Libya

My name is Jadallah Azooz El-Talhi and today I’m going to be writing my first blog entry. I’m Libyan and after all Libya’s been through lately I find it very fitting writing my first blog entry about my home country Libya.


Libya is located in northern Africa and is bordered by Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Chad, Sudan and Niger. Libya is one of the largest countries in Africa. Despite its size Libya is sparsely populated. The Sahara, the vast desert of northern Africa, covers much of the country. Nearly all of Libya’s inhabitants live near the coast. Tripoli, located on the Mediterranean coast, is the capital and largest city.


Most of Libya’s people are descended from a mixture of Berbers, the country’s original inhabitants, and Arabs, who arrived in the 7th century ad. Small numbers of Berbers still live in the extreme south of the country. The great majority of the people are Muslims, and Islam is the official state religion. Arabic is the official language.


Libya was a poor country until the discovery of oil in the 1950s. Since then its large reserves of petroleum have made Libya one of the wealthiest countries in Africa. Many of its people, however, still live by farming and grazing livestock, despite the extremely limited amount of good farmland.


The site of ancient Phoenician, Roman, and Arab settlements, Libya was colonized by Italy in the early 20th century. The country became an independent monarchy in 1951, and in 1969 young army officer Muammar al-Qaddafi seized power. Qaddafi proceeded to create a new Libya based on his theories of socialism and Arab nationalism. He renamed the country the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. The word Jamahiriya was coined by Qaddafi, who defines it as a state run by its entire people. Most outsiders viewed Libya as a military dictatorship, however.


In 2011, the colonel's autocratic government was brought to an end by a six-month uprising and ensuing civil war. The country is currently governed by the National Transitional Council that emerged from the rebellion and has pledged to turn Libya into a pluralist, democratic state.


Interesting facts about libya:

·      Libya has the highest literacy rate of any country in North Africa (82% of the population can read and write).

·      The Libyan Desert covers most of Libya. It is very arid and, in some places, it only rains once every 10 or more years!

·      It is illegal to consume alcohol in Libya.

·      Bread costs only $0.15 per loaf.

·      Libya does not owe money.

·      Libya boasts of 685,524 sq miles of territorial land and a population 0f 6.4 million, as per UN surveys of 2009.

·      Libya imports about 75% of its food.

·      Libya enjoys a Mediterranean, coastal dry and extreme desert interior climate.

                                                                 
                                                                   Map of Libya

                                             
                                                      Libya's new flag after the revolution

                                                  
                           Last but not least Bazeen! , A well known Libyan dish.

By: Jadallah (Jad) Azooz.

Grd. 10B