1.
2012 Benghazi attack
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The 2012 Benghazi attack that September was coordinated against two United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia. September 11, members of Ansar al-Sharia attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi resulting in the deaths of U. S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith. Stevens was the first U. S. ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979. At the behest of the CIA, top U. S. officials initially described the attacks as the results of a spontaneous protest triggered by recently released anti-Muslim video, Innocence of Muslims. Subsequent investigations showed that the attack was premeditated – although rioters and looters not acting with the group may have joined in after the attacks begun. The National Review later labeled the attack Battle of Benghazi, a name that has since used to refer to the attacks by several media outlets. There is no evidence that al-Qaeda or any other international terrorist organization participated in the Benghazi attack. The United States immediately increased security worldwide at diplomatic and military facilities, many Libyans have condemned the attacks. They staged public demonstrations condemning Ansar Al-Sharia, which had formed during the 2011 Libyan civil war in opposition to leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. State Department officials were criticized for denying requests for additional security at the consulate prior to the attack. In her role as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton subsequently took responsibility for the security lapses. On August 6,2013, it was reported that the U. S. had filed charges against several individuals alleged to have been involved in the attacks. Khattala has been described by Libyan and U. S. officials as the Benghazi leader of Ansar al-Sharia, the U. S. Department of State designated Ansar al-Sharia as a terrorist organization in January 2014. Khattala was captured in Libya by U. S. Army Special Operations Forces, within months of the start of the Libyan revolution in February 2011, the CIA began building a covert presence in Benghazi. During the war, elite counterterrorist operators from U. S, delta Force were deployed to Libya as analysts, instructing the rebels on specifics about weapons and tactics. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was named the first liaison with the Libyan opposition in March 2011, after the end of the war, both the CIA and the U. S. Eastern Libya and Benghazi were key intelligence-gathering hubs for intelligence operatives, by the time of the attack, dozens of CIA operatives were on the ground in Benghazi. In addition, it has reported that in the summer of 2012
2.
Libya
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The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya, the other large city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya. Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age, the Phoenicians established trading posts in western Libya, and ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks before becoming a part of the Roman Empire, Libya was an early center of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, in the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1943. During the Second World War Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign, the Italian population then went into decline. Libya became an independent kingdom in 1951, a military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I, beginning a period of sweeping social reform. Since then, Libya has experienced a period of instability, the European Union is involved in an operation to disrupt human trafficking networks exploiting refugees fleeing from wars in Africa for Europe. At least two political bodies claim to be the government of Libya, the Council of Deputies is internationally recognized as the legitimate government, but it does not hold territory in the capital, Tripoli, instead meeting in the Cyrenaica city of Tobruk. Parts of Libya are outside of either governments control, with various Islamist, rebel, the United Nations is sponsoring peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based factions. An agreement to form an interim government was signed on 17 December 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, a nine-member Presidency Council, the leaders of the new government, called the Government of National Accord, arrived in Tripoli on 5 April 2016. Since then the GNC, one of the two governments, has disbanded to support the new GNA. The name Libya was introduced in 1934 for Italian Libya, reviving the name for Northwest Africa. The name was based on use in 1903 by Italian geographer Federico Minutilli. It was intended to supplant terms applied to Ottoman Tripolitania, the region of what is today Libya having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911
3.
Cyrenaica
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Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya. Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it formed part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into Libya Pentapolis, during the Islamic period, the area came to be known as Barqa, after the city of Barca. In a wider sense, still in use, Cyrenaica includes all of the part of Libya. Cyrenaica borders on Tripolitania in the northwest and on Fezzan in the southwest, the region that used to be Cyrenaica officially until 1963 has formed several shabiyat, the administrative divisions of Libya, since 1995. The 2011 Libyan Civil War started in Cyrenaica, which came largely under the control of the National Transitional Council for most of the war. Geologically, Cyrenaica rests on a mass of Miocene limestone that tilts up steeply from the Mediterranean Sea and this mass is divided into two blocks. The Jebel Akhdar extends parallel to the coast from the Gulf of Sidra to the Gulf of Bomba, there is no continuous coastal plain, the longest strip running from the recess of Gulf of Sidra past Benghazi to Tolmeita. Thereafter, except for deltaic patches at Susa and Derna, the shore is all precipitous, a steep escarpment separates the coastal plain from a relatively level plateau, known as the Marj Plain, which lies at about 300 meters elevation. Above the Marj Plain lies a plateau at about 700 meters elevation. The Jebel Akhdar and its adjacent coast are part of the Mediterranean woodlands and forests ecoregion, the plant communities of this portion of Cyrenaica include forest, woodland, maquis, garrigue, steppe, and oak savanna. Small areas of maquis are found on north-facing slopes near the sea, juniperus phoenicea, Pistacia lentiscus, Quercus coccifera and Ceratonia siliqua are common tree and large shrub species in the maquis. Areas of red soil are found on the Marj Plain, which has borne abundant crops of wheat, plenty of springs issue on the highlands. Wild olive trees are abundant, and large areas of oak savanna provide pasture to the flocks, historically large areas of range were covered in forest. The forested area of the Jebel Akhdar has been shrinking in recent decades, a 1996 report to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that the forested area was reduced to 320,000 hectares from 500,000 hectares, mostly cleared to grow crops. The Green Mountain Conservation and Development Authority estimates that the area decreased from 500,000 hectares in 1976 to 180,000 hectares in 2007. The lower Jebel el-Akabah lies to the south and east of the Jebel Akhdar, the two highlands are separated by a depression. This eastern region, known in ancient times as Marmarica, is drier than the Jebel Akhdar. Historically, salt-collecting and sponge fishing were more important than agriculture, Bomba and Tobruk have good harbors
4.
Districts of Libya
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There are twenty-two districts of Libya, known by the term shabiyah. In the 1990s these replaced the older baladiyat system, historically the area of Libya was considered three provinces, Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest. It was the conquest by Italy in the Italo-Turkish War that united them in a political unit. Under the Italians Libya was eventually divided into four provinces and one territory, Tripoli, Misrata, Benghazi, Derna, and the Territory of the Libyan Sahara. After the French and British occupied Libya in 1943, it was split into three provinces, Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan-Ghadames in the southwest. Article 176 of the 1951 constitution of Libya stated The Kingdom of Libya shall be divided into administrative units in conformity with the law to be promulgated in this connection, local and regional councils may be formed in the Kingdom. The extent of these units shall be determined by law which shall likewise organize these Councils. in exact quote, after independence, Libya was divided into three governorates, matching the three provinces of before, but in 1963 it was divided into ten governorates. In 1983 a new system was introduced dividing the country into forty-six districts, in 1987 this was reduced to twenty-five districts. On 2 August 1995, Libya reorganized into thirteen districts, in 1998 this was increased to 26 shabiyat districts. In 2001 it was increased to thirty-two districts plus three administrative regions, finally in 2007 it was reduced to twenty-two districts. For historical evolution see also, Subdivisions of Libya, Libyan districts are further subdivided into Basic Peoples Congresses which act as townships or boroughs. Shabiyah is an exclusive to Libya under Gaddafi, in line with exclusive terms for republic, ministry. The term basically means a district, that is, a top level administrative division, etymologically, it is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the people, popular. In 2007 the current twenty-two districts replaced the older thirty-two district system, among them were Butnan, Jabal al Akhdar, Jabal al Gharbi, Zawiya, Benghazi, and Tripoli. However, there is not agreement about the seven names. Baladiyah or baladiyat, are Arabic words used in many Arab countries to denote administrative divisions of the country, in Libya, the baladiyat system of districts was introduced in 1983 to replace the governorate system. Originally there were forty-six baladiyat districts, but in 1988 that number was reduced to twenty-five baladiyat, the table hereunder lists the old twenty-five baladiyat in alphabetical order with a link to each one and numbered to be located on the map. Note that each district linked may be both a baladiyah and a shabiyah, the many changes may not always be reflected in the article
5.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
6.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
7.
Eastern European Time
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Eastern European Time is one of the names of UTC+02,00 time zone,2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight saving time, so that it uses UTC+03,00 during the summer, a number of African countries use UTC+02,00 all year long, where it is called Central Africa Time, although Egypt and Libya also use the term Eastern European Time. The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time all year round, Egypt, since 21 April 2015, used EEST from 1988–2010, Kaliningrad Oblast, since 26 October 2014, also used EET in years 1945 and 1991–2011. Libya, since 27 October 2013, switched from Central European Time, used year-round EET from 1980–1981, 1990–1996 and 1998–2012. Belarus, in years 1922–30 and 1990–2011 In Poland this time was used in years 1918–22, in time of World War II, Germany implemented MET in east occupied territories. Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol used EET as part of Ukraine in years 1991-94 and 1996-2014 Turkey, used EET in years 1910-1978, now uses year round DST timezone called Further-eastern European Time or Turkey Time. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also uses FET, sometimes, due to its use on Microsoft Windows, FLE Standard Time or GTB Standard Time are used to refer to Eastern European Time. Since political, in addition to geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones. The EET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, the easternmost part of the Republic of Macedonia, including the city of Strumica. The absolutely easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, the easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51 E, which is located east of even of the central meridian of UTC+2, i. e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The Norwegian-Russian border is the place where CET borders Moscow time. There is a point at the Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint, near the town of Rayakoski. Belarus is located between 23°11′E and 32°47′E and is fully located with the physical UTC+2 area, but it uses UTC+3 year around. This also includes the city of Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, the Norway–Russia–Finland tri-zone point at Muotkavaara is surrounded by three different times in winter, two in summer. It had three time zones year-around before 2014, two of the four tripoints of Belarus and the tripoint of the Kaliningrad Region are surrounded by three different times in winter
8.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
9.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
10.
Tripoli
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Tripoli is the capital city and the largest city of Libya. Tripoli, with its area, has a population of about 1.1 million people. The city is located in the part of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean. Tripoli includes the Port of Tripoli and the countrys largest commercial and it is also the site of the University of Tripoli. The vast Bab al-Azizia barracks, which includes the family estate of Muammar Gaddafi, is also located in the city. Colonel Gaddafi largely ruled the country from his residence in this barracks, Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians, who named it Oea. Due to the long history, there are many sites of archaeological significance in Tripoli. Tripoli may also refer to the shabiyah, the Tripoli District, Tripoli is also known as Tripoli-of-the-West, to distinguish it from its Phoenician sister city Tripoli, Lebanon known in Arabic as Ṭarābulus al-Sham meaning Levantine Tripoli. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean, describing its turquoise waters, Tripoli English pronunciation, /ˈtrɪpəli/ is a Greek name that means Three Cities, introduced in Western European languages through the Italian Tripoli. In Arabic, طرابلس it is called Ṭarābulus, compare Sanskrit, tri meaning the number 3, and pura meaning a fortress, castle, city or town. Hence, in Sanskrit Tripura also means Three Cities, the city then passed into the hands of the rulers of Cyrenaica, although the Carthaginians later wrested it from the Greeks. By the later half of the 2nd century BC it belonged to the Romans, who included it in their province of Africa, and gave it the name of Regio Syrtica. Around the beginning of the 3rd century AD, it known as the Regio Tripolitana. It was probably raised to the rank of a province by Septimius Severus. In spite of centuries of Roman habitation, the only visible Roman remains, apart from scattered columns, the fact that Tripoli has been continuously inhabited, unlike e. g. Following the conquest, Tripoli was ruled by dynasties based in Cairo, Egypt, for some time it was a part of the Berber Almohad empire and of the Hafsids kingdom. It was part of the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 19th centuries, finding themselves in very hostile territory, the Knights enhanced the citys walls and other defenses. Though built on top of a number of buildings, much of the earliest defensive structures of the Tripoli castle are attributed to the Knights of St John
11.
Idris of Libya
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Idris, GBE, was a Libyan political and religious leader who served as the Emir of Cyrenaica and then as the King of Libya from 1951 to 1969. He was the chief of the Senussi Muslim order, Idris was born into the Senussi Order. When his cousin, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, abdicated as leader of the Order, Cyrenaica was facing invasion from the Italians. Idris then led his Order in an attempt to conquer the eastern part of the Tripolitanian Republic. Following the Second World War, the United Nations General Assembly called for Libya to be granted independence and it established the United Kingdom of Libya through the unification of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fazzan, appointing Idris to rule it as king. Wielding significant political influence in the country, he banned political parties. He established links to the Western powers, allowing the United Kingdom, after oil was discovered in Libya in 1959, he oversaw the emergence of a growing oil industry that rapidly aided economic growth. While in Turkey for medical treatment, Idris was deposed in a 1969 coup detat by army officers led by Muammar Gaddafi and he became chief of the Senussi order in 1916 following the abdication of his cousin Sayyid Ahmed Sharif es Senussi. He was recognized by the British under the new emir of the territory of Cyrenaica. He was also installed as Emir of Tripolitania on 28 July 1922, Idris family claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter, Fatimah. The Senusi were a revivalist Sunni Islamic sect who were based largely in Cyrenaica, by the end of the nineteenth century the Senusi Order had established a form of government in Cyrenaica, unifying its tribes, controlling its pilgrimage and trade routes, and collecting taxes. After the Italian army invaded Cyrenaica in 1913 as part of their invasion of Libya. When the Orders leader, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, abdicated his position, he was replaced by Idris, pressured to do so by the Ottoman Empire, Admed had pursued armed attacks against British military forces stationed in neighbouring Egypt. On taking power, Idris put a stop to these attacks, instead he established a tacit alliance with the British, which would last for half a century and accord his Order de facto diplomatic status. Using the British as intermediaries, Idris led the Order into negotiations with the Italians in July 1916 and these resulted in two agreements, Al-Zuwaytina in April 1916 and Akrama in April 1917. The latter of these treaties left most of inland Cyrenaica under the control of the Senussi Order, relations between the Senussi Order and the newly established Tripolitanian Republic were acrimonious. The Senusi attempted to extend their power into eastern Tripolitania. At the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire signed an agreement in which they ceded their claims over Libya to Italy
12.
Senussi
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The Senussi or Sanussi are a Muslim political-religious tariqa and tribe in Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi, the Algerian Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi. Senussi was concerned with what it saw as both the decline of Islamic thought and spirituality and the weakening of Muslim political integrity, from 1902 to 1913 the Senussi fought French colonial expansion in the Sahara and the Kingdom of Italys colonisation of Libya beginning in 1911. In World War I, they fought the Senussi Campaign against the British in Egypt, during World War II, the Senussi tribe provided vital support to the British Eighth Army in North Africa against Nazi German and Fascist Italian forces. The Grand Senussis grandson became king Idris of Libya in 1951, in 1969, Idris I was overthrown by a military coup led by Muammar Gaddafi. The Senussi order has been closed to Europeans and outsiders, leading reports of their beliefs. Though it is possible to gain insight from the lives of the Senussi sheikhs further details are difficult to obtain. Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi, the founder of the order and a proponent of Sufism, was born in Algeria near Mostaganem and was named al-Senussi after a venerated Muslim teacher. He was a member of the Walad Sidi Abdalla tribe, and was a sharif tracing his descent from Fatimah, the pious scholar was forceful in his criticism of the Egyptian ulama for what he perceived as their timid compliance with the Ottoman authorities and their spiritual conservatism. He also argued that learned Muslims should not blindly follow the four classical madhhabs, not surprisingly, he was opposed by the ulama as unorthodox and they issued a fatwa against him. Senussi went to Mecca, where he joined Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi, the head of the Khadirites, a religious fraternity of Moroccan origin. On the death of al-Fasi, Senussi became head of one of the two branches into which the Khadirites divided, and in 1835 he founded his first monastery or zawiya, at Abu Qubays near Mecca. Due to Wahhabi pressure Senussi left Mecca and settled in Cyrenaica, Libya in 1843, there he was supported by the local tribes and the Sultan of Wadai and his connections extended across the Maghreb. The Grand Senussi did not tolerate fanaticism and forbade the use of stimulants as well as voluntary poverty, lodge members were to eat and dress within the limits of Islamic law and, instead of depending on charity, were required to earn their living through work. He accepted neither the wholly intuitive ways described by some Sufi mystics nor the rationality of some of the ulama, rather. The Bedouin tribes had no interest in the ecstatic practices of the Sufis that were gaining adherents in the towns. In 1855 Senussi moved farther from direct Ottoman surveillance to Jaghbub and he died in 1860, leaving two sons, Mahommed Sherif and Mohammed al-Mahdi, who succeeded him. Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi bin Sayyid Muhammad as-Senussi was fourteen when his father died, the successors to the sultan of the Abu Qubays, Sultan Ali and the Sultan Yusef, continued to support the Senussi. Under al-Mahdi the zawiyas of the order extended to Fez, Damascus, Constantinople, in the Hejaz members of the order were numerous
13.
Tripolitania
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Tripolitania /trᵻpɒlᵻˈteɪniə/ or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya. Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934, from 1934 to 1963, Tripolitania was one of three administrative divisions within Italian Libya and the Kingdom of Libya, alongside Cyrenaica to the east and Fezzan to the south. Because the city and the shabiyah are nowadays almost coextensive, the term Tripolitania has more historical than contemporary value, the system of administrative divisions that included Tripolitania was abolished in the early 1970s in favor of a system of smaller-size municipalities or baladiyat. The baladiyat system was changed many times and has lately become the Shabiyat system. The region that was Tripolitania is now composed of several smaller baladiyat or shabiyat – see administrative divisions in Libya, the city of Oea, on the site of modern Tripoli, was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC. It was conquered by the Greek rulers of Cyrenaica, who were in turn displaced by the Carthaginians, the Greek name Τρίπολις three cities referred to Oea, Sabratha and Leptis Magna. The Roman Republic captured Tripolitania in 146 BC, and the area prospered during the Roman Empire period, the Latin name Regio Tripolitania dates to the 3rd century. The Vandals took over in 435, and were in turn supplanted by the offensive of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 530s. In the 7th century, Tripolitania was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate, and was inherited by its descendants the Umayyads, the Fatimids, established a Caliphate from Tunisia to Syria. In the 1140s, the Normans of Sicily invaded Tripoli, but were ousted by the Almohad Caliphate in 1158, emir Abu Zakariya, an Almohad vassal, established an independent state in Tunisia in 1229 and took control of Tripolitania shortly after. The Hafsids would control the region until the Ottoman conquest of 1553, Ottoman Tripolitania extended beyond the region of Tripolitania proper, also including Cyrenaica. Tripolitania became effectively independent under the rulers of the Karamanli dynasty from 1711 until Ottoman control was re-imposed by Mahmud II in 1835, Ottoman rule persisted until 1911–12, when it was captured by Italy in the Italo-Turkish War. Italy officially granted autonomy after the war, but gradually occupied the region, after World War I, an Arab Republic, Al-Jumhuriya al-Trabulsiya, or Tripolitanian Republic, declared the independence of Tripolitania from Italian Libya. The proclamation of the Tripolitanian Republic in autumn 1918 was followed by a declaration of independence at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. This was the first formally declared republican form of government in the Arab world, but it gained support from international powers. Italy managed to establish control over Libya by 1930. Originally administered as part of a colony, Italian Tripolitania was a separate colony from 26 June 1927 to 3 December 1934. The Italian fascists constructed the Marble Arch as a form of a triumphal arch at the border between Tripolitani and Cyrenaica near the coast
14.
National Transitional Council
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The formation of the NTC was announced in the city of Benghazi on 27 February 2011 with the purpose to act as the political face of the revolution. On 5 March 2011, the council issued a statement in which it declared itself to be the legitimate body representing the people of Libya. An executive board, chaired by Mahmoud Jibril, was formed by the council on 23 March 2011 after being de facto assembled as a team since 5 March 2011. The NTC issued a Constitutional Declaration in August 2011 in which it set up a road-map for the transition of the country to a democracy with an elected government. The council gained international recognition as the governing authority in Libya. In referring to the Libyan state, the council used simply Libya, the UN formally recognized the country as Libya in September 2011, based on a request from the Permanent Mission of Libya citing the Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration of 3 August 2011. In November 2011, the ISO 3166-1 was altered to reflect the new country name Libya in English, after popular movements overturned the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt, Libyas immediate neighbours to the west and east, Libya experienced a full-scale uprising beginning in February 2011. By 20 February, the unrest had spread to Tripoli, much of Libya had slipped out of Gaddafis control, falling to anti-Gaddafi forces. Eastern Libya, centered around the second largest city and vital port of Benghazi, was firmly under the control of the opposition, the opposition began to organise themselves into a functioning government. Anti-Gaddafi forces marched on Sirte on 28 September 2011, Gaddafi loyalists delayed the attack with the use of their snipers. The fight for Sirte ended on 20 October with the capture of the town, on 24 February 2011, politicians, former military officers, tribal leaders, academics and businessmen held a meeting in the eastern city of Bayda. The meeting was chaired by former justice minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the delegates discussed proposals for interim administration with many delegates asking for UN intervention in Libya. The podium at the meeting displayed the pre-Jamahiriya flag, on 25 February, Al Jazeera TV reported that talks were taking place between personalities from eastern and western Libya to form an interim government for the post-Gaddafi era. The following day, former justice minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil was announced to be leading the process of forming an interim body, to be based in Benghazi. Jalil stated that Gaddafi alone bore responsibility for the crimes that have occurred in Libya, he insisted on the unity of Libya. The efforts to form an alternative government have been supported by the Libyan ambassador in the United States, the Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Omar Al Dabashi, stated that he supported a new alternative government in principle. A National Transitional Council was formed on 27 February to act as the face of the revolution. He later clarified that an airstrike mandated by the United Nations would not be considered a foreign intervention, an Al Jazeera journalist in Benghazi reported that a fully fledged interim government would not be formed until Tripoli was under opposition control
15.
Libyan Airlines
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Libyan Airlines, formerly known as Libyan Arab Airlines over several decades, is the flag carrier of Libya. Based in Tripoli, it scheduled passenger and cargo services within Libya and to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Benina International Airport in Benghazi serves as a secondary base, the company is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization and the International Air Transport Association. It is wholly owned by the government of Libya, the carrier traces its roots back to September 1964 when Kingdom of Libya Airlines was set up in conformity with law no.22. The airline was government-owned, having an initial investment of LYD2 million and it began operations flying regional routes in August 1965 using Sud SE-210 Caravelle equipment. The early years saw Air France providing the company with technical assistance, KLM managing the sales and reservations, and BOAC taking care of traffic, finance and communications. In March 1966, the airline and ATI struck an agreement for the lease of Fokker F27 aircraft to cover short-haul routes, a third Caravelle was ordered in 1968. The report concluded that the lease of the turboprop F-27s was too costly, regarding the jet aircraft, the Boeing 727 and the Trident were the only options. Following the 1969 coup détat, the airline was renamed Libyan Arab Airlines, or Jamahiriya Libyan Air Lines, the company suspended its operations for two weeks after the coup. With Beirut and Geneva already being part of the network by March 1970. In August 1970, Libyan Arab Airlines ordered two Boeing 727-200s for USD14 million and these two aircraft were part of the fleet by May 1971, along with three Caravelles and two Fokker F27s. Six Fokker F27s —four Mk600s and two Mk400s— were purchased in April 1974, and in May the same year, three additional Boeing 727-200s were ordered, aimed at replacing the Caravelles, in 1975, Libyan Arab Airlines was made the only operator within the country. Furthermore, the government committed to cancel their debts with the company on a monthly basis, also in 1975, the six F27s ordered the previous year were delivered, and the three-strong Boeing 727 order was partly fulfilled when two of these aircraft were incorporated into the fleet. By April 1976, there were 12 aircraft in the fleet, including four Boeing 727s, four Fokker F27-600s, two more Boeing 727s were acquired in May 1976, in August that year, the carrier took delivery of a Boeing 707-320C to be used by the government. During the year, the Tripoli–Frankfurt–Athens–Tunis–Casablanca and Benghazi–Rome–London routes were launched, the handover of two Boeing 727-200 Advanced aircraft, due to be delivered in June and July 1978, was blocked due to concerns that Libya was supporting terrorism. Also in 1979, a subsidiary named Libyan Arab Air Cargo was set up. During the year, Madrid, Moscow, Sofia and Warsaw were included in the airlines list of destinations. By mid-1980, the number of employees had grown to 2,500, in May 1981 Libyan Arab Airlines ordered eight 44-seater Fokker F27-600s in a deal worth more than £17 million
16.
National Oil Corporation
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The National Oil Corporation is the national oil company of Libya. It dominates Libyas oil industry, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, of NOCs subsidiaries, the largest oil producer is the Waha Oil Company, followed by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, Zueitina Oil Company, and Sirte Oil Company. Libya is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa,41.5 Gbbl as of January 2007, up from 39.1 Gbbl in 2006. About 80% of Libya’s proven oil reserves are located in the Sirte Basin Province, the province ranks 13th among the world’s petroleum provinces, having known reserves of 43.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Libya has attracted hydrocarbon exploration since 1956, when the first wildcat oil well was drilled onshore in the Sirte Basin, Libya granted multiple concessions to Esso, Mobil, Texas Gulf, and others, resulting in major oil discoveries by 1959. In 1969, the Idrissid monarchy was overthrown in a coup led by Muammar Gaddafi. He eventually elaborated a new theory of the state in all productive units. As part of his vision, the National Oil Corporation was established on 12 November 1970, the company’s first Chairman was Salem Mohammed Amesh, who was later replaced by Omar Muntasir. Under its articles of incorporation, NOC was legally restricted to Production sharing agreements with oil companies where the latter assumed all risks associated with exploration. In July 1970, further legislation made NOC responsible for marketing all domestic oil products, as part of this program, NOC signed production-sharing agreements with Occidental Petroleum, Sincat, and formed a joint drilling company with Saipem. This was accompanied by nationalization of ConocoPhillipss Umm Farud field in 1970, British Petroleums Sarir field in 1971 and Amocos Sahabir field in 1976. After commencement of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, Saudi Arabia, Libya, additionally, the NOC had encountered legal actions by BP over claims of ownership. Although the 1973 oil crisis increased global demand, BPs legal position made some countries wary of importing from Libya, NOC compensated for this weakness by arranging barter deals with France and Argentina. On March 18,1974, the Arab oil ministers ended the US-embargo, during 1974, agreements reached with Exxon, Mobil, Elf Aquitaine and Agip provided production-sharing on an 85-15 basis onshore, 81-19 offshore. Eventually, all the companies agreed to partial nationalization, providing Libya with a substantial oil surplus. However, declining oil prices resulted in NOC selling back its production shares. Other concessions that were nationalized that year included those belonging to BP, Amoseas, Hunt, Arco, Esso, mobil-Gelsenberg was owned by the NOC, Mobil, and Gelsenberg. Overall, during 1976 the National Oil Corporation produced about 408,000 bbl/d, more importantly, accusations of terrorism and Libya’s growing friendship with the Soviet Union led to increased tensions with the West
17.
First Battle of Benghazi
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The First Battle of Benghazi occurred as part of the Libyan Civil War between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces in February 2011. The battle mainly took place in Benghazi, the second-largest city in Libya, with related clashes occurring in the nearby Cyrenaican cities of Bayda, in Benghazi itself most of the fighting occurred during a siege of the government-controlled Katiba compound. The fighting in Benghazi started on 17 February, after two days of protests in the city, security forces opened fire on protesters, killing 14. The next day, a procession for one of those killed passed the Katiba compound. Accounts differ on whether mourners began throwing stones first or the soldiers from Katiba opened fire without provocation, in the end, another 24 people from the opposition protesters were killed. Following the massacre, two policemen, who were accused of shooting the protestors, were hanged by the opposition, police and army personnel later withdrew from the city after being overwhelmed by protesters. Some army personnel joined the protesters and helped them seize the local state-controlled radio station, in Bayda, unconfirmed reports indicated that local police and riot control units joined the protesters. During the raid four soldiers were killed and 16 were wounded, by the end of 18 February, the only place that still housed a significant number of Gaddafi loyalists in Benghazi was the Katiba compound. On 19 February, another funeral procession passed the Katiba compound en route to the cemetery in an act of defiance and were fired upon by Gaddafi loyalists in the compound. By this time, some 325 mercenaries from southern Africa were flown into Benghazi, during 18 and 19 February, there were major retaliatory attacks by the opposition forces against the mercenaries. 50 of them were executed by the protesters in Bayda, some died when protestors burned down the police station in which they were locked up and 15 were lynched in front of the courthouse in Bayda. Following the second attack on a funeral, opposition forces commandeered bulldozers and tried to breach the walls of the Katiba compound, often retreating under heavy fire. As the fighting continued, a mob attacked an army base on the outskirts of Benghazi and forced the soldiers to give up their weapons. Opposition members then rammed these tanks into the Katiba compounds walls, days later, the burnt-out hulks of the armored vehicles could still be seen, stuck halfway into the breaches they had made. The fighting stopped on the morning of 20 February, another 30 people were killed during the previous 24 hours of fighting. A third funeral procession passed the Katiba compound, under the cover of the funeral, a suicide car-bomber attacked the compounds gates, blowing them up. Opposition fighters resumed their assault on the base, this time with reinforcements from Bayda, during the final attack on the compound,42 people were killed. The gate was open by a Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo, a 48-year-old man
18.
Muammar Gaddafi
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Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and he was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, but he came to rule according to his own Third International Theory. Gaddafi was born near Sirte to an impoverished Bedouin family and he became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. Within the military he founded a cell which, in a 1969 coup. Now in power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council, an Islamic modernist, he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted Islamic socialism. In 1973, he initiated a Popular Revolution with the formation of General Peoples Committees, purported to be a system of direct democracy and he outlined his Third International Theory that year, publishing these ideas in The Green Book. In 1977, Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called the Jamahiriya, officially he adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States, United Kingdom, from 1999, Gaddafi rejected Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatisation, rapprochement with Western nations, and Pan-Africanism, he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009–10. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring, protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya, the situation descended into civil war, in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council. The government was overthrown and Gaddafi, who had retreated to Sirte, was captured and killed by NTC militants, a highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libyas politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi was born in a tent near Qasr Abu Hadi and his family came from a small, relatively un-influential tribal group called the Qadhadhfa, who were Arabized Berber in heritage. His mother was named Aisha, and his father, Mohammad Abdul Salam bin Hamed bin Mohammad, was known as Abu Meniar, nomadic Bedouins, they were illiterate and kept no birth records. His parents only surviving son, he had three older sisters, Gaddafis upbringing in Bedouin culture influenced his personal tastes for the rest of his life, he preferred the desert over the city and would retreat there to meditate. According to later claims, Gaddafis paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, was killed by the Italian Army during the Italian invasion of 1911, at World War IIs end in 1945, Libya was occupied by British and French forces. Although Britain and France intended on dividing the nation between their empires, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that the country be granted political independence. In 1951, the UN created the United Kingdom of Libya, a state under the leadership of a pro-Western monarch, Idris. Gaddafis earliest education was of a nature, imparted by a local Islamic teacher. Subsequently moving to nearby Sirte to attend school, he progressed through six grades in four years
19.
Bayda, Libya
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Bayda - Elbeida, also spelled Az Zāwiyah al Bayḑā’, Zāwiyat al Bayḑā’, Beida El Beida and known as Beda Littoria under Italian colonial rule, is a commercial and industrial city in eastern Libya. It is located in the northern Cyrenaica, with a population 250,000 people, Bayda is the fourth-largest city in Libya. It is the city of the Jabal al Akhdar district. Baydas history stretches back to Ancient Greece, when it was known as Balagrae, the 2, 000-year-old ruins of the ancient Greek colony Cyrene are located nearby in Shahad. One of the greatest attractions in the city is the tomb of a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. For that reason, the city was known as Sidi Rafaa after him, after the arrival of Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi in the area in the 19th century, and the construction of a zawiya, the city was renamed Az Zawiya Al Bayda. The modern city was built in the 1950s and it was originally intended to be the new capital of Libya and most of the necessary government buildings were constructed there. Eventually, the plan to move the capital from Tripoli to Bayda was dropped, Bayda is the administrative seat for Jabal al Akhdar district. The town became known as az-Zawiya al-Bayḍāʾ because of the white painted zawiya, within time, the word zawiya was dropped and the city became known simply as Bayda. When the settlement was first founded by the Greeks, it was known as Balagrae, during Italian rule, the city was known as Beda Littoria. The zawiya still exists, but it is in a neglected state, the city is famous for the valleys and forests nearby, which are not found in the other cities of the Green Mountains—Akhdar Mountains. It is named the Green Mountains because they are covered by forests and woodlands, of which the best known are the Hamri, Alpellnj. The highest point in the Akhdar Mountains is around 850 metres, the Akhdar mountain range lies within the Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe ecoregion. The native flora has many closely related to those found in similar Greek, Italian. There are about 1,800 species of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub trees, plants, the forests are characterized by many oak species, junipers, pines, carobs, Albarbc, cypress, hawthorn, Chammari, and olive trees. There is a network of springs in most parts of the mountains. The forested areas and springs provide habitat supportive of a diversity of birds, beaches stretch along the chain for about 350 kilometres, in a diverse terrain with many coastal bays and inlets. Bayda is famous for the locale of Susa, a seaside resort on the Mediterranean Sea
20.
Tobruk
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Tobruk or Tubruq is a port city on Libyas eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border of Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000, Tobruk was the site of an ancient Greek colony and, later, of a Roman fortress guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica. Over the centuries, Tobruk also served as a waystation along the caravan route. By 1911, Tobruk had become an Italian military post, but during World War II, Allied forces, mainly the Australian 6th Division, took Tobruk on 22 January 1941. Rebuilt after World War II, Tobruk was later expanded during the 1960s to include a terminal linked by an oil pipeline to the Sarir oil field. King Idris of Libya had his palace at Bab Zaytun, Tobruk was traditionally a stronghold of the Senussi royal dynasty and one of the first to rebel against Colonel Gaddafi in the Arab Spring. Tobruk has a strong, naturally protected deep harbour and it is probably the best natural port in northern Africa, although due to the lack of important nearby land sites it is certainly not the most popular. The city is surrounded by a desert lightly populated with nomadic herdsmen who travel from oasis to oasis. There are many escarpments to the south of Tobruk and these escarpments generally have their high sides to the south and their low sides to the north. This constitutes a physical barrier between the north and south of Libya in the Tobruk area. Construction of the Tobruk-Ajdabiya road reduced the distance between two cities from 620 km to about 410 km. However, Tobruk suffers a serious saltwater intrusion problem, a factory for the desalination of sea water has been built there. Tobruk features a hot desert climate An ancient Greek agricultural colony, Αντίπυργος was once on the site of modern Tobruk, the name roughly meant across from Pyrgos, referring to a location in Crete across the Mediterranean Sea from Antipyrgos. In the Roman era, the became a Roman fortress guarding the Cyrenaican frontier. With the spread of Christianity, Antipyrgus became an episcopal see, only one of its ancient bishops is known by name, Aemilianus, who took part in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. No longer a residential bishopric, Antipyrgus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see, later the site became a way station on the caravan route that ran along the coast. The Hotel Tobruk was built in 1937, at the beginning of World War II, Libya was an Italian colony and Tobruk became the site of important battles between the Allies and Axis powers. Tobruk was strategically important to the conquest of Eastern Libya, then the province of Cyrenaica and this was of critical importance, as it made Tobruk an excellent place to supply a desert warfare campaign
21.
Ajdabiya
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Ajdabiya /ˌɑːdʒdəˈbiːə/, previously known as Agedabia or Ajdabya, is a town in and capital of the Al Wahat District in northeastern Libya. It is some 150 kilometres south of Benghazi, from 2001 to 2007 it was part of and capital of the Ajdabiya District. The town is divided into three Basic Peoples Congresses, North Ajdabiya, West Ajdabiya and East Ajdabiya, during the Libyan Civil War, the city changed hands several times between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces. Many civilians fled from the fighting, with one March 2011 report describing the city as a ghost town, Ajdabiya is situated in central northern Libya near the Mediterranean Sea coast at the eastern end of the Gulf of Sidra. It is located on a plain about 6.4 kilometres from the sea and is approximately 850 kilometres from the Libyan capital of Tripoli and 150 kilometres from Libyas second largest city. The city is the site of an important crossroads between the road from Tripoli to Benghazi and inland routes south to the oasis at Jalu and east to Tobruk. Ajdabiya lies close to the Sabkhat Ghuzayyil a large dry region below sea level, Ajdabiya has been identified as the site of the Roman city of Corniclanum, which is shown on the Peutinger Table of the Roman road network in the fourth or fifth centuries AD. The town passed to the Byzantine Empire following the fall of Rome, after sacking the town in 912, the Fatimids redeveloped Ajdabiya and built a new mosque and palace complex, the ruins of which can still be seen. Around 1051–52 it was sacked again, this time by the Beni Hilal and Banu Sulaym and it subsequently fell into a prolonged period of decline. In the 12th century, the Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi described Ajdabiya as a town situated on a flat and he wrote in his treatise Nuzhat al-Mushtaq, In olden times was surrounded by walls, but now only two forts remain standing in the desert. Ajdabiya is four miles distant from the sea, there is no vegetation in the town nor around it. The majority of its inhabitants are Jewish and Muslim merchants, around the town tribes of the Berber wander about in great numbers. The town was revived by the Ottomans to serve as a minor administrative centre for western Cyrenaica. In April 1923, however, the accord broke down and the Italians seized Ajdabiya, the town finally reverted to Allied control on November 23,1942 when it was recaptured by the British 7th Armoured Division. Ajdabiyas fortunes were transformed after the war by the development of the Libyan oil industry at nearby Brega, by 1979 it had become a boom town with a population of about 32,000 people. The bulk of the population worked in the oil industry. The town acquired a new area of housing, police stations, educational facilities. Ajdabiya was the site of anti-government protests on February 16–17,2011 in which up to ten people were said to have been killed, protesters quickly took control of the city and declared it to be a Free City after burning down the local government headquarters
22.
Marj
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Marj /ˈmɑːrdʒ/, also spelt El Merj, generally believed to be on the site of the ancient city of Barca or Barce, is a city in northeastern Libya and the administrative seat of the Marj District. It lies in an upland valley separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a range of hills and it has an estimated population of 85,315. There are a couple of banks on the street and the main post office is in the city centre. According to most archeologists, Marj marks the site of the ancient city of Barca, Marj grew around a Turkish fort built in 1842 and now restored. During the colonial dominance of Libya, the town was called Barce and was developed as an administrative and market centre, during the World War II North African campaign, the 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery won a battle for the region of Barce on 5 February 1941. The regiment commemorates this battle by naming the facilities at its base at Enoggera as Barce Lines, from 1942–1943, the town was the capital of British-occupied Cyrenaica. Most of it was destroyed by a 5.6 earthquake on 21 February 1963, major rebuilding was undertaken about 5 km from the old site, and was completed about 1970. During the Italian colonization of Libya, Al Marj had been the terminal of Bengasi-Barce Railroad. Nowadays, Al Marj is linked with Benghazi by two roads, the is running through Al Abyar. Al Marj is linked also with Lamluda by two roads, one is running through Al Bayda. The is running through Tacnis and Marawah, from Tacnis it leads to the Charruba–Timimi Road. Hamilton, James Wanderings in North Africa J. Murray, London, OCLC5659586, available at Google Books List of cities in Libya Al Marj, Libya
23.
Libyan Civil War (2011)
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The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council. In early March, Gaddafis forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before reaching Benghazi, a further UN resolution authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use all necessary measures to prevent attacks on civilians. The Gaddafi government then announced a ceasefire, but fighting continued, throughout the conflict, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting because the plans set forth did not include the removal of Gaddafi. On 16 September 2011, the National Transitional Council was recognised by the United Nations as the representative of Libya. Muammar Gaddafi remained at large until 20 October 2011, when he was captured and killed in Sirte, the National Transitional Council declared the liberation of Libya and the official end of the war on 23 October 2011. In the aftermath of the war, a low-level insurgency by former Gaddafi loyalists continued. A much greater issue has been the role of militias which fought in the civil war and these unresolved issues led directly to a second civil war in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi was the head of the Free Officers, a group of Arab nationalists that deposed King Idris I in 1969 in a bloodless coup and he abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951, considering it a neocolonial document. From 1969 until 1975 standards of living, life expectancy and literacy grew rapidly, in 1975 he published his manifesto The Green Book. He officially stepped down from power in 1977, and subsequently claimed to be merely a figurehead until 2011. Under Gaddafi, Libya was theoretically a decentralized, direct democracy state run according to the philosophy of Gaddafis The Green Book, according to Freedom House, however, these structures were often manipulated to ensure the dominance of Gaddafi, who reportedly continued to dominate all aspects of government. WikiLeaks disclosure of confidential US diplomatic cables revealed US diplomats there speaking of Gaddafis mastery of tactical maneuvering and this extended even to his own sons, as he repeatedly changed affections to avoid the rise of a clear successor and rival. Both Gaddafi and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, however, officially denied that he held any power, while he was popularly seen as a demagogue in the West, Gaddafi always portrayed himself as a statesman-philosopher. According to several Western media sources, Gaddafi feared a coup against his government. The Libyan Army consisted of about 50,000 personnel and its most powerful units were four crack brigades of highly equipped and trained soldiers, composed of members of Gaddafis tribe or members of other tribes loyal to him. One, the Khamis Brigade, was led by his son Khamis, local militias and Revolutionary Committees across the country were also kept well-armed. By contrast, regular units were poorly armed and trained. By the end of Gaddafis 42 years rule, Libyas population had a per capita income of $14,000, a broadly secular society was imposed
24.
Second Battle of Benghazi
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The Second Battle of Benghazi was a battle in the Libyan Civil War between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and anti-Gaddafi forces. On 18 March, Gaddafis forces bypassed Ajdabiya by using the roads instead of the roads directly linked with Ajdabiya. By night the loyalist troops had positioned themselves within kilometres of Benghazis two southern entry points, the southern gate being called the west gate. At 7,30 am local time on 19 March, Gaddafis forces began shelling the city. At around 9,00 am local time they entered the city from west, a rebel tank, aging and rusted, opened fire on the lead pro Gaddafi tank, damaging it and forced its occupants to abandon the vehicle. The tanks behind the vehicle all began a withdrawal from the area, under rebel fire. By 2,30 pm local time the fighters had repelled the first wave of loyalist forces out of the city. During the daytime battles, a rebel MiG-23 crashed to the ground in the outskirts of Benghazi, the pilot, Colonel Mohammed Mbarak al-Okaili, remained in the plane until moments before the crash before ejecting but was reported not to have survived the crash. The cause of the crash was unclear, but may have been an engine failure or friendly fire from rebel air-defences that had mistaken it for a loyalist plane. This prompted rebels to use loudspeakers, mainly from mosques, urging not to attack the planes – these are ours, at around 4,00 pm local time, French fighter jets entered Libyan airspace and flew over Benghazi, conducting aerial reconnaissance missions and preparing to intervene. Then, at 4,45 pm, coalition intervention began as a French fighter jet fired on, later, Al Jazeera reported that French fighter jets had destroyed at least four of the regimes forces tanks, however, this was not confirmed by France. According to Al Jazeera, some citizens of Benghazi were leaving the city, new reports from Al Jazeera/Pentagon relations told that American and British warships had launched cruise missiles at Libyan airfields, in a multi-phase operation called Odyssey Dawn. After that, the US planned to focus on the skirmishes on the ground, on the morning of the next day, air attacks were conducted against a loyalist tank column from 4, 00AM for two hours. It was confirmed by a Reuters reporter that at least seven tanks, admiral Mullen of the United States announced on 20 March, that the international coalition had stopped the regimes progression on Benghazi
25.
French Air Force
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The French Air Force is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, an arm of the French Army. The number of aircraft in service with the French Air Force varies depending on source, the French Air Force has 233 combat aircraft in service, with the majority being 125 Dassault Mirage 2000 and 108 Dassault Rafale. As of early 2016, the French Air Force employs a total of 42,607 regular personnel, the reserve element of the air force consisted of 5,187 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Minister of Defence is responsible for execution of military policy and he is advised by the Chief of Staff of the Armies in regard to the use of forces and the control of military operations. The Chief of Staff of the French Air Force determines the air force doctrines and advises the CEMA how to deploy French air assets and he is responsible for the preparation and logistic support of the air force. The French took active interest in developing the air force from 1909 and had the first World War I fighter pilots, in the post–World War II era, the French made a successful effort to develop a domestic aircraft industry. Dassault Aviation led the way mainly with delta-wing designs, which formed the basis for the Mirage series of jet fighters. The Mirage demonstrated its abilities in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, the Falklands War, the French Air Force participated in several protracted colonial wars in Africa and French Indochina after the Second World War, and continues to employ its air power in Africa. The Military Air Transport Command had previously formed in February 1962 from the Groupement dUnités Aériennes Spécialisées. The Dassault Mirage IV, the principal French strategic bomber, was designed to strike Soviet positions as part of the French nuclear triad, also created in 1964 was the Escadron des Fusiliers Commandos de lAir, seemingly grouping all FCA units. CFAS had two squadrons of S-3 IRBMs at the Plateau dAlbion, six squadrons of Mirage IVAs, coTAM counted 28 squadrons, of which ten were fixed-wing transport squadrons, and the remainder helicopter and liaison squadrons, at least five of which were overseas. CAFDA numbered 14 squadrons mostly flying the Mirage F. 1C, two other commands had flying units, the Air Force Schools Command, and the Air Force Transmissions Command, with four squadrons and three trials units. In 1994 the Commandement des Fusiliers Commandos de lAir was established, the French Air Force is expanding and replacing aircraft inventory. After an absence lasting several decades, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that France will rejoin the NATO integrated command, from 2008-2010 the Air Force underwent an organisational streamlining process. This project was called Air 2010, which was the year of the deadline for all transitions, the main targets of this project were to simplify the command structure, to regroup all military and civil air force functions and to rationalise and optimise all air force units. Five major commands, were formed, instead of the former 13, CDAOA CFA CSFA DRHAA SAGF The last remaining squadron of Dassault Mirage F1s were retired in July 2014 and replaced by the Rafale. The Chief of Staff of the French Air Force determines air force doctrine and he is responsible for the preparation and logistic support of the air force
26.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973
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United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, on the situation in Libya, is a measure that was adopted on 17 March 2011. The Security Council resolution was proposed by France, Lebanon, ten Security Council members voted in the affirmative. The arms embargo imposed by paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 would have prevented arms being supplied to anyone in Libya, however, the resolution modified resolution 1970 with the wording all necessary measures, notwithstanding paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 if doing so would protect civilians. Hillary Clinton argued that, though arming anti-Gaddafi forces was not being proposed at the time, * Permanent members of the Security Council are in bold. African members of the Security Council condemned the actions of the Libyan regime, the following day, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany would not take part in the military operation, but added, We unreservedly share the aims of this resolution. Our abstention should not be confused with neutrality, however, her foreign minister Guido Westerwelle had publicly stated his opposition to the resolution. India abstained because it perceived the resolution as being based on uncertain information, brazil too abstained noting the fundamental contradiction in using force to achieve an immediate end to violence and the protection of civilians. They believed that the use of force may have the effect of exacerbating tensions on the ground. The Brazilian Ambassador Mrs. Viotti further observed that. an important aspect of the movement in North Africa. On 18 March, Muammar Gaddafis government announced that they would comply with the resolution, however, it quickly became clear that no ceasefire had in fact been implemented. Libyan opposition forces in Benghazi cheered and fired guns and fireworks into the air as the resolution was adopted, a few hours before issuing the resolution, Gaddafi warned the opposition with a speech saying, We are coming tonight, and there will be no mercy. Military intervention in Libya began on 19 March, as jets of the French Air Force destroyed several pro-Gaddafi vehicles advancing on rebel stronghold Benghazi. A coalition of 10 states from Europe and the Middle East initially participated in the intervention, on 31 March, NATO assumed command of the operation. The intervention succeeded in preventing pro-Gaddafi forces from capturing Benghazi and this has been questioned as a possible violation of Resolution 1973 although the use of special forces is not prohibited by the resolution. As he puts it, NATO powers violated the resolution, radically, nothing in the resolution justified that. It did call for “all necessary steps” to protect civilians, analysis of resolution – BBC News
27.
History of Benghazi
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Libyas second largest city Benghazi, has a history which extends from when the city was first inhabited in the 6th century BCE to the present day. Throughout its history, the city has been conquered by different Ancient. Modern Benghazi lies in the province of Cyrenaica, an area which was colonised by the Greeks in antiquity. After the war of Othomi in 464-460 BC. the Messenians settled in Naupaktos, in 399 BC, expelled once more by the Spartians, they took final refuge in Euesperides. The Greek city that existed within the modern day boundaries of Benghazi was founded around 525 BC. It was called Euesperides and was one of five important cities in Cyrenaica known as the Pentapolis — the other four were the chief city Cyrene, its port Apollonia, Taucheira, and Barca. Euesperides was probably founded by people from Cyrene or Barca on the edge of a lagoon which opened from the sea, at the time, the lagoon may have been deep enough to receive small sailing vessels. The name Euesperides was attributed to the fertility of the area, the city was located on a raised piece of land opposite what is now the Sidi Abeid graveyard, in the Eastern Benghazi suburb of Sebkha Es-Selmani. The oldest coins minted in the city back to 480 BC. One side of the coin has an engraving of Delphi, whilst the other has an engraving of a silphium plant, silphium once formed the crux of trade from Cyranaica because of its use as a rich seasoning and as a medicine. The city was located in hostile territory surrounded by inhospitable tribes, the Greek historian Thucydides mentions a siege of the city in 414 BC. by Libyan tribes who were probably the Nasamones. Euesperides was saved by the arrival of Spartan general Gylippus and his fleet. Another important event in the history was the assassination of the Cyrenean king Arcesilaus IV. Cyrenaica was a supporter of Alexander the Great and subsequently part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. After the marriage of Ptolemy III to Berenice, daughter of the Cyrenean Governor Magas, around the middle of the 3rd century, Euesperides became Berenice and the change of name also involved a relocation. Its desertion was probably due to the silting up of the lagoons, Berenice, the Greek colony had lasted from the 6th to the mid-3rd centuries BC. The remains of settlement were discovered in the early 1950s by Mr. Frank Jowett. Cyrenaica became a Roman province when it was bequeathed to Rome by Ptolemy Apion on his death in 96 BC, at first, the Romans gave Berenice and the other cities of the Pentapolis their freedom
28.
Amphora
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An amphora is a type of container of a characteristic shape and size, descending from at least as early as the Neolithic Period. Amphorae were used in vast numbers for the transport and storage of various products and they are most often ceramic, but examples in metals and other materials have been found. The amphora complements the large container, the pithos, which makes available capacities between one-half and two and one-half tons. In contrast, the amphora holds under a half-ton, typically less than 100 pounds, the bodies of the two types have similar shapes. Where the pithos may have small loops or lugs for fastening a rope harness. The necks of pithoi are wide for scooping or bucket access, the necks of amphorae are narrow for pouring by a person holding it by the bottom and a handle. The handles might not be present, the size may require two or three handlers to lift. For the most part, however, an amphora was tableware, or sat close to the table, was intended to be seen, stoppers of perishable materials, which have rarely survived, were used to seal the contents. Two principal types of amphorae existed, the amphora, in which the neck and body meet at a sharp angle. Neck amphorae were used in the early history of ancient Greece. Most were produced with a base to allow upright storage by embedding in soft ground. The base facilitated transport by ship, where the amphorae were packed upright or on their sides in as many as five staggered layers. If upright, the bases probably were held by some sort of rack, heather and reeds might be used as packing around the vases. Racks could be used in kitchens and shops, the base also concentrated deposits from liquids with suspended solid particles, such as olive oil and wines. Amphorae are of use to maritime archaeologists, as they often indicate the age of a shipwreck. They are occasionally so well preserved that the content is still present, providing information on foodstuffs. Amphorae were too cheap and plentiful to return to their origin-point and so, amphora is a Greco-Roman word developing in ancient Greek during the Bronze Age. The Romans acquired it during the Hellenization that occurred in the Roman Republic, cato is the first known literary person to use it
29.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
30.
Cyrene, Libya
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Cyrene was an ancient Greek and Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya. It was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region and it gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times. Cyrene lies in a valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands. The city was named after a spring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo and it was also the seat of the Cyrenaics, a famous school of philosophy in the 3rd century BC, founded by Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates. It was then nicknamed the Athens of Africa, Grinus, son of Aesanius a descendant of Theras, and king of the island of Thera, had visited the Oracle and offered a hecatomb to the Oracle on sundry matters. The Oracle had offered the advice to found a new city in Libya, many years had passed and the advice was not taken, and Thera had succumbed to a horrific drought and all of the crops and trees had perished. Not knowing how to get to Libya they sent a messenger to Crete to find someone to lead them on their journey and they found a dealer in purple dyes named Corobius. He had once traveled to an island across from Libya called Platea, Grinus and Corobius sailed to Platea, when they reached their destination they left Corobius with months of supplies and Grinus went back to Thera to collect men to settle the newly made colony. After two years of settling the colony they had success and went back to the Oracle to get advice. The Oracle had repeated her advice to move directly to the country of Libya instead of across from Libya, so they moved to a place called Aziris. They settled there for six years, and were successful until the Libyans visited the settlement of Aziris to convince the people to move further inland. They were swayed by the Libyans to move and settled into what is now Cyrene, traditional details concerning the founding of the city are contained in Herodotus Histories IV. Cyrene promptly became the town of ancient Libya and established commercial relations with all the Greek cities. Soon after 460 BC it became a republic, in 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, Cyrene supplied Spartan forces with two triremes and pilots. After the death of Alexander the Great of Macedon, the Cyrenian republic became subject to the Ptolemaic dynasty, ophelas, the general who occupied the city in Ptolemy Is name, ruled the city almost independently until his death, when Ptolemys son-in-law Magas received governorship of the territory. In 276 BC Magas crowned himself king and declared de facto independence, the invasion was unsuccessful and in 250 BC, after Magas death, the city was reabsorbed into Ptolemaic Egypt. Cyrenaica became part of the Ptolemaic empire controlled from Alexandria, in 74 BC the territory was formally transformed into a Roman province. The inhabitants of Cyrene at the time of Sulla were divided into four classes, citizens, farmers, resident aliens, the ruler of the town, Ptolemy Apion, bequeathed it to the Romans, but it kept its self-government
31.
Barca (ancient city)
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Barca, also called Barce) is an Ancient city and former bishopric, which survives in both Latin Catholic and Orthodox titular see. Barca was an ancient Greek colony and later a Roman and a Byzantine city in North Africa and it was in the coastal area of what is today Libya. As a Greek city, it was part of the Cyrenaican Pentapolis along with the city of Cyrene itself, achaemenid king Darius I established Barcaean captives in a village in Bactria, which was still flourishing in Herodotus time. According to most archeologists, it was situated at Marj, no remains of the ancient settlement are visible at Marj, but some of the finds made there during the Italian colonial dominance of Libya are on display in the museum at Tolmeita. The citys name, Arabized as Barqah, came to refer to the former state, barce was part of the Exarchate of Africa until it was conquered by the Arabs in 643–644 during the Islamic conquest of North Africa. It originally served as the capital of the Barqah province of the Caliphate, when the Ottoman Turks conquered the region in 1521, they used the Turkish form Barka for the province, but did not retain the citys status as its capital. Early Christianity spread to the Pentapolis of North Africa from Egypt, synesius was raised to the episcopate by Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, in 410. In accordance with a ruling of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Pentapolis is therefore included in the titles used both by the The patriarch of the Coptic Church and by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. Although it was destroyed and then restored during the Roman period, becoming a mere borough, Barca was, nevertheless. The bishops who participated in the First Council of Nicaea in 325 included the Arian Zopyros of Barca. Zenobius signed the acts of the Council of Ephesus in 431 and Theodorus took part in the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449, the Metropolitan of Western Pentapolis held the most senior position in the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church after that of the Pope of Alexandria. Since the demise of that eparchy as a major Archiepiscopal Metropolis in the days of Pope John VI of Alexandria, also for the Catholic Church, Barca, no longer a residential bishopric, is today listed as a titular see. It has had the following incumbents, apollonia Ptolemais Herbermann, Charles, ed. Barca. Butler, The Arab Conquest of Egypt, p.430 Heinrich Gelzer, Patrum Nicaenorum nomina, p.231 Marquardt, Staatsverwaltung, I, p.459 Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte
32.
Hesperides
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In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunset, who were the Daughters of the Evening or Nymphs of the West. They tend a garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus. The name means originating from Hesperos, Hesperos, or vesper in Latin, is the origin of the name Hesperus, the evening star as well as having a shared root with the English word west. Ordinarily the Hesperides number three, like the other Greek triads, since the Hesperides themselves are mere symbols of the gifts the apples embody, they cannot be actors in a human drama. Their abstract, interchangeable names are a symptom of their impersonality and they are sometimes portrayed as the evening daughters of Night either alone, or with Darkness, in accord with the way Eos in the farthermost east, in Colchis, is the daughter of the titan Hyperion. Or they are listed as the daughters of Atlas, or of Zeus, in another source, the nymphs are said to be the daughters of Hesperus. Nevertheless, among the names given to them, though never all at once, is the colour of the setting sun, red, yellow or gold. Pseudo-Apollodorus gives the number of the Hesperides as four, named, Aigle, Erytheia, Hesperia, fulgentius gives four Hesperides, named, Aegle, Hesperie, Medusa and Arethusa. Apollonius of Rhodes gives their names as Aigle, Erytheis and Hespere, hyginus in his preface to the Fabulae names them as Aegle, Hesperie and Aerica. In another source, they are named Ægle, Arethusa and Hesperethusa, an ancient vase painting attests the following names as four, Asterope, Chrysothemis, Hygieia and Lipara, on another seven names as Aiopis, Antheia, Donakis, Kalypso, Mermesa, Nelisa and Tara. A Pyxis has Hippolyte, Mapsaura, and Thetis, petrus Apianus attributed to these stars a mythical connection of their own. He believed that they were the seven Hesperides, nymph daughters of the Atlas and their names were, Aegle, Erythea, Arethusa, Hestia, Hespera, Hesperusa and Hespereia. In the far west of the world, Hesperis is appropriately the personification of the evening and the Evening Star is Hesperus. In addition to their tending of the garden, they were said to have great pleasure in singing. Erytheia is one of the Hesperides, the name was applied to an island close to the coast of southern Hispania, which was the site of the original Punic colony of Gades. By Ephorus and Philistides it is called Erythia, by Timæus and Silenus Aphrodisias, the island was the seat of Geryon, who was overcome by Heracles. The Garden of the Hesperides is Heras orchard in the west, the trees were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus. The Hesperides were given the task of tending to the grove, not trusting them, Hera also placed in the garden a never-sleeping, hundred-headed dragon named Ladon as an additional safeguard
33.
Marsh
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A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species. Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams and they are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, Marshes provide a habitat for many species of plants, animals, and insects that have adapted to living in flooded conditions. The plants must be able to survive in wet mud with low oxygen levels, many of these plants therefore have aerenchyma, channels within the stem that allow air to move from the leaves into the rooting zone. Marsh plants also tend to have rhizomes for underground storage and reproduction, familiar examples include cattails, sedges, papyrus and sawgrass. Aquatic animals, from fish to salamanders, are able to live with a low amount of oxygen in the water. Some can obtain oxygen from the air instead, while others can live indefinitely in conditions of low oxygen, Marshes provide habitats for many kinds of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, waterfowl and aquatic mammals. Marshes have extremely high levels of production, some of the highest in the world. Marshes also improve water quality by acting as a sink to filter pollutants, Marshes are able to absorb water during periods of heavy rainfall and slowly release it into waterways and therefore reduce the magnitude of flooding. The pH in marshes tends to be neutral to alkaline, as opposed to bogs, Marshes differ depending mainly on their location and salinity. Both of these factors influence the range and scope of animal and plant life that can survive. The three main types of marsh are salt marshes, freshwater marshes, and freshwater marshes. These three can be found worldwide and each contains a different set of organisms, saltwater marshes are found around the world in mid to high latitudes, wherever there are sections of protected coastline. They are located close enough to the shoreline that the motion of the tides affects them and they flourish where the rate of sediment buildup is greater than the rate at which the land level is sinking. Salt marshes are dominated by specially adapted rooted vegetation, primarily salt-tolerant grasses, salt marshes are most commonly found in lagoons, estuaries, and on the sheltered side of shingle or sandspit. The currents there carry the fine particles around to the side of the spit. These locations allow the marshes to absorb the nutrients from the water running through them before they reach the oceans. Coastal development and urban sprawl has caused significant loss of these essential habitats, although considered a freshwater marsh, this form of marsh is affected by the ocean tides
34.
Herodotus
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Herodotus was a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire and lived in the fifth century BC, a contemporary of Socrates. The Histories is the work which he is known to have produced. Despite Herodotus historical significance, little is known of his personal life and his place in history and his significance may be understood according to the traditions within which he worked. His work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact, of these only fragments of Hecataeuss work survive yet they allow us glimpses into the kind of tradition within which Herodotus wrote his own Histories. In his introduction to Hecataeus’s work, Genealogies, This points forward to the ‘folksy’ yet ‘international’ outlook typical of Herodotus. Yet, one scholar has described the work of Hecataeus as “a curious false start to history” since despite his critical spirit. It is possible that Herodotus borrowed much material from Hecataeus, as stated by Porphyry in a recorded by Eusebius. But Hecataeus did not record events that had occurred in living memory, unlike Herodotus, Herodotus claims to be better informed than his predecessors by relying on empirical observation to correct their excessive schematism. For example, He argues for continental asymmetry as opposed to the theory of a perfectly circular earth with Europe. Yet, he retains idealizing tendencies, as in his notions of the Danube. His debt to previous authors of prose ‘histories’ might be questionable, however, this point is one of the most contentious issues in modern scholarship. It is on account of the strange stories and the folk-tales he reported that his critics in early modern times branded him “The Father of Lies”. Even his own contemporaries found reason to scoff at his achievement, similarly, the Athenian historian Thucydides dismissed Herodotus as a “logos-writer”. Moreover, Thucydides developed a historical topic more in keeping with the Greek world-view, the interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory. Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus’s own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with ancient yet much later sources, modern accounts of his life typically go something like this, Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus around 484 BC. His name is not mentioned later in the tribute list of the Athenian Delian League, the epic poet Panyassis – a relative of Herodotus – is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising. Herodotus expresses affection for the island of Samos, and this is an indication that he might have lived there in his youth. So it is possible that his family was involved in an uprising against Lygdamis, leading to a period of exile on Samos, Herodotus wrote his Histories in the Ionian dialect, yet he was born in Halicarnassus, which was a Dorian settlement
35.
Achaemenid Empire
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The Achaemenid Empire, also called the Persian Empire, was an empire based in Western Asia, founded by Cyrus the Great. The empires successes inspired similar systems in later empires and it is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city-states during the Greco-Persian Wars and for the emancipation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built in a Hellenistic style in the empire as well. By the 7th century BC, the Persians had settled in the portion of the Iranian Plateau in the region of Persis. From this region, Cyrus the Great advanced to defeat the Medes, Lydia, Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered the empire in its entirety by 330 BC. Upon his death, most of the former territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire. The Persian population of the central plateau reclaimed power by the second century BC under the Parthian Empire, the historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange. The impact of Cyruss edict is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts, the empire also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Iran. Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Due to the duration of their reigns, Smerdis, Xerxes II. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here, the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished, they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all of which are attached to the soil, the Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians. The Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by 6th century BC another group of ancient Iranian peoples had established the short lived Median Empire. The Iranian peoples had arrived in the region of what is today Iran c.1000 BC and had for a number of centuries fallen under the domination of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia. However, the Medes and Persians, Cimmerians, Persians and Chaldeans played a role in the overthrow of the Assyrian empire. The term Achaemenid means of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes, despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria. At some point in 550 BC, Cyrus rose in rebellion against the Medes, eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire
36.
Silphium
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Silphium was a plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning and as a medicine. It was the item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene. The valuable product was the plants resin, Silphium was an important species in prehistory, as evidenced by the Egyptians and Knossos Minoans developing a specific glyph to represent the silphium plant. It was used widely by most ancient Mediterranean cultures, the Romans considered it worth its weight in denarii, legend said that it was a gift from the god Apollo. The exact identity of silphium is unclear and it is commonly believed to be a now-extinct plant of the genus Ferula, perhaps a variety of giant fennel. The still-extant plant Ferula tingitana has been suggested as another possibility, another plant, asafoetida, was used as a cheaper substitute for silphium, and had similar enough qualities that Romans, including the geographer Strabo, used the same word to describe both. The identity of silphium is highly debated and it is generally considered to belong to the genus Ferula, probably as an extinct species. K. Parejko, writing on its extinction, concludes that because we cannot even accurately identify the plant we cannot know for certain whether it is extinct. The cause of silphiums supposed extinction is not entirely known, the plant grew along a narrow coastal area, about 125 by 35 miles, in Cyrenaica. Much of the speculation about the cause of its extinction rests on a demand for animals that grazed on the plant. Overgrazing combined with overharvesting may have led to its extinction, demand for its contraceptive use was reported to have led to its extinction in the third or second century BCE. The climate of the Maghreb has been drying over the millennia, Theophrastus wrote in Enquiry into Plants that the type of ferula specifically referred to as silphium was odd in that it could not be cultivated. He reports inconsistencies in the information he received about this, however, Pliny reported that the last known stalk of silphium found in Cyrenaica was given to the Emperor Nero as a curiosity. Many medical uses were ascribed to the plant and it was said that it could be used to treat cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, aches and pains, warts, and all kinds of maladies. Hippocrates wrote, When the gut protrudes and will not remain in its place, scrape the finest and most compact silphium into small pieces and apply as a cataplasm. It has been speculated that the plant may also have functioned as a contraceptive, many species in the parsley family have estrogenic properties, and some, such as wild carrot, are reputed abortifacients. Given this, it is possible that the plant was pharmacologically active in the prevention or termination of pregnancy. Silphium was used in Greco-Roman cooking, notably in recipes by Apicius, vinidariuss dates may not be much earlier
37.
Thucydides
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Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC and his text is still studied at both universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue remains a work of international relations theory while Pericles Funeral Oration is widely studied in political theory, history. More generally, Thucydides showed an interest in developing an understanding of nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plague, massacres, as in that of the Melians. In spite of his stature as a historian, modern historians know relatively little about Thucydidess life, the most reliable information comes from his own History of the Peloponnesian War, which expounds his nationality, paternity and native locality. Thucydides informs us that he fought in the war, contracted the plague and was exiled by the democracy and he may have also been involved in quelling the Samian Revolt. Thucydides identifies himself as an Athenian, telling us that his fathers name was Olorus and he survived the Plague of Athens that killed Pericles and many other Athenians. He also records that he owned gold mines at Scapte Hyle, because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides wrote, he was sent as a strategos to Thasos in 424 BC. During the winter of 424–423 BC, the Spartan general Brasidas attacked Amphipolis, eucles, the Athenian commander at Amphipolis, sent to Thucydides for help. Thus, when Thucydides arrived, Amphipolis was already under Spartan control, Amphipolis was of considerable strategic importance, and news of its fall caused great consternation in Athens. It was blamed on Thucydides, although he claimed that it was not his fault, using his status as an exile from Athens to travel freely among the Peloponnesian allies, he was able to view the war from the perspective of both sides. During his exile from Athens, Thucydides wrote his most famous work History of the Peloponnesian War, because he was in exile during this time, he was free to speak his mind. This is all that Thucydides wrote about his own life, but a few facts are available from reliable contemporary sources. Herodotus wrote that the name Olorus, Thucydidess fathers name, was connected with Thrace, Thucydides was probably connected through family to the Athenian statesman and general Miltiades, and his son Cimon, leaders of the old aristocracy supplanted by the Radical Democrats. Cimons maternal grandfathers name was also Olorus, making the connection exceedingly likely, another Thucydides lived before the historian and was also linked with Thrace, making a family connection between them very likely as well. Finally, Herodotus confirms the connection of Thucydidess family with the mines at Scapté Hýlē, in essence, he was a well-connected gentleman of considerable resources who, by then retired from the political and military spheres, decided to fund his own historical project. The remaining evidence for Thucydidess life comes from rather less reliable later ancient sources, pausanias goes on to say that Thucydides was murdered on his way back to Athens. Many doubt this account, seeing evidence to suggest he lived as late as 397 BC, Plutarch claims that his remains were returned to Athens and placed in Cimons family vault
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Sparta
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Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece, given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious. Spartas defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartas prominent role in Greece, however, it maintained its political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages. Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia, Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates, mothakes, perioikoi, Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world. Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning and this love or admiration of Sparta is known as Laconism or Laconophilia. At its peak around 500 BC the size of the city would have been some 20,000 –35,000 free residents, plus numerous helots, olliers theory of the Spartan mirage has been widely accepted by scholars. The ancient Greeks used one of three words to refer to the location of the Spartans. The first refers primarily to the cluster of settlements in the valley of the Eurotas River. The second word was Lacedaemon, this was used sometimes as an adjective and is the name commonly used in the works of Homer. Herodotus seems to denote by it the Mycenaean Greek citadel at Therapne and it could be used synonymously with Sparta, but typically it was not. It denoted the terrain on which Sparta was situated, in Homer it is typically combined with epithets of the countryside, wide, lovely, shining and most often hollow and broken. The hollow suggests the Eurotas Valley, Sparta on the other hand is the country of lovely women, a people epithet. The name of the population was used for the state of Lacedaemon
Libya
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listen), Italian: Bengasi; Turkish: Bingazi, Berber languages: Bernîk; also: Bengasi,[4] Benghasi,[5] Banghāzī,[6] Binghāzī,[7] Bengazi,[8] Βερενίκη Berenice[9] and Hesperides[10]
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