History UsefulNotes / Libya

To catch up with the European Scramble of Africa (or [[WebVideo/HistoryOfTheEntireWorldIGuess Rape of Africa]], if you prefer), the Italians invaded Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1912. They named their new colony "Libya", after an ancient Greek exonym that referred to Africa west of Egypt. They initiated a massive reform project that included major infrastructure building and encouraged Italian immigration. However, the Italians were also infamous for their brutality to the natives, particularly the Berbers, whose resistance movement was the stiffest; it's estimated that about a half of the Berber population perished due to ethnic cleansing, warfare, and disease around this time. Since the Italians sided with the Axis during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Libya was the scene of several major battles in the Desert War, including the Siege of Tobruk. The victory of the Allies in 1943 led to the British occupation of Libya and the renunciation of Italian claim to the colony in 1947.

Not counting the {{Qurac}} clones:

The National Transitional Council, founded by the resistance as a way to coordinate all anti-Gaddafi opposition, was an interim government that tried to keep the peace for ten months, before dissolving upon a general election. The General National Congress took over, but instability and lawlessness prevailed over much of the country. This triggered a second civil war in 2014 that is still ongoing and has killed over 8,000 people. The parties are the UN-backed Government of National Accord, made up of the cabinet elected in the 2014 elections, and the unrecognized House of Representatives, made up of the parliament who won the same elections and disputes the GNA. [[HereWeGoAgain The GNA is based in Tripoli, while the HR is based in Cyrenaica's Tobruk]]. This confusion means that locals often have to organize themselves, opening way to armed gangs and radicals to exploit. The Islamic State opened a branch in Libya when it occupied Sirte for a year, being defeated by the GNA and US-backed forces in 2016. Similarly, Benghazi was occupied by various jihadist groups until the forces of field marshal Khalifa Haftar, which supported the HR, ejected them and made the city his base. Currently, Haftar is the biggest power player in the country and has been besieging Tripoli since April 2019.

* Literature/TheOregonFiles book ''Corsair'' takes place there, with the team racing against time to try and find a missing U.S Diplomat.

* Literature/ScorpionInTheSea, a Naval thriller features a Libyan Navy operated diesel attack submarine prowling off the Florida coast, waiting to attack an aircraft carrier.

The Berbers began to settle the region in the 1st millennium BCE. Presently, there are less than 200 thousand speakers of the various Berber languages, mainly nomads of the Sahara, although the majority of Libya's population have at least some Berber ancestry. In the 7th century BCE, the Carthaginians of UsefulNotes/{{Tunisia}}, who originated from Phoenicia, founded several trading cities in northwestern Libya, including Oea, Leptis Magna, and Sabratha. The Greeks knew them collectively as "Tripoli" (three cities), which later changed to refer exclusively to Oea. Speaking of the Greeks, it also colonized Libya around the same time, though choosing instead the fertile Jebel Akhdar highlands (AKA that conspicuous bulge in the northeastern coast). Its settlements were headquartered in Cyrene, with four other cities as auxiliaries, and were known as the "Pentapolis" (five cities) and later, by ''pars pro toto'', Cyrenaica. There is also a third region, Fezzan, which consists of the arid region to the south of Tripoli and for a long time considered untouchable by non-Berbers. Before the discovery of the oilfields, Fezzan was rather unimportant aside from serving as a Saharan trade nexus.

Cyrenaica was the westernmost extent of [[UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire Cambyses II]]'s military campaign in Africa. The Achameneids was supplanted by the [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat Macedonians]] in 331 BCE, following which it was administered from UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}. Meanwhile, after Carthage's downfall, Tripolitania (as the Romans called the region surrounding Tripoli) changed hands several times before UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire finally occupied it under Augustus, who also earned the fealty of Ptolemaic Cyrenaica. The 2nd century CE Kitos War, which began with a Jewish uprising in Cyrenaica, depopulated the region of its original Greek inhabitants, though it was later repopulated again by people from the empire's other provinces. Tripolitania supplied the emperor Septimius Severus, under whose dynasty the region prospered, with many public works built, including an amphitheater in Leptis Magna. The Vandal invasions of the 500s caused the region's decline and made it an easy prey when the Umayyad Caliphate attacked in the 7th century.

To catch up with the European Scramble of Africa (or [[WebVideo/HistoryOfTheEntireWorldIGuess Rape of Africa]], if you prefer), the Italians invaded Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1912. It named its new colony "Libya", after an ancient Greek exonym that refers to Africa west of Egypt. It initiated a massive reform project that included major infrastructure building and encouraged Italian immigration. However, the Italians was also infamous for its brutality to the natives, particularly the Berbers, whose resistance movement was the stiffest; it's estimated that about a half of the Berber population perished due to ethnic cleansing, warfare, and disease around this time. Since the Italians sided with the Axis during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Libya was the scene of several major battles in the Desert War, including the Siege of Tobruk. The victory of the Allies in 1943 led to the British occupation of Libya and the renunciation of Italian claim to the colony in 1947.

Gaddafi reigned as leader from 1969 to 2011 (in other words, [[LongRunner 42 years]]), a man who had an AmazonBrigade of BodyguardBabes and had his name [[SpellMyNameWithAnS transliterated at least 30 ways]][[note]]Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} pronounces it [[UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi Muammar al-Gaddafi]], or Colonel Gaddafi for short.[[/note]]. He was universally considered [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a bit...]] [[AxCrazy uh, quirky]]. Officially, Libya under Gaddafi was a socialist country ruled by its people through a form of direct democracy, an ideology which Gaddafi characterised as a third way between capitalism and communism and which was laid out in his self-penned "Green Book", with the Colonel himself having [[JustTheFirstCitizen no official position within the state]] and instead being a "guide of the revolution" who merely oversaw the country. Unofficially, [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny you can probably work it out]]. He infamously changed the country's official name to the [[OverlyLongName Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]] in 1986.

Of particular note is Libya's relationship with the world, especially during the 1980s. Very widely believed to be a state sponsor of [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorism/freedom fighting]], arming the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles IRA]] and the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict PLO]], among many others, this did not go down well with the USA. Libya claimed two incidents in the Gulf of Sidra, where Libyan jets attacked American F-14s and were duly blown out of the sky. Most notable of all was Operation El Dorado Canyon, a 1986 aerial attack by the US, in response to a terrorist attack, that killed 60 people, possibly including the Libyan leader's adopted daughter. Two of these inspired works of fiction. The country also tried to destabilize its African neighbors and profit from the resulting weakness. This didn't work out too well, as Libya proceeded to get its ass kicked by Egypt and UsefulNotes/{{Chad}}, the latter actually forcing the various factions fighting for control of Chad to band together. Helping UsefulNotes/{{Uganda}}'s UsefulNotes/IdiAmin in his invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Tanzania}} [[SpannerInTheWorks also blew up in Libya's face.]] The nation also has an ongoing feud with UsefulNotes/{{Sudan}}.

In 2003, Gaddafi reconciled with the West somewhat, gave up his WMD programme and got Libya taken off the US "state sponsors of terrorism" list. In 2009, he delivered a 96-minute rant at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations General Assembly against the UN Security Council, chucking away a copy of the UN Charter and bringing up UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories galore, and made controversial statements regarding UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}} (who had gotten in a flap with him over the arrest of his son and son's wife in Geneva). The fact that Libya chaired the General Assembly at that time [[LoopholeAbuse meant he was allowed to do this]].

In February 2011, Libya experienced an armed uprising against the Gaddafi, influenced by the UsefulNotes/ArabSpring. The brutal crackdown was condemned worldwide, and caused many Libyan soldiers to defect, which Gaddafi responded to by hiring mercenaries. On March 19, [[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18nations.html?_r=1 the U.N. approved a no fly zone over Libya, complemented by air strikes]]. Gaddafi lost control of the country and was [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15387872 killed in Sirte]] on October 20 2011. Both sides committed war crimes before and during the 8 month civil war.

The National Transitional Council, founded by the resistance as a way to coordinate all anti-Gaddafi opposition, was an interim government that tried to keep the peace for ten months, before dissolving upon a general election. The General National Congress took over, but instability and lawlessness prevailed over much of the country. This triggered a second civil war in 2014 that is still ongoing. The parties are the UN-backed Government of National Accord, made up of the cabinet elected in the 2014 elections, and the unrecognized House of Representatives, made up of the parliament who won the same elections and disputes the GNA. [[HereWeGoAgain The GNA is based in Tripoli, while the HR is based in Cyrenaica's Tobruk]]. This confusion means that locals often have to organize themselves, opening way to armed gangs and radicals to exploit. The Islamic State opened a branch in Libya when it occupied Sirte for a year, being defeated by the GNA and US-backed forces in 2016. Similarly, Benghazi was occupied by various jihadist groups until the forces of field marshal Khalifa Haftar, which supported the HR, ejected them and made the city his base. Currently, Haftar is the biggest power player in the country and has been besieging Tripoli since April 2019.

The country is also noted as a major transit point of African refugees who want to immigrate to Europe. This is especially evident in the Mediterranean refugee crises, where the Libyan Coast Guards has been paid by the governments of several European countries specifically to stop and catch migrants who want to leave by boats. Life for the stranded refugees is not good, with slavery-like condition being reported by several human rights organizations.

Libya is rich in oil and natural gas, both being cornerstones of the country's exports. Under Gaddafi, despite the authoritarian regime, the standard of living in Libya was rather decent and among the highest in Africa. This was partly because Gaddafi genuinely distributed the oil wealth quite well, and partly because the population was small. Money from the exports is so high that even during the post-Gaddafi civil war, where living standards have plummeted greatly, the country still has a high GDP per capita.

The Berbers began to settle the region in the 1st millennium BCE. Presently, there are less than 200 thousand speakers of the various Berber languages, mainly nomads of the Sahara, although the majority of Libya's population have at least some Berber ancestry. In the 7th century BCE, the Carthaginians of UsefulNotes/{{Tunisia}}, who originated from Phoenicia, founded several trading cities in northwestern Libya, including Oea, Leptis Magna, and Sabratha. The Greeks knew them collectively as "Tripoli" (three cities), which later changed to refer exclusively to Oea. Speaking of the Greeks, they also colonized Libya around the same time, though choosing instead the fertile Jebel Akhdar highlands (AKA that conspicuous bulge in the northeastern coast). Their settlements were headquartered in Cyrene, with four other cities as auxiliaries, and were known as the "Pentapolis" (five cities) and later, by ''pars pro toto'', Cyrenaica. There is also a third region, Fezzan, which consists of the arid region to the south of Tripoli and for a long time considered untouchable by non-Berbers. Before the discovery of oilfields, Fezzan was rather unimportant aside from serving as a Saharan trade nexus.

Cyrenaica was the westernmost extent of [[UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire Cambyses II]]'s military campaign in Africa. The Achameneids was supplanted by the [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat Macedonians]] in 331 BCE, following which it was administered from Egypt. Meanwhile, after Carthage's downfall, Tripolitania (as the Romans called the region surrounding Tripoli) changed hands several times before the Romans finally occupied it under Augustus, who also earned the fealty of Ptolemaic Cyrenaica. The 2nd century CE Kitos War, which began with a Jewish uprising in Cyrenaica, depopulated the region of its original Greek inhabitants, though it was later repopulated again by people from the empire's other provinces. Tripolitania supplied the emperor Septimius Severus, under whose dynasty the region prospered, with many public works built, including an amphitheater in Leptis Magna. The Vandal invasions of the 500s caused the region's decline and made it an easy prey when the Umayyad Caliphate attacked in the 7th century.

The region was uniformly controlled by Arabs from the Middle East until the 9th century, when local control resurfaced. Nevertheless, there is still a clear divide: the former Cyrenaica is seen as an extension of Egypt (and therefore, the Middle East) and shared its fortunes, while Tripolitania has more in common with the Maghreb and associated themselves with the Berber kingdoms of UsefulNotes/{{Algeria}} and Tunisia. In Cyrenaica, kingdoms that ruled included the Ikhshidids, Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks, while Tripolitania was ruled by the Aghlabids, Rustamids, Zirids, the Siculo-Normans, Almohads, and Hafsids. In the Middle Ages, the Fatimid Caliphate was the only polity that succeeded in unifying both regions, because it had its roots in both Egypt and Tunisia. During its reign, the Arab clans of Banu Sulaym and Banu Hillal moved in, resulting in a rapid Arabization previously unseen in the region (the Umayyad conquest did not result in one) and the decline of the Berber languages.

In 1551, the [[UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} Ottoman Empire]] claimed Tripoli from the Knights of St. John, who had been administering it since it was taken by UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}. The Ottomans unified Tripolitania with Cyrenaica (which it had conquered back in 1517) for the first time since the era of the Fatimids. The province was autonomous, with the local hereditary Pasha having mostly free rein. During this period, Tripolitania was site of the UsefulNotes/BarbaryCoastWars against the United States. Tripoli is memorably mentioned in the first stanza of the Marines' Hymn, the official hymn of the US Marines.

To catch up with the European Scramble of Africa (or [[WebVideo/HistoryOfTheEntireWorldIGuess Rape of Africa]], if you prefer), the Italians invaded Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1912. It named their new colony "Libya", after an ancient Greek exonym that refers to Africa west of Egypt. It initiated a massive reform project that included major infrastructure building and encouraged Italian immigration. However, the Italians was also infamous for its brutality to the natives, particularly the Berbers, whose resistance movement was the stiffest; it's estimated that about a half of the Berber population perished due to ethnic cleansing, warfare, and disease around this time. Since the Italians sided with the Axis during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Libya was the scene of several major battles in the Desert War, including the Siege of Tobruk. The victory of the Allies in 1943 led to the British occupation of Libya and the renunciation of Italian claim to the colony in 1947.

Libya achieved independence in 1951 as the United Kingdom of Libya. The only king during this period was Idris I, the then leader of a Sufi order of Senussi from Bayda, which was a major resistance movement to colonial rule. Oil was discovered during his reign, which led to the country's rapid modernization. However, his close links with the West amid Arab nationalism was widely criticized and he was finally toppled while he was abroad by a coup led by UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, who proclaimed a republic.

Gaddafi reigned as leader from 1969 to 2011 (in other words, [[LongRunner 42 years]]), a man who had an AmazonBrigade of BodyguardBabes and had his name [[SpellMyNameWithAnS transliterated at least 30 ways]][[note]]Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} pronounces it [[UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi Muammar al-Gaddafi]], or Colonel Gaddafi for short.[[/note]]. He was universally considered [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a bit...]] [[AxCrazy uh, quirky]]. Officially, Libya under Gaddafi was a socialist country ruled by its people through a form of direct democracy, an ideology which Gaddafi characterised as a third way between capitalism and communism and which was laid out in his self-penned "Green Book", with the Colonel himself having [[JustTheFirstCitizen no official position within the state]] and instead being a "guide of the revolution" who merely oversaw the country. Unofficially, [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny you can probably work it out]].

Of particular note is Libya's relationship with the world, especially during the 1980s. Very widely believed to be a state sponsor of [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorism/freedom fighting]], arming the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles IRA]] and the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict PLO]], among many others, this did not go down well with the USA. Libya claimed two incidents in the Gulf of Sidra, where Libyan jets attacked American F-14s and were duly blown out of the sky. Most notable of all was Operation El Dorado Canyon, a 1986 aerial attack by the US, in response to a terrorist attack, that killed 60 people, possibly including the Libyan leader's adopted daughter. Two of these inspired works of fiction.

Under Gaddafi, Libya also tried to destabilize its African neighbors and profit from the resulting weakness. This didn't work out too well, as Libya proceeded to get its ass kicked by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan-Egyptian_War Egypt]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya-Chad_War Chad]], the latter actually forcing the various factions fighting for control of Chad to band together. Helping Uganda's UsefulNotes/IdiAmin in his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda-Tanzania_War invasion of Tanzania]] [[SpannerInTheWorks also blew up in Libya's face.]] The nation also has an ongoing feud with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan-Sudanese_conflict Sudan]].

The National Transitional Council, founded by the resistance as a way to coordinate all anti-Gaddafi opposition, was an interim government that tried to keep the peace for ten months, before dissolving upon a general election. The General National Congress took over, but instability and lawlessness prevailed over much of the country. This triggered [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014–present) a second civil war]] in 2014 that is still ongoing today. The parties are the UN-backed Government of National Accord, made up of the cabinet elected in the 2014 elections, and the unrecognized House of Representatives, made up of the parliament who won the same elections and disputes the GNA. [[HereWeGoAgain The GNA is based in Tripoli, while the HR is based in Cyrenaica's Tobruk]]. This confusion means that locals often have to organize themselves, opening way to armed gangs and radicals to exploit. The Islamic State opened a branch in Libya when it occupied Sirte for a year, being defeated by the GNA and US-backed forces in 2016. Similarly, Benghazi was occupied by various jihadist groups until the forces of field marshal Khalifa Haftar, which supported the HR, ejected them and made the city his base. Currently, Haftar is the biggest power player in the country and has been besieging Tripoli since April 2019.

The country is also noted as a major transit point of African refugees who want to immigrate to Europe. This is especially evident in the Mediterranean refugee crises, where the Libyan Coast Guards have been paid by the governments of several European countries specifically to stop and catch migrants who want to leave by boats. Conditions for the stranded refugees are not good, with slavery-like conditions being reported by human rights organization.

Libya is rich in oil and natural gas, both being cornerstones of the country's exports. Under Gaddafi, despite the authoritarian regime, the standard of living in Libya was rather decent and among the highest in Africa. This is partly because Gaddafi genuinely distributed the oil wealth quite well, and partly because the population was small. Money from the exports is so high that even during the post-Gaddafi civil war, where living standards have plummeted greatly, the country still has a high GDP per capita.

As a last, curious note, Libya's flag was completely green during Gaddafi's regime. The green was supposed to represent Gaddafi's devotion to Islam. The rebels in the 2011 war adopted variants of the old flag of the monarchy (red, black, and green horizontal stripes, with a white star and crescent in the middle) as a symbol; after the defection of the Libyan ambassador, it was the flag that flew over the Libyan Mission to the UN, and became the official flag of Libya after the captures of Tripoli, and later Sirte.

During the prehistoric area, Libya was green and lush in life, as the region's rock carvings of animals and plants can attest to. However, sometime in the 4th century BCE, an abrupt climate shift occurred in North Africa, which transformed the lush Arcadia into a sandy wasteland--the Sahara. As a result, more than 95% of Libya's area is desert, leaving only patches of arable land in the Mediterranean coastal strip, where the milder climate provides a haven for agriculture.

Libya ('''UsefulNotes/{{Arabic|Language}}:''' ''‏ليبيا‎ Lībyā'', '''Amazigh:''' ''ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ Libya''), officially known as the State of Libya ('''Arabic:''' ''دولة ليبيا Dawlat Libya'', '''Berber:''' ''ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ Tamurt n Libya'') and formerly the ''[[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]]'') ([[OverlyLongName now that's a long name]]) is a North African country located between Egypt and Tunisia and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.

During UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, Libya (ruled by Italy) was the scene of a number of major battles, including the siege of Tobruk.

One of the most authoritarian of the Arab states for many years, it was ruled from 1969 to 2011 by UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi (معمر القذافي), a man who had an AmazonBrigade of BodyguardBabes and had his name [[SpellMyNameWithAnS transliterated at least 30 ways]][[note]]Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} pronounces it [[UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi Muammar al-Gaddafi]], or Colonel Gaddafi for short.[[/note]]. He was universally considered [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a bit...]] [[AxCrazy uh, quirky]]. Officially, Libya under Gaddafi was a socialist country ruled by its people through a form of direct democracy, an ideology which Gaddafi characterised as a third way between capitalism and communism and which was laid out in his self-penned "Green Book", with the Colonel himself having [[JustTheFirstCitizen no official position within the state]] and instead being a "guide of the revolution" who merely oversaw the country. Unofficially, [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny you can probably work it out]].

Of particular note is Libya's relationship with the world, especially during the 1980s. Very widely believed to be a state sponsor of [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorism/freedom fighting]], arming the IRA among many others (it was and still is anti-Israel), this naturally did not go down well with the USA. There were two incidents in the (claimed by Libya) Gulf of Sidra, where Libyan jets attacked American F-14s and were duly blown out of the sky. Most notable of all was Operation El Dorado Canyon, a 1986 aerial attack by the US, in response to a terrorist attack, that killed 60 people, including the Libyan leader's adopted daughter (possibly). Two of these inspired works of fiction.

In 2003, Mr. 37 Spellings reconciled with the West somewhat, gave up his WMD programme and got Libya taken off the US "state sponsors of terrorism" list. In 2009, he delivered a 96-minute rant at the UN General Assembly against the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations Security Council, chucking away a copy of the UN Charter and bringing up UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories galore, and made controversial statements regarding UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}} (who had gotten in a flap with him over the arrest of his son and son's wife in Geneva). The fact that Libya chaired the General Assembly at that time [[LoopholeAbuse meant he was allowed to do this]].

Under Gaddafi, Libya also tried to destabilize its African neighbors and profit from the resulting weakness. This didn't work out too well, as Libya proceeded to get its ass kicked by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan-Egyptian_War Egypt]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya-Chad_War Chad]], the latter actually forcing the various factions fighting for control of Chad to band together. Helping Uganda's UsefulNotes/IdiAmin in his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda-Tanzania_War invasion of Tanzania]] [[SpannerInTheWorks also blew up in Libya's face.]] The nation also has an ongoing feud with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan-Sudanese_conflict Sudan]].

Ethnically Libya is mostly a mix of Berbers and Arabs, although the lines are blurry thanks to (1) intermarriage and (2) the fact that many if not most even relatively unmixed Berbers speak Arabic and only Arabic.

Despite the authoritarian regime, the standard of living in Libya under Gaddafi was rather decent, especially if compared to other African countries. This is partly because Gaddafi [[NoDelaysForTheWicked genuinely distributed the oil wealth quite well]], and partly because it only has to go around 6 million Libyans (as opposed to 30 million Algerians or 70 million Egyptians).

In February 2011, Libya experienced an armed uprising against the Government of UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, influenced by the Arab spring. The brutal crackdown was condemned worldwide, and caused many Libyan soldiers to defect, which Gaddafi responded to by hiring mercenaries. On March 19, [[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18nations.html?_r=1 the U.N. approved a no fly zone over Libya, complemented by air strikes]]. Gaddafi lost control of the country and was [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15387872 killed in Sirte]] on October 20 2011. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Libya Both sides]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_in_the_2011_Libyan_civil_war committed war crimes]] before and during the 8 month civil war.

The National Transitional Council, founded by the resistance as a way to coordinate all anti-Gaddafi opposition, was an interim government that tried to keep the peace for ten months, before dissolving upon a general election. In mid-2012, Libya has since been government by the General National Congress, a 200-member unicameral parliament with proportional representation. The left-leaning, not-quite-secular National Forces Alliance (yellow) has 36 seats, the most of any party currently in Libya. Second is the Justice and Construction Party, the right-wing subset of the Muslim Brotherhood. Exactly 120 seats
are all manned by ''independents'', meaning the balance of power rests with them. The Prime Minister is former human rights lawyer Ali Zeidan, whose job is now to temper economic issues, reconcile the factional infighting, improve sectarian divisions, enhance the fledgling military and police forces, calm down the growing political activism, and tackle the general lawlessness found in a post-Gaddafi Libya.

As a last, curious note: Their flag was completely green during Gaddafi's regime. The green was supposed to represent Gaddafi's devotion to Islam. The rebels in the 2011 war adopted variants of the old flag of the monarchy (red, black, and green horizontal stripes, with a white star and crescent in the middle) as a symbol; after the defection of the Libyan ambassador, it was the flag that flew over the Libyan Mission to the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations, and became the official flag of Libya after the captures of Tripoli, and later Sirte.

During UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, Libya (ruled by Italy) was the scene of a number of major battles, including the siege of Tobruk.

In February 2011, Libya experienced an armed uprising against the Government of UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, influenced by the Arab spring. The brutal crackdown was condemned worldwide, and caused many Libyan soldiers to defect, which Gaddafi responded to by hiring mercenaries. On March 19, [[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18nations.html?_r=1 the U.N. approved a no fly zone over Libya, complemented by air strikes]]. On October 20 2011, Gaddafi was [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15387872 killed in Sirte]], and lost complete control of the country. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Libya Both sides]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_in_the_2011_Libyan_civil_war committed war crimes]] before and during the 8 month civil war.

Libya ('''UsefulNotes/{{Arabic|Language}}:''' ''‏ليبيا‎ Lībyā'', '''Amazigh:''' ''ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ Libya''), officially known as the State of Libya ('''Arabic:''' ''دولة ليبيا Dawlat Libya, '''Berber:''' ''ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ Tamurt n Libya'') and formerly the ''[[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]]'') ([[OverlyLongName now that's a long name]]) is a North African country located between Egypt and Tunisia and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.

----
<<|UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}|>>
<<|UsefulNotes/MiddleEast|>>

are all manned by ''independents'', meaning the balance of power rests with them. The Prime Minister is former human rights lawyer Ali Zeidan, whose job is now to temper economic issues, reconcile the factional infighting, improve sectarian divisions, enhance the fledgling military and police forces, calm down the growing political activism, and tackle the general lawlessness found in a post-Gaddai Libya.

During the 1980s, Libya was near the top of the Hollywood Axis Of Evil list, up there with the Soviet Union and EastGermany. This was majorly helped by the fact that Libya received Soviet arms (then annoyed the Soviets by losing a load of them in a war with Chad), funded the IRA and carried out or supported terrorist attacks that killed Americans.

In 2003, Mr. 37 Spellings reconciled with the West somewhat, gave up his WMD programme and got Libya taken off the US "state sponsors of terrorism" list. In 2009, he delivered a 96-minute rant at the UN General Assembly against the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations Security Council, chucking away a copy of the UN Charter and bringing up ConspiracyTheories galore, and made controversial statements regarding UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}} (who had gotten in a flap with him over the arrest of his son and son's wife in Geneva). The fact that Libya chaired the General Assembly at that time [[LoopholeAbuse meant he was allowed to do this]].

One of the most authoritarian of the Arab states for many years, it was ruled from 1969 to 2011 by UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi (معمر القذافي), a man who had an AmazonBrigade of BodyguardBabes and had his name [[SpellMyNameWithAnS transliterated at least 30 ways]][[note]]{{Wikipedia}} pronounces it [[UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi Muammar al-Gaddafi]], or Colonel Gaddafi for short.[[/note]]. He was universally considered [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a bit...]] [[AxCrazy uh, quirky]]. Officially, Libya under Gaddafi was a socialist country ruled by its people through a form of direct democracy, an ideology which Gaddafi characterised as a third way between capitalism and communism and which was laid out in his self-penned "Green Book", with the Colonel himself having [[JustTheFirstCitizen no official position within the state]] and instead being a "guide of the revolution" who merely oversaw the country. Unofficially, [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny you can probably work it out]].

* GeorgeMacdonaldFraser doesn't state explicitly where his battalion was stationed in the {{McAuslan}} books, but contextual clues (former Italian colony, US airstrike in the 80s) make it clear they were in Tripoli.

* TheOregonFiles book ''Corsair'' takes place there, with the team racing against time to try and find a missing U.S Diplomat.

Libya ('''Arabic:''' ''‏ليبيا‎ Lībyā'', '''Amazigh:''' ''ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ Libya''), officially known as the State of Libya ('''Arabic:''' ''دولة ليبيا Dawlat Libya, '''Berber:''' ''ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ Tamurt n Libya'') and formerly the ''[[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]]'') ([[OverlyLongName now that's a long name]]) is a North African country located between Egypt and Tunisia and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.

Under Gaddafi, Libya also tried to destabilize its African neighbors and profit from the resulting weakness. This didn't work out too well, as Libya proceeded to get its ass kicked by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan-Egyptian_War Egypt]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya-Chad_War Chad]], the latter actually forcing the various factions fighting for control of Chad to band together. Helping Uganda's Idi Amin in his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda-Tanzania_War invasion of Tanzania]] [[SpannerInTheWorks also blew up in Libya's face.]] The nation also has an ongoing feud with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan-Sudanese_conflict Sudan]].

One of the most authoritarian of the Arab states for many years, it was ruled from 1969 to 2011 by MuammarGaddafi (معمر القذافي), a man who had an AmazonBrigade of BodyguardBabes and had his name [[SpellMyNameWithAnS transliterated at least 30 ways]][[note]]{{Wikipedia}} pronounces it [[MuammarGaddafi Muammar al-Gaddafi]], or Colonel Gaddafi for short.[[/note]]. He was universally considered [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a bit...]] [[AxCrazy uh, quirky]]. Officially, Libya under Gaddafi was a socialist country ruled by its people through a form of direct democracy, an ideology which Gaddafi characterised as a third way between capitalism and communism and which was laid out in his self-penned "Green Book", with the Colonel himself having [[JustTheFirstCitizen no official position within the state]] and instead being a "guide of the revolution" who merely oversaw the country. Unofficially, [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny you can probably work it out]].

During WorldWarTwo, Libya (ruled by Italy) was the scene of a number of major battles, including the siege of Tobruk.

In February 2011, Libya experienced an armed uprising against the Government of MuammarGaddafi, influenced by the Arab spring. The brutal crackdown was condemned worldwide, and caused many Libyan soldiers to defect, which Gaddafi responded to by hiring mercenaries. On March 19, [[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18nations.html?_r=1 the U.N. approved a no fly zone over Libya, complemented by air strikes]]. On October 20 2011, Gaddafi was [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15387872 killed in Sirte]], and lost complete control of the country. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Libya Both sides]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_in_the_2011_Libyan_civil_war committed war crimes]] before and during the 8 month civil war.

[[quoteright:38:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/libya-map_246.gif]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/libya-map_246.gif

->The flag features all four Pan-Arab colors -- an upper red stripe and a lower green stripe, between which is a wider black stripe containing a white star and crescent, both symbols of Islam. The flag was originally used from 1951 to 1969 (during which time the country was a constitutional monarchy), but was reused by anti-Gaddafi forces and has since been re-adopted as national flag after Gaddafi's downfall and death.

Libya (formerly the ''[[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]]'') ([[OverlyLongName now that's a long name]]) is a North African country located between Egypt and Tunisia and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.

are all manned by ''independents'', meaning the balance of power rests with them. The Prime Minister is former human rights lawyer Ali Zeidan, whose job is now to temper economic issues, reconcile the factional infighting, improve sectarian divisions, enhance the fledgling military and police forces, and tackle the general lawlessness found in a post-Gaddai Libya.

->The flag features all four Pan-Arab colors -- an upper red stripe and a lower green stripe, between which is a wider black stripe containing a white star and crescent, both symbols of Islam. The flag was originally used from 1951 to 1969 (Gaddafi's rise to power), but was reused by anti-Gaddafi forces and has since been re-adopted as national flag after Gaddafi's downfall and death.