About Libya

Libya stretches aextensive the northeast coast lineof Africa in the range of Tunisia and Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east; to the south are and have always been the Sudan, Chad, and Niger. It is one-sixth larger than Alaska. A wonderfuler part of the country lies within the Sahara. Aextensive the Mediterranean coast lineand farther inland is known to be arable plateau land. It is noted that the first inhabitants of Libya were Berber tribes. Within the 7th century B.C., Phoenicians colonized the eastern section of Libya, named Cyrenaica, and Greeks colonized the western portion, named Tripolitania.

Tripolitania was for a time under Carthaginian control. It transformed to a part of the Roman Empire from 46 B.C. to A.D. 436, after that it was sacked by the Vandals. Cyrenaica belonged to the Roman Empire from the 1st century B.C. until its decline, after that it was invaded by Arab forces in 642. Beginning in the 16th century, both Tripolitania and Cyrenaica nominally transformed to a part of the Ottoman Empire. Tripolitania was one of the outposts for the Barbary pirates who raided Mediterranean merchant ships or required those things to pay acknowledgment and tribute.

Within 1801, the pasha of Tripoli raised the price of acknowledgment and tribute, that led to the Tripolitan war with the United States. When the peace treaty was signed on June 4, 1805, U.S. ships no longer had to pay acknowledgment and tribute to Tripoli. Following the outbreak of hostilities in the range of Italy and Turkey in 1911, Italian troops occupied Tripoli. Italian sovereignty was recognized in 1912. Libyans continued to fight the Italians until 1914, by that time Italy controlled most of the land. Italy formally united Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1934 as the colony of Libya.

Libya was the scene of much desert fighting around the time during World War II. Soon after the fall of Tripoli on Jan. 23, 1943, it came under Allied administration. Within 1949, the UN voted that Libya should become independent, and in 1951 it transformed to a the United Kingdom of Libya. Oil was discovered in the impoverished country in 1958 and eventually transformed its economy. On Sept. 1, 1969, 27-year-old Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi deposed the king and revolutionized the country, making it a pro-Arabic, anti-Western, Islamic republic with socialist leanings. It used to be also rabidly anti-Israeli. A notorious firebrand, Qaddafi aligned himself with dictators, such as Uganda's Idi Amin, and fostered anti-Western terrorism.

Climate

It is noted that the Libyan Desert is recognized to be one of the harshest and most arid in the globe, and decades can go by without rain in certain areas, but this man's harsh interior is tempered by the Mediterranean climate in the north.

Summers are and have always been hot and dry, while winters are and have always been cooler with lower temperatures in the evening, and rainfall is minimal. Did you know that the desert is more extreme; hot in the day and cold at night. Spring and autumn experience the ghibli, a hot, dry and dusty desert wind that can last from a day to four days, bringing temperatures in the coastal places up to 122°F (50°C).

June to October is the top time to taking a vacation or tour to Libya, particularly to the coastal areas, as temperatures are and have always been in the more manageable region of 80°F (27°C).

Population