LIBYA, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of a field of plain green. It has a width-to-length ratio of 1 to 2. Under Italian colonial rule from 1911 until 1942, Libya had no flag of its own, and subsequently, under British and French administration, only the Union Jack and the French Tricolor were flown. Nevertheless, the Sanusiyah (Sennusiya), a powerful Islamic sect, had long displayed flags of black with inscriptions from the Qur'an. In 1947 the Sanusi leader became the king of Cyrenaica, which, with Tripolitania and Fezzan, became the Kingdom of Libya. The Arab Liberation Flag, flown in Egypt from 1952 (the year the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown) Cyrenaica's black flag with a white star and crescent was not acceptable as a national flag for all of Libya; consequently, green and red horizontal stripes were added to represent Tripolitania and Fezzan, respectively, when the Libyan flag was established in 1949. No change was introduced at independence on December 24, 1951, but in 1969 the monarchy was overthrown by Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi. He adopted a flag of red-white-black horizontal stripes in imitation of the liberation flag of neighbouring Egypt. Subsequently, a golden coat of arms was inserted in the centre of the flag. Qaddafi broke diplomatic relations with Egypt when its president, Anwar el-Sadat, went to Israel to broker a peace agreement. The national flag of Libya was changed at that time to reflect Libyan revulsion at Sadat's break with the anti-Israel front of Arab states. In its place Qaddafi established a plain green flag in November 1977, symbolic of the Green Revolution that he promised would bring a new life for the people. Under the Roman Empire, Libya had been an area of rich farmland, but increasing desertification impoverished the land. Qaddafi sought to find adequate water supplies and other resources that would make Libya green again. Green is also considered symbolic of Islam. Whitney Smith History This discussion focuses on Libya since the 18th century. For a treatment of earlier periods and of the country in its regional context, see North Africa, history of. The present borders of Libya contain a huge territory the size of the U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi combined. Largely desert with some limited potential for urban and sedentary life in its northwestern and northeastern corners, Libya has never been populous nor a power centre. Like its neighbour Algeria, Libya's very name is a neologism, created by the conquering Italians early in the 20th century. Like Algeria, much of Libya's earlier historynot only in the Islamic period but even beforereveals that both the western and eastern provinces were more closely linked with neighbouring territory, with Tunisia and Egypt respectively. Even during most of the Ottoman times the country was divided into two parts, one linked to Tripoli in the west and the other to Banghazi in the east. Libya thus owes its present unity as a state less to earlier history or geographic constants than to several recent factors: the unifying effect of the Sanusiyah movement since the 19th century; Italian colonialism from 1911 until after World War II; an early independence by default, since the great powers could agree on no other solution; and the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the late 1950s. Yet, the Sanusiyah is based largely in the eastern region of Cyrenaica and has never really penetrated the more populous western region of Tripolitania. Italian colonization was brief and brutal. Moreover, most of the hard-earned gains in infrastructure implanted in the colonial period were destroyed by contending armies during World War II. Sudden oil wealth has been both a boon and a curse as changes to the political and social fabric, as well as to the economy, have accelerated. This difficult legacy of disparate elements and forces helps to explain the unique character of modern Libya. L. Carl Brown Ottoman rule Part of the Ottoman Empire from the early 16th century, Libya experienced autonomous rule (similar to that in Ottoman Algeria and Tunisia) under the Karamanli dynasty from 1711 to 1835. In the latter year the Ottomans took advantage of a dispute over the succession and local disorder to reestablish direct administration. For the next 77 years the area was administered by officials from Istanbul and shared in the limited modernization common to the rest of the empire. In Libya the most significant event of the period was the creation (1837) of the Sanusiyah (Sennusiyah), an Islamic order, or fraternity, that preached a puritanical form of Islam, giving the people instruction and material assistance and so creating in them an added sense of unity. The first Sanusi zawiyah, or lodge, in Libya was established in 1843 near the ruins of Cyrene in eastern Cyrenaica. The order spread principally in that province but also found adherents in the south. The Grand Sanusi, as the founder came to be called, moved his headquarters to the oasis of Jaghbub near the Egyptian frontier, and in 1895 his son and successor, Sidi Muhammad Idris al-Mahdi, transferred it farther south into the Sahara to the oasis of Al-Kufrah. Though the Ottomans welcomed the order's opposition to the spread of French influence northward from Chad and Tibesti, they regarded with suspicion the political influence it exerted within Cyrenaica. In 1908 the Young Turk revolution gave a new impulse to reform; in 1911, however, the Italians, with banking and other interests in the country, launched an invasion of Libya. The Ottomans sued for peace in 1912, but Italy found it more difficult to subdue the local population. Resistance to the Italian occupation continued throughout World War I. After the war Italy considered coming to terms with nationalist forces in Tripolitania and with the Sanusiyah, who were strong in Cyrenaica. These negotiations foundered, however, and the arrival of a strong governor, Giuseppe Volpi, in Libya and a Fascist government in Italy (1922) inaugurated an Italian policy of thorough colonization. The coastal areas of Tripolitania were subdued by 1923, but in Cyrenaica Sanusi resistance, led by 'Umar al-Mukhtar, was maintained until his capture and execution in 1931. The economy Oil revenues are Libya's main source of income. During the 1980s, oil accounted for two-thirds of the national income and nearly 99 percent of export earnings, although it employed less than 10 percent of the labour force. The government exerts strong control over the economy. The petroleum industry was nationalized in the 1970s; state trade unions and industrial organizations run most other industries and utilities. To reduce the country's heavy dependence on oil, economic policy has emphasized agricultural and industrial development. Declining oil revenues during the 1980s, however, led to frequent revisions and delays in planned developments. In 1988, domestic reforms liberalized economic policy and encouraged private enterprise. Libya's per capita income is the highest in Africa, but its population is relatively small. A shortage of labour has led to a large number of foreign workersmostly from other North African countries, western Africa, and the Middle Eastin agriculture and industry. Since the mid-1980s, however, Libya has attempted to reduce the number of foreign workers because of the huge drain that their remittances to their respective countries has caused on Libya's reserves of foreign exchange. Resources Petroleum is Libya's most important mineral resource. First discovered in 1956 near the Algerian border, it has since been located mainly in the Surt Basin. The major oil fields are Zaltan, Amal, and Intisar A in the vicinity of Banghazi; the Dahra field is located near Misratah, and the Sarir field is near Darnah. Deposits have been located near Ghadamis on the western border, Murzuq in the southwest, and the Al-Kufrah oasis in the southeast. Exploration for new deposits has concentrated on the western region and offshore, where a large field was discovered northwest of Tripoli in 1988. Libya's proven oil reserves represent almost half of Africa's, or about 2 percent of the world's. Libyan crude oil is low in sulfur content and therefore causes less corrosion and less pollution than most crude oils. The deposits are associated with natural gas. The first pipeline was constructed from the Zaltan field to Marsa al-Burayqah in 1961. Since then additional lines have been built from Dahra to As-Sidrah and to Ra's al-Unuf, and other pipelines connect the Tobruk field to Marsa al-Hariqah and the Intisar A field to Az-Zuwaytinah. Refineries are located at Az-Zawiyah, Misratah, Ra's al-Unuf, and Tobruk. A natural-gas pipeline runs parallel to the oil pipeline from Zaltan. The gas liquefaction plant at Marsa al-Burayqah is the world's largest. Libya is usually among the world's dozen largest producers of oil. Sales to Europe were enhanced by the closure of the Suez Canal between 1967 and 1975. During the 1980s, however, production and revenues declined because of an increased supply of oil on the world market. Libya has concluded barter agreements with some European and African countries to exchange petroleum for goods and services. Only a small percentage of the Libyan labour force is employed by the oil industry, along with a few thousand foreign workers. Other mineral resources are limited. There are important deposits of natron (hydrated sodium carbonate) in the Fezzan and of potash in the Surt Desert near Maradah. The iron ore deposits at Shati', although low in iron content, supply the iron-steel complex at Misratah. Marine salt is produced in Tripolitania, where there are also small deposits of gypsum, manganese, and lignite coal. Sulfur has been found in the Surt Desert, and there are scattered deposits of chalk, limestone, and marble that are quarried for the growing construction trade. The arid climate supports few biological resources except for the grasslands of the Akh dar Mountains and the Nafusah Plateau, which are valuable for grazing. There are no hydroelectric resources, and oil represents the only domestic means of producing electricity thermally. The land Relief Libya is underlain by basement rocks of Precambrian age (from 3.8 to 570 million years old) that are mantled with marine and wind-borne deposits. The major physical features are the Nafusah Plateau and the Al-Jifarah (Gefara) Plain in the northwest, the Akhdar Mountains in the northeast, and the Saharan plateau, occupying much of the rest of the country. The Al-Jifarah Plain covers about 10,000 square miles of Libya's northwestern corner. It rises from sea level to about 1,000 feet (300 metres) at the foothills of the Nafusah Plateau. Composed of sand dunes, salt marshes, and steppe, the plain contains most of Libya's population and its largest cityTripoli. The Nafusah Plateau is a limestone massif that stretches for about 212 miles (340 kilometres) from Al-Khums on the coast to the Tunisian border at Nalut. West of Tarhunah it rises steeply from the Al-Jifarah Plain, reaching altitudes between 1,500 and 3,200 feet. In the country's northeastern corner, the Akhdar Mountains stretch for about 100 miles along the coast between Al-Marj and Darnah. The limestone mountains rise steeply from the coast to about 2,000 feet and then stretch about 20 miles inland, attaining their highest altitudes of about 3,000 feet. The Saharan plateau covers some 90 percent of Libya and is itself about one-half covered by sand deserts, making it truly a desert land. Al-Haruj al-Aswad is a hilly basaltic plateau in central Libya. Covered with angular stone fragments and boulders, it rises to about 2,600 feet and is crowned by volcanic peaks. The Al-Hamra' Plateau lies south of the Nafusah Plateau. It contains bare rock outcrops and rises to 2,700 feet. An arm of the Tibesti Mountains stretches northward from the main massif in Chad. In the Fezzan region of the southwest a series of long depressions and basins contain wadis (dry riverbeds) and oasis settlements. Mobile sand dunes that reach heights of 300 feet are found in the Fezzan's Marzuq desert and in the Libyan Desert of the east, which extends across the border into Egypt. The country's highest elevations are at Bikku Bitti peak (Picco Bette), rising to 7,500 feet (2,286 metres) on the Libya-Chad border, and at Mount Al-'Uwaynat, with an elevation of 6,345 feet (1,934 metres) on the Libya-Sudan-Egypt border. Drainage There are no perennial rivers in Libya. The numerous wadis that drain the uplands are filled by flash floods during the rains and quickly dry up or are reduced to a trickle. The largest wadi systems are the Wadi Zamzam and Wadi Bayy al-Kabir, both of which reach the western coast of the Gulf of Sidra. Other large wadis drain the interior basins of Surt, Zaltan, and the Fezzan. There is also, however, extensive underground water. Numerous oases are watered by wells and springs, and artesian wells tap large deep fossil aquifers in the Fezzan and southeastern Libya. Along the coastal strip there are several salt flats, or sebkhas, formed by the ponding and evaporation of water behind coastal dunes. Principal salt flats are those of Tawurgha', Zuwarah, and the Banghazi Plain. The people Ethnic composition Almost all Libyans speak Arabic, the country's official language, and adhere to the Sunnite branch of Islam. They claim descent from the Bedouin Arab tribes of the Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym, who invaded the Maghrib in the 11th century. In the eastern region the influence of the Sanusiyah, a 19th-century militant Islamic brotherhood, remains strong. Most of the Jewish and Italian minorities, long established in Tripolitania (the western region), left the country after the government seized their properties in 1970. Small numbers of Roman Catholic and Coptic Christians remain. The government's embrace of Arab nationalism has reduced Western influences, although English is still widely used as a second language in international business and politics. Nearly one-fifth of Libya's total population in the late 20th century was composed of foreign workers temporarily residing in the country. The tribe (qabilah) was for long the basis of the social order in Libya, and eight out of every nine persons once resided in tribal domains. The Berbers were the major original inhabitants of Libya. The main groups were the Luata, the Nefusa, and the Adassa. The Berbers lived in coastal oases and practiced sedentary agriculture. Most of them have been assimilated into Arab society except in the Nafusah Plateau region, Awjilah, Hun, Socra, and Zuwarah. The Berbers speak their own Hamitic language but have adopted the Arabic alphabet. Many are bilingual in Berber and Arabic; most are Muslims. The Arab invasions began in the 7th century. The initial Arab incursions were essentially military and had little effect upon the composition of the population. The Banu Hilal invasion of 1049 and succeeding attacks of the Banu Sulaym later in the 11th century, however, brought migrations of large pastoral nomadic tribes from the eastern Arabian peninsula. The Banu Sulaym were composed of four main groupsthe Banu Hebib, the 'Awf, the Debbab, and the Zegb. The Hebib settled in Cyrenaica, while the others went into Tripolitania. After the establishment of tribal groups, Libya underwent a period of disorder and tribal feuding, which was augmented by the incursion of other Arab adventurers from Egypt. Toward the close of the period of anarchy, the Debbab group took control of much of Tripolitania. By the 20th century about 97 percent of Libya's inhabitants were Arabic-speaking Muslims of mixed Arab and Berber descent. Several other social groups exist alongside the tribal unit. They are the sharifs (holy tribes), who came originally from the Fezzan; the marabouts (dervishes who are credited with supernatural powers), who infiltrated from Saguia el Hamra in what is now Western Sahara; and the Koulouglis, who are descended from the Janissaries (elite Turkish soldiers) and the Berber and Christian slave women with whom they interbred. The sharifs claim direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad. Their alleged blood relationship with the Prophet gives them a powerful standing in Muslim society, where they are looked upon as holy men with divine powers of foresight. Extensive tracts of land are found under sharif control in all the oases of western Libya. Marabout tribes are descended from holy men who also claimed relation to Muhammad. They founded their religious devotions upon an ascetic life manifested in their existence as hermits. In areas where their teachings and way of life made them acceptable to the local inhabitants, they settled and founded tribes pledged to the pure way of life. The Koulouglis have served since Turkish times as a secretarial class in several areas and are often concentrated in and around villages and towns. They speak Arabic and practice Islam. The trans-Saharan slave trade, which continued during Turkish times, introduced black Africans and their cultures into many of the tribes, especially in the Fezzan and in Tripolitania. Their languages are those of the central Sahara and the eastern Sudan; most also speak Arabic and have adopted Islam. Small groups of Tuareg tribespeople are found in the southwest, especially at the Ghadamis and Ghat oases. Traditionally nomadic, they are gradually assuming a sedentary life-style. Isolated Teda (Tubu) communities of the southeast are slowly gravitating toward the north and the Al-Kufrah oasis in search of employment. Demographic trends Libya has one of the highest rates of population growth in Africa, averaging more than 3 percent annually for much of the second half of the 20th century. The huge influx of foreign workers into the country since the 1960s accounts for part of this rapid growth, but Libya's annual rate of natural increase (birth rate minus death rate) has also been one of the highest averages in Africa for much of the late 20th century. Death rates have declined to near the world average, but birth rates remain high. Almost one-half of the population is 15 years of age or less despite high rates of infant mortalitythe highest in North Africaportending continued high birth rates and rapid growth well into the 21st century.