Libya

Libya is a North African country, located on the banks of the Mediterranean and characterised in the central and southern regions by the Sahara desert. The country is composed of three historical regions belonging to the Ottoman Empire: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica.These regions were united by Italy, thus starting in 1911 the Italian colony of Libya. Independent since 1953, in 1969 a Coup d’etat overthrew the monarchy lead by King Idris. Following this, the head of the country was Muammar Gheddafi, who in 1977 established Jamahiriya Libya. In 1986 Libya suffered under American bombardment in response to Gheddafi’s presumed terrorist support.

After 42 years in power, in 2011 civil war broke out in the country in which NATO with its own round of bombing lent its support to the rebel groups and, as a result, brought down the government of Gheddafi. Since then, the country has remained divided and has not been able to stabilise itself both politically and militarily.