Editing State of Libya

{{Infobox country|name=Libya|population_estimate_year=2021|population_estimate=	6,992,701|area_km2=1,759,541|established_date1=2020 October 23rd|established_event1=Unity government|official_languages=Arabic|leader_name3=Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh|native_name=دولة ليبيا|image_flag=Flag of Libya.svg|leader_title3=Prime Minister|leader_name2=Musa Al-Koni|leader_title2=Vice Chairman|leader_name1=Mohamed al-Menfi|leader_title1=Chairman of the Presidential Council|image_coat=Seal of the Government of National Unity (Libya).svg|capital=Tripoli|largest_city=Tripoli|government_type=Provisional government|currency=Libyan dinar}}
'''Libya''', officially the '''State of Libya''' is a country in North Africa. It was formerly the most prosperous country in Africa until the 2011 [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] invasion. It is a member of the [[United Nations]] (since 1955), the [[Non-Aligned Movement]], the [[Arab League]], [[OIC]] and [[Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries|OPEC]]. The country's official religion is [[Islam]], with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni Muslims. 

== History ==

=== Colonial rule and monarchy ===
The period of [[Italian Republic|Italian]] [[Colonialism|colonization]] in Libya occurred from 1911 to 1943, although many [[Settler colonialism|settlers]] remained in Libya until the 1970s. The colonizer's goal was to settle between 500,000 and 1 million Italians, especially the landless [[Peasantry|peasants]] from southern and central Italy. They were intended to be settled mainly in eastern Libya, in the fertile Green Mountain area.<ref name=":1">Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, Jacob Mundy [https://merip.org/2022/05/genocide-historical-amnesia-and-italian-settler-colonialism-in-libya-an-interview-with-ali-abdullatif-ahmida-2/ "Genocide, Historical Amnesia and Italian Settler Colonialism in Libya—An Interview with Ali Abdullatif Ahmida."] ''Middle East Report'' 302 (Spring 2022). [https://web.archive.org/web/20230604035443/https://merip.org/2022/05/genocide-historical-amnesia-and-italian-settler-colonialism-in-libya-an-interview-with-ali-abdullatif-ahmida-2/ Archived] 2023-06-04.</ref> 

Local resistance to this settler colonialism started almost immediately, occurring throughout the [[First World War]], and intensified mostly in the eastern part of Libya led by the [[Senusiyya]] movement with [[Omar al-Mukhtar]] as a leading figure in the resistance. In response, the Italians began forcibly transferring population from the east in order to deprive the resistance of material support. Estimates vary, but nearly 110,000 Libyans were deported to 16 [[Concentration camp|concentration camps]], resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Moughrabi, Fouad. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A697861284/LitRC?u=anon~580f06a9&sid=googleScholar&xid=6beb7e4f "Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History."] ''Arab Studies Quarterly'', vol. 43, no. 4, fall 2021, pp. 371+. ''Gale Literature Resource Center.''</ref> 

By the beginning of the [[Second World War]], some 150,000 Italians had settled in Libya and constituted roughly one-fifth of the country's total population.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Libya/History "Libya - History - Italian colonization."] ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230604181923/https://www.britannica.com/place/Libya/History Archived] 2023-06-04.</ref> 

During the Second World War, Libya was an area of warfare in the North African Campaign. Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951.

=== Jamahiriya ===
[[Muammar Gaddafi]] overthrew King Idris in 1969 in a bloodless revolution<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=BBC|title=1969: Bloodless coup in Libya|date=1969-09-01|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1/newsid_3911000/3911587.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720121138/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1/newsid_3911000/3911587.stm|archive-date=20 July 2011|retrieved=2018-10-25}}</ref> and led the country until his murder in 2011 by [[United States of America|US]]-backed forces.

=== Civil war ===
Following Gaddafi's death, two authorities initially claimed to govern Libya: the House of Representatives in Tobruk and the 2014 General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli which considered itself the continuation of the General National Congress, elected in 2012.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Feras Bosalum, Ulf Laessing|newspaper=Reuters|title=Rival second Libyan assembly chooses own PM as chaos spreads|date=2014-08-25|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0GP0NZ20140826|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120247/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/26/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0GP0NZ20140826|archive-date=2014-08-26}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Chris Stephen|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Libyan parliament takes refuge in Greek car ferry|date=2014-09-09|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/09/libyan-parliament-refuge-greek-car-ferry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404142244/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/09/libyan-parliament-refuge-greek-car-ferry|archive-date=4 April 2016}}</ref> After [[United Nations|UN]]-led peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli governments, a unified interim UN-backed Government of National Accord was established in 2015<ref>{{Web citation|author=Kingsley, Patrick|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Libyan politicians sign UN peace deal to unify rival governments|date=2015-12-17|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/libyan-politicians-sign-un-peace-deal-unify-rival-governments|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217161008/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/libyan-politicians-sign-un-peace-deal-unify-rival-governments|archive-date=2015-12-17}}</ref> and the GNC disbanded to support it.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Ahmed Elumami|newspaper=Reuters|title=Libya's self-declared National Salvation government stepping down|date=5 April 2016-04-05|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-security-politics-idUKKCN0X22MD|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408161531/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-security-politics-idUKKCN0X22MD|archive-date=2016-04-08}}</ref> A second civil war began in 2014, with parts of Libya split between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based governments as well as various tribal and Islamist militias.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Ayman Al-Warfalli|newspaper=Reuters|title=Libyan government offensive in Benghazi stalls as Islamists dig in|date=2015-08-06|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-benghazi-insight-idUSKCN0QB0FK20150806|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809065318/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/06/us-libya-security-benghazi-insight-idUSKCN0QB0FK20150806|archive-date=2015-08-09}}</ref> However, the two main warring sides signed a permanent ceasefire on 23 October 2020.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The Daily Star|title=Libyan Civil War: Two warring factions sign 'permanent' ceasefire|date=2020-10-24|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/libyan-civil-war-two-warring-factions-sign-permanent-ceasefire-1983297|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415014337/https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/libyan-civil-war-two-warring-factions-sign-permanent-ceasefire-1983297|archive-date=2021-04-15}}</ref>

== Conditions of Libya under Gaddafi ==
{{Main article|Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011)}}
Gaddafi sought to transform Libya into a new [[socialist state]] called a ''[[Jamahiriya]]'' ("state of the masses") in 1977 by using the government to reign in the [[cost of living]] for the Libyan [[Proletariat|working class]]. 

Libya was heralded by foreign press as "the [[Swiss Confederation|Switzerland]] of Africa"<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=RT|title=‘Before NATO intrusion, Libya was African Switzerland’|date=2011-08-25|url=https://www.rt.com/news/interview-libya-nato-intrusion-127/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831015308/https://www.rt.com/news/interview-libya-nato-intrusion-127/|archive-date=2011-08-31}}
</ref> and was a popular destination for migrant workers seeking a strong economy to participate in.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Katie Kuschminder|newspaper=Migration Policy Institute|title=Once a Destination for Migrants, Post-Gaddafi Libya Has Gone from Transit Route to Containment|date=2020-08-06|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/once-destination-migrants-post-gaddafi-libya-has-gone-transit-route-containment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005053633/https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/once-destination-migrants-post-gaddafi-libya-has-gone-transit-route-containment|archive-date=2023-10-05}}</ref>

The following is a list of basic facts about Libya under Gaddafi.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|newspaper=News Rescue|title=Gaddaffi’s Last Formal Speech To the People of Libya|date=2014-08-10|url=https://newsrescue.com/gaddaffis-last-formal-speech-people-libya/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622134231/https://newsrescue.com/gaddaffis-last-formal-speech-people-libya|archive-date=2023-06-22}}</ref>
* No electricity bills in Libya; free electricity for all its citizens.
*There was no interest on loans, [[Bank|banks]] in Libya were state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
*If a Libyan was unable to find employment after graduation, the state would  pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
*Should Libyans want to take up a farming career, they receive farm land, a house, equipment, seed and livestock to kick start their farms – this was all for free.
*Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Man-Made River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
*A home was considered a human right in Libya. (In Qaddafi’s [[:en:Library:The_Green_Book_(Muammar_Gaddafi)|Green Book]] it states: “The house is a basic need of both the individual and the family, therefore it should not [[Landlord|be owned by others]].”)
*All newlyweds in Libya would receive 60,000 Dinar (US$ 50,000 ) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start a family.
*A portion of Libyan oil sales is or was credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
*A mother who gives birth to a child would receive US $5,000.
* When a Libyan buys a car, the government would subsidize 50% of the price.
*Fuel subsidies: The price of petrol in Libya was $0.14 per liter.
*Food subsidies: For $ 0.15, a Libyan local could  purchase 40 loaves of bread.
*Education and medical treatments were all free in Libya. Libya had one of the finest health care systems in the Arab and African world. All people had access to doctors, hospitals, clinics and medicines, [[Universal healthcare|completely free of charge]].
*If Libyans could not find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government would fund them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US $2,300/month accommodation and car allowance.
*25% of Libyans have a university degree.
*Literacy rate increased from 25% to 87%
*Libya had no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – though much of this is now frozen globally.

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Countries invaded by the United States]]
[[Category:African countries]]