State of Libya: sights, capital, president, legal system, photo with description. Where is the state of Libya?

The state of Libya is one of the largest countries in the African continent. Until recently, it had leading indicators of economic development in the region, in addition, its history is full of interesting facts. How did the Libyans live before and how do they live now? The description of Libya, its sights and legal system and will serve as the subject of our narration.

Geographical position

First, let's find out where the state of Libya is. This country is located on the very north of the African continent. On the western side, its border passes with Tunisia and the ADR, in the south - with the state of Niger, the Republic of Chad and the Sudan Republic, and on the east side - with the Egyptian state. From the north of the coast of Libya, the gentle waves of the Mediterranean Sea are washed.

The territorial area of Libya is 1.8 million km ² . Most of it is occupied by desert lands, in particular the Sahara desert. Only in the north of the country is a narrow strip of land favorable for agriculture with a Mediterranean type of climate.

Among the natural resources of Libya, first of all, it is necessary to allocate oil.

History

To have a better idea of the state of affairs in the present, one needs to look into the past. Let's dwell on the main points of the history of Libya.

In ancient times, its territory was inhabited by nomadic Berber tribes. The name "Libya" is of Greek origin. So the Greeks called the whole African continent.

From the I millennium BC. E. The active Phoenician and Greek colonization of the coast of Libya begins. At that time, there were such large colonies as Cyrena, Leptis Magna, Barca, Eugesparida, Tripoli. Many of these cities exist to the present and are major centers of the state of Libya.

In the second half of the I millennium BC. E. A significant part of the northern part of the country was captured by Carthage, the western part withdrew to the Egyptian state of the Ptolemies. Nevertheless, by the beginning of our era, all these territories were controlled by the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, the east of Libya retreated to Byzantium, and the west to the barbarian state of vandals with a center in Carthage. However, in the VI century AD. E., under the emperor Justinian, Byzantium managed to crush the vandals and include all their lands in its composition.

The south of Libya throughout all this time did not submit to any state education. Here, as before, the free tribes wandered.

The situation has radically changed since the middle of the 7th century, when the Arabs conquered Byzantine possessions in Africa. They also managed to conquer the whole of Libya, which was included in the Caliphate. Since then, the national composition of the country has changed significantly. If earlier the majority of inhabitants were Berbers, now the dominant nation was the Arabs. After the collapse of the single Arab Caliphate in the VIII century, Libya alternately became a part of the states of the Aghlabids, the Fatimids, Ayyubid, Almohad, Khafsidov, Ayyubidov, Mamlyuk, until in 1551 was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.

However, during this period Libya had a relative autonomy. Since 1711, the Karamanli dynasty began to rule here, which recognized the de facto dependence on the Ottoman sultan. But in 1835, due to popular discontent, the dynasty fell, and the Ottoman Empire again established a regime of direct control of Libya.

In 1911, Italy conquered these lands, defeating the war with the Turks. Since then, the country has become an Italian colony. After the defeat of Italy during the World War in 1942, this territory was occupied by British and French troops.

In 1951, Libya became an independent monarchy led by King Idris I. Thus began the modern history of the country.

The era of Gaddafi

The person who had the greatest impact on the contemporary history of Libya, was Muammar Gaddafi. It was he who was the head of a conspiracy of officers directed against monarchical power. In 1969, during the revolution, the power of Idris I was deposed. The Libyan Arab Republic (LAP) was formed, led by Muammar Gaddafi. In fact, it was the president of Libya, although officially he never had this post.

In 1977, Gaddafi formally withdrew from all state posts, leaving behind only the title of Fraternal leader, but in fact he continued to rule the state. At the same time the LRA was transformed into the Jamahiriya. It was a unique form of government, which proclaimed democracy, formally built on governing the country by a multitude of communes. The foundation of the Jamahiriya was socialism, Arab nationalism and Islam. It was in this ideological field that Libya was at that time. The head of state Muammar Gaddafi issued the "Green Book", which actually replaced the constitution.

It was during this period that Libya achieved unprecedented economic development. At the same time, the relations of the state with Israel and the countries of the West, in which the Libyan special services even carried out a number of terrorist acts, became extremely aggravated. The most famous of them was the explosion of an aircraft in 1988, after which economic sanctions were imposed on Libya. In addition, Muammar Gaddafi was accused of suppressing political opposition in his country and in violation of human rights, as well as in aggression against some other African states.

Civil War

Naturally, this state of affairs was not satisfied with a significant number of residents of Libya. In 2011, unrest began against the Gaddafi regime. When the confrontation between the insurgents and the government troops reached a special level, a coalition of Western countries intervened in the conflict and took the side of the insurgents. Aviation of NATO countries carried out bombing of government military facilities. With the support of foreign powers, the insurgents managed to seize the capital of Libya - the city of Tripoli. Muammar Gaddafi was killed.

Libya began to govern the Transitional National Council. But even after the parliamentary elections, the world did not come to the country. It continues the war between several opposing forces. In fact, the disintegrated state formation to date is Libya. The state can not ensure the unity of the country. In addition, the activities of a number of terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State (IGIL), which even managed to seize a number of territories, became more active in Libya.

Population

The overwhelming majority of the population of Libya are Arabs, among whom there are many Arabized Berbers. In the south of the country there also live nomadic Berber tribes, Tuareg and Negroid Tubu people.

The majority of the population is concentrated in the northern part of Libya. The southern part of the country is sparsely populated, which is explained by the very dry climate of the Sahara. There is a large number of absolutely uninhabited territories.

The total population in the country is about 5.6 million people. It should be noted that of this number, most live in cities. For example, the total number of inhabitants in the agglomerations of the largest settlements of Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata exceeds 56% of the total population of the country.

Tripoli - the capital of Libya

The capital of Libya is the city of Tripoli. It is located in the western part of the country on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This is the largest of the cities where the state of Libya is famous. The capital has a population of almost 1.8 million. For comparison, the second largest city of the Libyan state - Benghazi is inhabited by about 630 thousand people.

The city of Tripoli is known for a very ancient history. It was founded in the 7th century BC. E. Phoenician colonists and originally called Ea. The present name was given to the city by the Greeks a little later. In translation from Greek it means "Three cities". For a long time it was the central city of the province of Tripolitania, and in 1951, after the proclamation of the country's independence, became the capital of Libya.

Now Tripoli is a large modern city with high-rise buildings and azure beaches, which the state of Libya can be proud of. Photos of sand dunes and barkhans, which are full of informational resources dedicated to the sights of the corners of the globe, fascinate, and it is difficult to even imagine that somewhere in the vicinity of the wild desert nature, high-rise buildings and ... the war is on.

At the same time, despite the capital status, only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located in large state organizations in Tripoli. All other organs of the central state apparatus are concentrated in provincial towns. Even the parliament is located in the city of Sirte. This was done within the framework of the program, which began in 1988, about the decentralization of governance in the country.

Political structure

At the moment, Libya is a unitary state. In form of government, it is a parliamentary republic. Such a position, as the president of Libya, does not exist. The head of state is the chairman of the House of Representatives, who is elected by the parliament. Since August 2014 this post is occupied by Agila Sallah Isa. In addition, the House of Representatives (Parliament) elects the Prime Minister of the country, that is, the head of the Government. At the moment, the head of the executive power is Abdullah Abdurrahman al-Tani. The government is in Tobruk. Abdullah al-Tani resigned several times, but to this day he remains. about. Prime Minister.

At the moment, the State of Libya controls the eastern part of the country.

At the same time, it should be pointed out that the Universal National Congress operates in Tripoli in parallel, which confronts the House of Representatives and controls the territories around the capital.

At the moment, Libya is a secular state, where state authorities are separated from religion and religious organizations. At the same time, Islamist attitudes are quite strong in the society.

Administrative division

The state of Libya is divided administratively into 22 municipalities. True, this division is rather conditional, because a large part of the country's territory is simply not controlled by the central authorities, and there actually exist their own administrative units.

In addition, in Libya there are three historical provinces, from the unification of which, in fact, in its time and formed a single state: Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. The centers of these informal components, respectively, are Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha.

State Symbols

The national flag of Libya since 2011 is a cloth with a red, black and green stripes, located from the top down. In the center of the banner is an Islamic crescent with a star. This flag was used as a state flag in the time of the Kingdom of Libya (1951-1969), but after the revolution Gaddafi was replaced by a red-white-black tricolor, and then, in 1977, on an absolutely green cloth.

At the moment there is no official emblem in the state of Libya, but there is a state emblem in the form of a yellow crescent and a star.

The national anthem from 2011 is the composition "Libya, Libya, Libya", which performed the same function during the monarchy. During the reign of Gaddafi, the musical work "Allah is Great" was used as a hymn.

Legal system

Currently, the legal system of the state of Libya is based on French, as well as Italian legal norms. At the same time, since the time of Gaddafi, the influence of Islamic law, in particular the Sharia, remains quite strong.

The country has a Constitutional Court, although the new Constitution has not yet been adopted. At the same time, the State of Libya has not yet recognized the jurisdiction of international courts.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that at the moment various parts of Libya are controlled by several factions, so, in fact, there is no single rule of law in the country that would extend to the entire territory of the state. In many parts of the country, the hard laws of Islamic law (sharia) act de facto.

sights

Ancient history has given us many cultural monuments that delight the eyes of tourists. Indeed, there are many historical places that the state of Libya can be proud of. There are places of interest in many regions of the country.

One of the most famous monuments of world culture, located in Libya, are the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater, which can be seen in the photo above. They are in Sabrath, west of Tripoli. This amphitheater was built during Roman rule and was intended for spectacles that were supposed to entertain the public, including for gladiatorial fights.

On the territory of the country there are other ruins of the ancient buildings of the Phoenicians and Romans. Especially famous among tourists is the ruins of the ancient city of Leptis Magna, founded by Phoenician colonists, but then adopted the Roman way of life.

Among the constructions of the Islamic period, it is especially possible to highlight the Ahmad Pasha Karamanli mosque, built in Tripoli by this ruler of Tripolitania in 1711. The Gurga and Al-Jami mosques are also quite interesting.

In addition, the UNESCO World Heritage Site includes rock paintings in the area of Tadrart-Akakus, whose age reaches 14,000 years.

At the time of Gaddafi, the Jamahiriya Museum was very popular among locals and tourists.

Truly, there is something to be proud of the people of Libya.

With faith in the future

From the very moment of his birth, Livia was experiencing difficult periods. After the fall of the Gaddafi regime, many people were confident that the bright times of real democracy and the triumph of law would come. But their hopes were not to be realized, since the country was mired in the abyss of civil war, into which foreign powers interfere to some extent.

Currently, Libya is actually split into several parts, which either require broad autonomy from the central government, or do not recognize it at all. At the same time, no one denies the Libyan people's right to build a peaceful democratic society, in which the rule of law will be at the forefront. Of course, the Libyans will sooner or later reach this goal. But only when it will be - a big question.