodstuffs, for about 21 percent; industrial goods, for 37 percent; chemical products, for 5.7 percent; and petroleum products, for 3.2 percent. The principal importing countries in 1971 were Italy (23.4 percent of the total value of imports), the USA (7 percent), Great Britain (10 percent), and the Federal Republic of Germany (9 percent).
Trade between Libya and the USSR is expanding. From the USSR, Libya imports rolled ferrous metals, steel, pipes, cement, lumber, and foodstuffs. The monetary unit is the Libyan dinar. According to the exchange rate of the State Bank of the USSR in September 1973, one Libyan dinar equaled 2 rubles 52 kopeks.
N. A. ARSHARUNI
Libya’s armed forces consist of an army, air force, and navy. The supreme commander in chief is the chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Troops are directed by the minister of defense and the General Staff. The armed forces, made up of volunteers, numbered about 25,000 men in 1972, of which about 3,000 were in the air force and about 2,000 in the navy.
Between 1965 and 1970 the birth rate averaged 45.9 per thousand inhabitants, and the mortality rate, 15.8 per thousand. Infant mortality is high (140–145 per thousand live births); its main causes are tetanus, malnutrition, lung disease, and gastrointestinal diseases. Infectious and parasitic diseases predominate. Trachoma and tuberculosis are major public health problems. Typhoid and paratyphoid, venereal diseases, helminthiases, epidemic hepatitis, and leprosy are widespread.
The pattern of diseases is fairly uniform throughout the country, with the exception of the narrow coastal strip. Here acute infections of the respiratory tract are common, a type of tropical ulcer is encountered, and the incidence of tuberculosis is lower than in other regions. Diseases elsewhere in the country include echinococcus and periodic outbreaks of skin and visceral leishmaniasis, relapsing fever (in the muhafazat of Benghazi, Darnah, and Al-Jabal al-Akhdar), and Q fever (in the northwest).
In 1970 there were 63 hospitals with 7,600 beds (3.9 beds per thousand inhabitants) of which 56 were state hospitals. Outpatient care is provided by outpatient divisions of hospitals, public health centers, and private general practitioners. In 1970 there were 730 doctors, or four doctors per 10,000 inhabitants (700 were in state service), eight doctors’ assistants, 52 dentists, 167 pharmacists, and about 3,000 intermediate medical personnel. Only intermediate medical personnel are trained in Libya. In 1969–70 government expenditures on public health amounted to 10.8 percent of the state budget.
T. A. KOBAKHIDZE and A. IU. MYCHKO-MEGRIN
VETERINARY SERVICES. The abundance of tick carriers in desert scrub regions has caused widespread babesiasis of sheep and goats, theileriasis of cattle, and other piroplasmoses. Mycoses, including actinomycosis, Q fever of sheep and goats, sheep pox, foot-and-mouth disease, and tuberculosis and brucellosis of cattle are also common. Helminthiases, particularly echinococcus and cysticercosis of cattle and camels, have been recorded. Coccidiosis is prevalent among birds, and trypanosomiasis, among horses. Rabies occur among dogs and wild animals. There were 65 veterinarians in 1972. A laboratory for hygiene and disease prevention has been established in Tripoli.
In 1968, 73 percent of the population was illiterate. After the republic was proclaimed in 1969, elementary education was made compulsory. Instruction is free in all schools. The educational system includes kindergartens for children four to six years of age, compulsory six-year elementary schools, and secondary schools consisting of two levels of three years each. There are a number of religious schools. In 1970–71 there were 350,200 students attending elementary schools and 45,500 students enrolled in secondary schools (37,000 in the lower level and 8,500 in the upper level). Among the Arab countries, Libya has one of the highest rates of school enrollment: more than 60 percent of school-age children attend elementary schools and more than 15 percent study in secondary schools. Teachers in the elementary and the lower secondary schools receive a four-year course of training upon completing the lower secondary school. In 1970–71 there were 5,400 students in the teacher training program.
Vocational and technical education is not highly developed; a four-year program is available to those who have completed the elementary school or the lower level of the secondary school. In 1970–71 more than 3,000 students were enrolled in vocational and technical schools.
Higher education is provided by the University of Libya, founded in Benghazi in 1955; beginning in 1957 several faculties were established in Tripoli. As of 1971 the faculties of arts, commerce and economics, and law were located in Benghazi and those of the natural sciences, agriculture, engineering, and pedagogy in Tripoli. The faculty of pedagogy trains teachers for upper-level secondary schools. In 1971–72 the university had an enrollment of 3,600 students, both Libyans and students from other Arab countries.
The largest libraries are the university library in Benghazi (more than 77,600 volumes) and the Government Library in Tripoli (more than 35,500 volumes). Tripoli has museums of archaeology and natural history, and there are archaeological museums in Leptis Magna and Sabrata.
V. Z. KLEPIKOV
In 1975 the leading Arabic-language newspapers were al-Fajr al-Jadid (founded in 1966, a government organ), al-Rai (founded in 1973, a government organ), al-Fatih (founded in 1974, the organ of the Revolutionary Command Council and the Arab Socialist Union), and al-Jihad (founded in 1972). Magazines in Arabic include al-Wahda, founded in 1971, and Jaysh al-Shaab, the organ of the Libyan armed forces.
Radio broadcasting was initiated in 1957. The six radio stations, including those in Tripoli, Benghazi, and al-Bayda, broadcast in Arabic and English. Television broadcasting was inaugurated in 1968. There are television stations in Tripoli and Benghazi.
After the Arab conquests of the seventh and early eighth centuries, literature in Libya developed within the mainstream of Arabic culture. Beginning in the 16th century, when Libya fell under Turkish domination, literary life declined. Nonetheless, the 17th and 18th centuries produced two outstanding Sufi poets who adhered to the traditions of ancient Arabic poetry, Omar ibn al-Farid and Ahmad al-Bahluli (died in 1701). The gasida of the poets Ahmad al-Sharif (1864–1918), Mustafa ibn Zikri (1853–1918), and Sulayman al-Baruni (died in 1914) called for struggle against the Turkish colonialists. Liberation was a recurrent theme in the poetry of the period of Italian colonization (1912–43), notably the poems of Ahmad Rafiq al-Mahdawi (died in 1961), Ibrahim al-Usta Umar (1907–50) and al-Saiid Ahmad Ghannab.
After independence was proclaimed in 1951, several poets emerged who rejected the classical forms of Arabic versification and showed an interest in social problems, particularly the life of the common people: Ali Sidqi Abd al-Kadir, Ahmad Fuad Shinnib, and Ali al-Ruqii. Arising in the 1940’s and 1950’s, Libyan prose dealt with the struggle for true independence and social equality and condemned prejudice. The heroes of the short stories of Mustafa al-Misurati, Abu Harrus, Rishad al-Huni, Muhammad Afif, Talib al-Rawi, Zaima Sulayman al-Baruni, and other prose writers are Bedouins, fishermen, fellahin, and artisans. Prose was strongly influenced by the works of Egyptian writers, particularly Taha Hussein and Tawfiq al-Hakim. Among the promising young prose writers and poets who emerged in the 1960’s and early 1970’s were Jumah al-Farani, Ahmad al-Nuayri, Fuazia Bariyun, and Abd al-Hafiz al-Mayar. The Office for Artistic and Literary Affairs plays an important role in the cultural life of the country.
V. E. SHAGAL’
Neolithic rock engravings depicting elephant and bison hunts have been found at al-Uwaynat. Relics of Phoenician art (first millennium B.C.) include clay statues, painted black lacquer pottery, glass vessels, and necklaces (Leptis Magna). There are ruins of classical Greek, Roman, and Byzantine buildings decorated with mosaics and sculpture, notably the theater in Sabrata, dating from the late second and early third centuries. Outstanding examples of classical applied art, combining Greek and Syrian-Mesopotamian elements, have been unearthed. Works dating from the Byzantine period include the mosaic floor of the Justinian basilica in Sabrata (Archaeological Museum, Sabrata).
After the Arab conquest in the seventh and early eighth centuries, an Arab-Berber culture evolved in Libya. Medina cities arose, characterized by narrow, winding streets, one-or two-story pise houses with flat roofs and interior courtyards, mosques, and minarets. The interiors of the multidomed mosques of the 18th and 19th centuries were decorated with ornamental carving, wall paintings, and richly colored majolicas, for example, the mosque in Darnah. In outlying regions the mosques were rectangular, fortress-like pise buildings.
During the period of Italian rule (1912–43), European quarters developed in the cities. Since independence, modern schools, hospitals, residences, and administrative buildings have been built. Roman aqueducts, cisterns, and dams are being restored and used.
Folk art includes carpets with bright geometric patterns, leather articles with stamped or embroidered floral and geometric designs, engraved copper vessels, jewelry, and mats and baskets woven from palm leaves.
Various folk traditions—the khayal al-zill, or shadow theater, the qaragoz, or puppet shows, and the sunduq al-dunya, a kind of oral news account—contributed to the development of the modern theater. The first theatrical company was formed by Muhammad Abd al-Hadi in 1935 in Darnah. Libyan theater was also influenced by Egyptian and European theatrical art. In the 1940’s plays were staged by various amateur groups and by a professional Italian company.
After independence several amateur and professional groups were organized, notably the national musical-dramatic company formed by Mukhtar Ramadan al-Aswad; al-Amal, headed by Abd al-Hamid al-Mijrab in Tripoli; and al-Taj al-Fiddi in Misratah. In 1951 the playwright, director, and actor Mustafa Muhammad Lamir founded the National Theater Association, a union of actors and playwrights. This was the first Libyan theater with a permanent company and repertory, including works by Molière, N. V. Gogol, and modern Egyptian and Libyan playwrights. A school of music and drama was opened in Tripoli in 1963. Several music and dance ensembles perform in Tripoli (since 1963), in Benghazi (since 1968), in Darnah (since 1969), and in Misratah (since 1970). Traveling theatrical groups include the folk theater in Benghazi and the national theaters in Darnah and Tripoli.
Along with plays by such Egyptian playwrights as Yusuf Idris and Abd al-Rahman al-Sharqawi, works by young Libyan writers depicting the life of the people and their struggle for independence are staged. The first national theater festival, dedicated to the Arabs’ struggle against imperialism, was held in 1971.
V. E. SHAGAL’