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History of Libya
Periods
Ancient Libya Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Since Neolithic times the climate of North Africa has been drying. ... Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica The Age of the Caliphs With tenuous Byzantine control over Libya restricted to a few poorly defended coastal strongholds, the Arab horsemen who first crossed into Pentapolis, Cyrenaica in September 642 encountered little resistance. ... Ottoman Libya By the beginning of the 15th century the Libyan coast had minimal central authority and its harbours were havens for unchecked bands of pirates. ... Italian Colony For a fullt treatment of the Italian invasion of 1911, see Italian invasion of Libya. ... Kingdom of Libya Flag Capital Tripoli Government Monarchy King  - 1951-1969 Idris I  - 1969 Hasan History  - Independence 24 December, 1951  - Disestablished 1 September, 1969 Currency Pound The United Kingdom of Libya came into existence on December 24, 1951 and lasted until a coup détat on September 1, 1969 which turned the country... Modern Libya On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. ...
See also Italian invasion Combatants Italy Ottoman Empire Commanders Luigi Caneva Ismail Enver Strength 100,000 25,000 Casualties 3,380 4,220 wounded 14,000 The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (also known in Italy as guerra di Libia, the Libyan war ) was fought between the Ottoman Empire and Italy from September... History of the Jews in Libya Jews have lived in Libya since the 3rd century BC, when North Africa was under Roman rule. ...

The history of Libya includes the history of its rich mix of peoples added to the indigenous Berber tribes. For most of their history, the peoples of Libya have been subjected to varying degrees of foreign control. The modern history of independent Libya began in 1951. The Berbers (also called Amazigh people or Imazighen (ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⴻⵏ), free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group autochthonous to Northwest Africa and speak various Berber languages. ...

The history Libya is covered under five distinct periods: Ancient period, the Islamic period, Ottoman rule, Italian rule, and the modern era.

Ancient Libya

See also Ancient Libya (Tripolitania and Cyrenaica) Since Neolithic times the climate of North Africa has been drying. ...

In ancient times, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the armies of Alexander the Great and his Ptolemaic successors from Egypt, then Romans, Vandals, and local representatives of the Byzantine Empire ruled parts of Libya. The territory of modern Libya had separate histories until Roman times, as Tripoli and Cyrenaica. Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... Area under Roman control  Roman Republic  Roman Empire  Western Empire  Eastern Empire Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Tarābulus) is the capital city of Libya. ... The Roman Empire ca. ...

Tripoli was originally a group of Phoenician colonies dependent on Carthage. Carthage and its dependencies all fell to Rome during the course of the three Punic Wars. Tripoli is the ancient sea port at the terminus of three great caravan routes linking the coast with Lake Chad and Timbuktu across the Sahara. Carthage (Greek: , from the Phoenician Kart-hadasht meaning new town, Arabic: ‎, Latin: ) refers both to an ancient city in North Africa located in modern day Tunis and to the civilization that developed within the citys sphere of influence. ... The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the city-state of Carthage. ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... Timbuktu (Archaic English: Timbuctoo; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; French: Tombouctou) is a city in Tombouctou Region, Mali. ...

Cyrenaica, by contrast, was already heavily colonized by the Greeks centuries before it became a Roman province. It was also known as Pentapolis, the "five cities" being Cyrene (near the village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe (Tocra), Berenice (Bengazi) and Barca (Al Marj). From the oldest and most famous of the Greek colonies the fertile coastal plain took the name of Cyrenaica. Cyrene, the ancient Greek city (in present-day Libya) was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region and gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times. ... Apollonia in Cyrenaica (modern Libya) was founded by Greek colonists and became a significant commercial centre in the southern Mediterranean. ... Colourful buildings in the city centre. ... Benghazi (Arabic بنغازي, transliterated Banġāzī) is a seaport in Libya, Africa. ... Barca (Barqa) was a Byzantine province and city in medieval North Africa, occupying the coastal area of what is modern Libya. ... Al-Marj (Arabic: the meadows) Administrative Division of al-Fâtîh (Arabic: الفاتح ), Latitude 32. ...

The Islamic Period

See also Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica The Age of the Caliphs With tenuous Byzantine control over Libya restricted to a few poorly defended coastal strongholds, the Arab horsemen who first crossed into Pentapolis, Cyrenaica in September 642 encountered little resistance. ...

In 647 an army of 40,000 Arabs, led by ‘Abdu’llah ibn Sa‘ad, the foster-brother of Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, invaded western Libya. Tripoli was taken from the Byzantines, followed by Sufetula, a city 150 miles south of Carthage, where the Exarch Gregory was killed. Gregory's successor, Gennadius, promised them an annual tribute of some 330,000 nomismata. Gennadius also sent the usual surplus of revenues over expenditures to Constantinople, but otherwise administered Africa as he liked. When Gennadius refused to pay the additional sums demanded from Constantinople, his own men overthrew him. Languages Arabic other languages (Arab minorities) Religions Predominantly Islam Some adherents of Druze, Judaism, Samaritan, Christianity Related ethnic groups Mizrachi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Canaanites, other Semitic-speaking groups An Arab (Arabic: ‎); is a member of a Non-Semetic group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases... ‘Abdullāh ibn Sa‘ad ibn AbÄ« as-SarhÌ£ (Arabic: ) was the foster brother of Uthman. ... For other uses of the name, see Uthman (name). ... Sbeitla (Arabic: ‎) is a small town in north-central Tunisia. ... Carthage (Greek: , from the Phoenician Kart-hadasht meaning new town, Arabic: ‎, Latin: ) refers both to an ancient city in North Africa located in modern day Tunis and to the civilization that developed within the citys sphere of influence. ... Gennadius refers to: Gennadius I: 5th century Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius II: 15th century Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius of Massilia: 5th century historian This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Map of Constantinople. ...

Following the revolt, Gennadius fled to Damascus and asked for aid from Muawiyah, to whom he had paid tribute for years. The caliph sent a sizable force with Gennadius to invade Africa in 665. Even though the deposed exarch died after reaching Alexandria, the Arabs marched on. The Byzantines dispatched an army to reinforce Africa, but its commander Nicephorus the Patrician lost a battle with the Arabs and reembarked. Uqba ibn Nafi and Abu Muhajir al Dinar did much to promote Islam and in the following centuries most of the indigenous peoples converted. Muawiyah I (602 - May 6, 680), early Muslim leader and founder of the great Umayyad Dynasty of caliphs. ... Alexandria (Greek: , Coptic: , Arabic: , Egyptian Arabic: Iskindireyya), (population of 3. ... Uqba ibn Nafi (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) (also referred to as Uqba bin Nafe, Uqba Ibn al Nafia, or Akbah) (622–683) was an Arab general under the Umayyad dynasty, who began the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb, including present-day western Algeria and Morocco in North Africa. ...

In 750 the Abbasid dynasty overthrew the Ummayad caliph and shifted the capital to Baghdad, with emirs retaining nominal control over the Libyan coast on behalf of the far-distant caliph. In 800 Caliph Harun ar-Rashid appointed Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab as his governor. The Aghlabids dynasty effectively became independent of the Baghdad caliphs, who continued to retain spiritual authority. The Aghlabid emirs took their custodianship of Libya seriously, repairing Roman irrigation systems, restoring order and bringing a measure of prosperity to the region. Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire. ... The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabic الأمويون / بنو أمية umawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Harun al-Rashid (Arabic هارون الرشيد also spelled Harun ar-Rashid, Haroun al-Rashid or Haroon al Rasheed; English: Aaron the Upright; ca. ... Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab (d. ... The Aghlabid dynasty of emirs ruled Ifriqiya (northern Africa), nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a century, until overthrown by the new power of the Fatimids. ... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara ( ) Irrigation is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops or plants. ...

See also Ottoman Rule (15th-1912) By the beginning of the 15th century the Libyan coast had minimal central authority and its harbours were havens for unchecked bands of pirates. ...

By the beginning of the 15th century the Libyan coast had minimal central authority and its harbours were havens for pirates. Hapsburg Spain occupied Tripoli in 1510, but the Spaniards were more concerned with controlling the port than with the inconveniences of administering a colony. Ferdinand V took Tripoli and in 1528 gave it to the Knights of St John of Malta. In 1538 Tripoli was reconquered by a pirate king called Khair ad-Din (known more evocatively as Barbarossa, or Red Beard) and the coast became renowned as the Barbary Coast. Ferdinand II of Aragon (Fernando de Aragón in Spanish and Ferran dAragó in Catalan), nicknamed the Catholic (March 10, 1452 – June 23, 1516) was king of Aragon, Castile, Sicily, Naples and Navarre and Count of Barcelona. ... The Knights Hospitaller (the or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century based in the Holy Land, but soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order under its own charter, and was charged with the care... Meanings of Barbarossa (Italian: Red Beard): Barbarossa was the nickname of two famous people in history: Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor Khair ad Din, Barbary pirate and Ottoman admiral. ... The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans till the 19th century to refer to the coastal regions of what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. ...

When the Ottomans arrived to occupy Tripoli in 1551, they saw little reason to rein in the pirates, preferring instead to profit from the booty. It would be more than two centuries before the pirates' control of the region was challenged.

Under the Ottomans, the Meghreb was divided into three provinces, Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis. After 1565, administrative authority in Tripoli was vested in a pasha appointed by the sultan in Constantinople. The sultan provided the pasha with a corps of janissaries, which was in turn divided into a number of companies under the command of a junior officer or bey. The janissaries quickly became the dominant force in Ottoman Libya. Pasha (or pascha, bashaw; Turkish: paÅŸa; originally from Persian padshah or padeshah meaning king or from Turkish bash head, chief [1]) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors and generals. ... Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... The Janissaries (or janizaries; in Turkish: Yeniçeri, meaning New Troops) comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultans household troops and bodyguard. ... Bey is the Turkish word for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. ...

In 1711, Ahmed Karamanli, an Ottoman cavalry officer, seized power and founded the Karamanli dynasty, which would last 124 years. In May 1801 Pasha Yusuf Karamanli demanded from the United States an increase in the tribute ($83,000) which that government had paid since 1796 for the protection of their commerce from piracy. The demand was refused, an American naval force blockaded Tripoli, and a desultory war dragged on until 3 June 1805. Ahmed Karamanli (r. ... The name Karamanlis (also spelled Caramanlis) can refer to: A resident of Karamania, a region of Asia Minor in Turkey (See Karamanlides). ... Yusuf ibn Ali Karamanli (r. ... Combatants United States Barbary States ( Ottoman Empire regencies) Commanders Richard Dale William Eaton Edward Preble Hassan Bey Murad Reis Strength 7 Ships 10 US Marines and Soldiers[] 70 Christian Mercenaries 4000 400 Arab Mercenaries Casualties 2 Ships destroyed 2 Marines killed, 3 wounded 9 Christian Mercenaries killed and wounded Unknown... June 3 is the 154th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (155th in leap years), with 211 days remaining. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1835, the government of Sultan Mahmud II took advantage of local disturbances to reassert their direct authority and held it until the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire. As decentralized Ottoman power had resulted in the virtual independence of Egypt as well as Tripoli, the coast and desert lying between them relapsed to anarchy, even after direct Ottoman control was resumed in Tripoli. Over a 75 year period the Ottoman Turks provided 33 governors and Libya remained part of the empire-- although at times virtually autonomous-- until Italy invaded in 1911, as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing. The stylized signature of Mahmud II was written in an expressive calligraphy. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Italian Rule

See also Italian Colony (1911-1947) and Italian invasion of Libya For a fullt treatment of the Italian invasion of 1911, see Italian invasion of Libya. ... Combatants Italy Ottoman Empire Commanders Luigi Caneva Ismail Enver Strength 100,000 25,000 Casualties 3,380 4,220 wounded 14,000 The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (also known in Italy as guerra di Libia, the Libyan war ) was fought between the Ottoman Empire and Italy from September...

The attempted Italian colonization of the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica was never wholly successful. On October 3, 1911, the Italians attacked Tripoli, claiming somewhat disingenuously to be liberating Libya from Ottoman rule. Despite a major revolt by the Libyans, the Ottoman sultan ceded Libya to the Italians by signing the 1912 Treaty of Lausanne. Tripoli was largely under Italian control by 1914, but both Cyrenaica and the Fezzan were home to rebellions led by the Senussis. 150,000 Italians settled in Libya. Tripolitania is a historic region of western Libya, centered around the coastal city of Tripoli. ... The Roman Empire ca. ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1920 (25 October) the Italian government recognized Sheikh Sidi Idris the hereditary head of the nomadic Senussi, with wide authority in Kufra and other oases, as Emir of Cyrenaica, a new title extended by the British at the close of World War I. The emir would eventually become king of the free Libyan state. October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Idris I (Arabic: إدريس الأول) (March 12, 1890 - May 25, 1983) was the first King of Libya, reigning from 1951 to 1969. ... The Senussi or Sanussi refers to a Muslim political-religious order in Libya and Sudan founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi, Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi (1791–1859). ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

In 1944, Idris returned from exile in Cairo but declined to resume permanent residence in Cyrenaica until the removal in 1947 of some aspects of foreign control. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya. In July 1999 the Italian government offered a formal apology to Libya and it is reported that Italy agreed to pay USD $260 million as compensation for the occupation. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Nickname: Al Qahirah (The Triumphant City) Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Modern Libya

Main article: History of Modern Libya

On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. Idris represented Libya in the subsequent UN negotiations. When Libya declared its independence on December 24, 1951, it was the first country to achieve independence through the United Nations and one of the first former European possessions in Africa to gain independence. Libya was proclaimed a constitutional and a hereditary monarchy and Idris was proclaimed king. On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Idris I (Arabic: إدريس الأول) (March 12, 1890 - May 25, 1983) was the first King of Libya, reigning from 1951 to 1969. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A monarchy, from the Greek μονος, one, and αρχειν, to rule, is a form of government that has a monarch as head of state(KING)In most monarchies the monarch usually reigns as head of state for life; this is...

The discovery of significant oil reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income from petroleum sales enabled what had been one of the world's poorest countries to become extremely wealthy. Although oil drastically improved Libya's finances, popular resentment grew as wealth was increasingly concentrated in the hands of the elite. Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by then 28-year-old army officer Mu'ammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi staged a coup d'etat against King Idris, who was exiled to Egypt. The new regime, headed by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic. The new RCC's motto became "freedom, socialism, and unity." It pledged itself to remedy "backwardness," take an active role in the Palestinian Arab cause, promote Arab unity, and encourage domestic policies based on social justice, nonexploitation, and an equitable distribution of wealth. September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi 1 (Arabic: معمر القذافي Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhāfī) (born 1942), leader of Libya since 1970 and a controversial Arab statesman. ... The Revolutionary Command Council was the body established to supervise Egypt after the 1952 Revolution. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ...

External links

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