Libya — arid African country, not too densely populated and not rich, as it is difficult to maintain life in such harsh conditions. Boundless desert, hot air, eternal problems with water, which is constantly in short supply, sandstorms — it’s all Libya. But it is also the land of proud nomads, ancient relics and the amazing beauty of the harsh desert.
Interesting facts about Libya
- Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, with 90% of its vast territory occupies the desert (interesting facts about deserts).
- Muammar Gaddafi, who organized a military coup and overthrew the local monarch, ruled the country for 42 years. And during this time he became the same monarch.
- Gaddafi implemented a special political system in Libya, called the Jamahiriya. The leader of the country outlined the main postulates of this political system in a lengthy theory called «worldwide».
- After the assassination of Gaddafi by rebels who received the support of Western countries, a civil war broke out in Libya, which continues to this day
- The coast of Libya is the longest among the African states overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The coastline is 1,770 kilometers long.
- Strong winds often blow in Libya, which the local population calls “ghibli” — they bring desert air to the coast, heated to +50 degrees.
- Modern Libyan territory was first settled by Berber tribes about 2 thousand years BC, and Neolithic cultures existed here at all for 8 thousand BC
- Initially, Libya was called the entire part of the African continent, known to the Greeks. The lands that were inaccessible to Greek travelers and generals were called Ethiopia – this is how the name of another African country appeared.
- According to the existing rules for transcribing Arabic names, the state should be called “Libia”, but in Russian it was decided to keep a variant of “Libya”, borrowed from the ancient Byzantines.
- The name of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, literally translates as “three cities”, as it was founded on the site of three smaller settlements.
- When the Ottoman Turks captured Libya in the mid-16th century, they turned the Libyan coast into a base for piracy in the Mediterranean. Only two centuries later, the Libyan pasha was forced to guarantee in writing the rejection of pirate raids under the threat of a French invasion (interesting facts about the Mediterranean Sea).
- Slavery and human trafficking were officially banned in this country in the middle of the 19th century. At the same time, the first non-religious educational institution was opened in the country, and a newspaper began to be published.
- In 2006, Libya severed diplomatic relations with Denmark due to the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a local newspaper.
- A few years later, Libya closed entry to its territory for citizens of the Schengen countries – the reason for the diplomatic scandal was the detention of Gaddafi’s son and his spouses who beat servants during a trip to Geneva.
- In the 1920s, it had the highest the temperature on the globe is 57.8 degrees Celsius.
- Gaddafi’s regime tried to build a socialism based on Islam in the country. State power relied on the army.
- Some parts of Libya get rain every 10 years (interesting facts about rain).