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In Greek mythology, Libya was a daughter of Memphis and Epaphus. Poseidon loved her. The country, Libya, described below, was named after her.
Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (al-Jamāhīrīyah al-’Arabīya al-Lībīyah ash-Shabīyah al-Ishtirākīyah) is a Muslim country in North Africa. Its capital is Tripoli.
(Note that in ancient Greece, Libya is used in a broader meaning, encompassing all of North Africa west of Egypt. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and the Cyrenaica.) In mythology, Dido came from Libya.
Since 1969 Libya has been ruled by Colonel Moammar Al Qadhafi, who came to power in a coup and deposed the Libyan monarchy.
The Libyan system of government is quite unusual. Qadhafi claims that Libya is a "pure socialist state", and as such the formal institutions of government are purposely quite vague. Qadhafi himself is not even technically the "President" or "Prime Minister" of the country, and instead describes himself as a sort of "guide" to help the Libyan people in socialism. Libya has no constitution, and the laws of the land come from Islamic law, and Qadhafi's "Green Book" of political philosophy.
In practice, however, Libya is essentially a dictatorship, with Qadhafi ruling by decree, assisted by a small clique of military and political officials. Libya has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, and state sponsored terrorism.
On September 12, 2003, the United Nations ended sanctions against Libya which had been imposed in 1992 following the Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie disaster. The sanctions were lifted after Libya agreed to accept responsibility and make payment of US$2.7 billion to the families of those who died in the bombing.
- History of Libya
- Geography of Libya
- Demographics of Libya
- Politics of Libya
- Economy of Libya
- Communications in Libya
- Transportation in Libya
- Military of Libya
- Foreign relations of Libya
- Libya's wars against other Arab states are discussed in the entry Middle East conflict.
Some of the material in this article was taken from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website.