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BACKGROUND NOTES:  LIBYA
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

JULY 1994
Official Name:  Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

PROFILE

Geography
Area:  1.8 million sq. km. (700,000 sq. mi.).

Cities:  Capital--Tripoli (pop. 1.5 mil-lion).  Other--Benghazi
(800,000).

Terrain:  Desert and semidesert; hills south of Tripoli and east
of Benghazi.

Climate:  Mediterranean on coast; arid.


People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Libyan(s).

Population (est.):  4.9 million.

Annual growth rate (est.):  3%.

Ethnic groups:  Berber and Arab 97%; some Greeks, Maltese,
Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians.

Religion:  97% Sunni Muslim.

Language:   Arabic.

Education:  Years compulsory--7.  Attendance--90%.
Literacy--64%.

Health:  Infant mortality rate--60/1,000.  Life expectancy--male,
66 yrs.; female, 71 yrs.

Work force:  1.3 million, 500,000 of whom are resident foreign
workers.  Industry--31%.   Services--27%.  Government--24%.
Agriculture--18%.


Government
Type:  Islamic Arabic Socialist "Jamahiriya" or "state of
masses."

Independence:  December 24, 1951.  Revolution:  September 1,
1969.

Constitution:  December 11, 1969 (amended March 2,
1977)--established popular congresses and peoples committees.

Administrative divisions:  10 regions controlled by the central
government; 25 municipalities (baladiya).

Political system (political parties are banned):  Based on theory
of Maj. Gen. Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, multilayered popular assemblies
(people's congresses) with executive institutions (people's
committees) are guided by political cadres (revolutionary
committees).

Suffrage:  Mandatory universal adult.


Economy
GDP (1992 est.):  $27.7 billion.

Per capita GDP:  $5,700.

Natural resources:  Crude oil, natural gas, gypsum.

Agriculture:  Products--wheat, barley, olives, citrus fruits,
vegetables, dates, peanuts; 75% of Libya's food is imported.

Industry:  Types--petroleum, food processing, textiles, cement,
handicrafts.

Trade:  Exports (1992)--$10 billion:  petroleum, peanuts, hides.
Major markets--Italy, countries of the former Soviet Union,
Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey.
Imports--$7.6 billion:  machinery, transport equipment, food,
manufactured goods.  Major suppliers--Italy, countries of the
former Soviet Union, Germany, U.K., Japan.

Exchange rate (October 1993):  1 Libyan dinar=U.S.  $3.15.





PEOPLE
Libya has a small population in a large land area.  Population
density is about 50 persons per sq. km. (80/sq. mi.) in the two
northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less
than one person per sq. km. (1.6/sq. mi.) elsewhere.  Ninety
percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area,
primarily along the coast.  More than half the population is
urban, mostly concentrated in the two largest cities, Tripoli and
Benghazi.  Fifty percent of the population is under age 15.

Libyans are primarily a mixture of Arabs and Berbers.  Small
Tebou and Touareg tribal groups in southern Libya are nomadic or
semi-nomadic.  Among foreign residents, the largest groups are
Egyptians (estimates range from 400,000 to 1 million), Tunisians
(40,000), Turks, Pakistanis, Indians, Sudanese, Moroccans,
Jordanians, South Koreans, and Thais.  Other foreign residents
include 70,000 from Eastern Europe and 40,000 from Western
Europe.


HISTORY
For most of their history, the peoples of Libya have been
subjected to varying degrees of foreign control.  The
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, and
Byzantines ruled all or parts of Libya.  Although the Greeks and
Romans left impressive ruins at Cyrene, Leptis Magna, and
Sabratha, little else remains today to testify to the presence of
these ancient cultures.

The Arabs conquered Libya in the seventh century A.D.  In the
following centuries, most of the indigenous peoples adopted Islam
and the Arabic language and culture.  The Ottoman Turks conquered
the country in the 16th century.  Libya remained part of their
empire--although at times virtually autonomous--until Italy
invaded in 1911 and, after years of resistance, made Libya a
colony.

In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Greeks for
all of North Africa, except Egypt) as the official name of the
colony, which consisted of the Provinces of Cyrenaica,
Tripolitania, and Fezzan.  King Idris I, Emir of Cyrenaica, led
Libyan resistance to Italian occupation between the two World
Wars.  From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under
British administration; the French controlled Fezzan.  In 1944,
Idris returned from exile in Cairo but declined to resume
permanent residence in Cyrenaica until the removal in 1947 of
some aspects of foreign control.  Under the terms of the 1947
peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to
Libya.

On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution
stating that Libya should become independent before January 1,
1952.  King Idris I represented Libya in the subsequent UN
negotiations.  When Libya declared its independence on December
24, 1951, it was the first country to achieve independence
through the United Nations.  Libya was proclaimed a
constitutional and a hereditary monarchy under King Idris.

The discovery of significant oil reserves in 1959 and the
subsequent income from petroleum sales enabled what had been one
of the world's poorest countries to become extremely wealthy, as
measured by per capita GDP.

King Idris ruled the Kingdom of Libya until he was overthrown in
a military-led coup on September 1, 1969.  The new regime, headed
by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), abolished the
monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic.  Col.
Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi emerged as leader of the RCC and eventually
as de facto chief of state, a position he currently holds.  He
has no official position.

Seeking new directions, the RCC's motto became "freedom,
socialism, and unity."  It pledged itself to remove backwardness,
take an active role in the Palestinian Arab cause, promote Arab
unity, and encourage domestic policies based on social justice,
non-exploitation, and an equitable distribution of wealth.

An early objective of the new government was withdrawal of all
foreign military installations from Libya.  Following
negotiations, British military installations at Tobruk and nearby
El Adem were closed in March 1970, and U.S. facilities at Wheelus
Air Force Base near Tripoli were closed in June 1970.  That July,
the Libyan Government ordered the expulsion of several thousand
Italian residents.  By 1971, libraries and cultural centers
operated by foreign governments were ordered closed.

During the years since the revolution, Libya claimed leadership
of Arab and African revolutionary forces and sought active roles
in various international organizations.  Late in the 1970s,
Libyan embassies were redesignated as "people's bureaus," as
Qadhafi sought to portray Libyan foreign policy as an expression
of the popular will.  The people's bureaus, aided by Libyan
religious, political, educational, and business institutions
overseas, exported Qadhafi's revolutionary philosophy abroad.


GOVERNMENT
For seven years, the Government of Libya consisted of Colonel
Qadhafi and the Revolutionary Command Council.  On March 3, 1977,
Qadhafi convened a General People's Congress (GPC) to proclaim
the establishment of "people's power," change the country's name
to the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and to vest,
theoretically, primary authority in the GPC.

Qadhafi remained the de facto chief of state and secretary
general of the GPC until 1980, when he gave up his office.  He
continues to control the Libyan Government through direct appeals
to the masses, a pervasive security apparatus, and powerful
revolutionary committees.

Although he holds no formal office, Qadhafi exercises absolute
power with the assistance of a small group of trusted advisers,
who include relatives from his home base in the Sirte region,
which lies between the rival provinces of Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica.

Before the 1969 constitution, Libya had a dual system of civil
and religious courts.  The new constitution established the
primacy of Shari'a, or Islamic law, unifying the two systems.
Civil laws now must conform to Shari'a.

The Libyan court system consists of four ascending levels.  The
GPC appoints justices to the Supreme Court.  Military courts and
special "revolutionary courts" operate outside the judicial
system.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS
After the revolution, Qadhafi took increasing control of the
government, but he also attempted to achieve greater popular
participation in local government.  In 1973, he announced the
start of a "cultural revolution" in schools, businesses,
industries, and public institutions to oversee administration of
those organizations in the public interest.  The March 1977
establishment of "people's power"--with mandatory popular
participation in the selection of representatives to the GPC--was
the culmination of this process.

The GPC is the legislative forum that interacts with the General
People's Committee, whose members are secretaries of Libyan
ministries.  It serves as the intermediary between the masses and
the leadership and is composed of the secretariats of some 600
local "basic popular congresses."

The GPC secretariat and the cabinet secretaries are appointed by
the GPC secretary general and confirmed by the annual GPC
congress.  These cabinet secretaries are responsible for the
routine operation of their ministries, but real authority is
exercised by Qadhafi directly or through manipulation of the
peoples and revolutionary committees.

In the 1980s, competition between the official Libyan Government
and military hierarchies and the revolutionary committees was
growing.  An abortive coup attempt in May 1984, apparently
mounted by Libyan exiles with internal support, led to a
short-lived reign of terror in which thousands were imprisoned
and interrogated.  An unknown number were executed.  Qadhafi used
the revolutionary committees to search out alleged internal
opponents following the coup attempt, thereby accelerating the
rise of more radical elements inside the Libyan power hierarchy.

In 1988, faced with rising public dissatisfaction with shortages
in consumer goods and setbacks in Libya's war with Chad, Qadhafi
began to curb the power of the revolutionary committees and to
institute some domestic reforms.  The regime released many
political prisoners and eased restrictions on foreign travel by
Libyans.  Private businesses were again permitted to operate.

Since the late 1980s, Qadhafi has pursued a harsh anti-Islamic
fundamentalist policy domestically, presumably viewing
fundamentalism as a potential rallying point for opponents of the
regime.  Ministerial positions and military commanders are also
frequently shuffled to diffuse potential threats to Qadhafi's
authority.  More recently, the government has sought to counter
popular discontent over deteriorating economic conditions with
appeals to nationalism in the face of international sanctions.

Despite these measures, internal dissent continues.  Qadhafi's
security forces launched a pre-emptive strike at alleged coup
plotters in the military and among the Warfallah tribe in October
1993.  Widespread arrests and government reshufflings followed,
accompanied by public "confessions" from regime opponents and
allegations of torture and executions.

Principal Government Officials
De facto Head of State--Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi
Secretary, Foreign Liaison Office--'Umar Mustafa al-Muntassir


ECONOMY
The General People's Congress continued to pursue the goals of
the ruling Revolutionary Command Council soon after the 1984 coup
attempt.  These goals included a more equitable distribution of
income and services, greater government control of the economy,
and independence from foreign influence.  Libya also dedicated
increasing resources to showcase items such as major irrigation
projects, overseas interventions, and a military buildup.

In 1992-93, the Libyan Government embarked on a gradual economic
liberalization program.  Recent developments include the issuance
of regulations governing the privatization of selected public
enterprises and the lifting of restrictions on private wholesale
trade.  Its economy remains dependent upon revenues from exported
crude oil.  Currently, oil production is 1.5 million barrels per
day.

During the 1970s, Libyan Government expenditures did not keep
pace with the rapid rise in oil revenues.  The resulting surplus
led to the growth of large central bank foreign exchange
reserves.  At their peak, these reached $14 billion in 1981, but
OPEC's production restraints and softening oil prices led to
revenue shortfalls, which have resulted recently in an annual
drawdown of foreign exchange reserves by about $2 billion per
year.  Reserves dropped to $3.5 billion in 1993.

Since 1981, fiscal difficulties associated with declining oil
revenues combined with the effects of various socialist schemes
have hurt merchants and other business professionals.  Although
Libyans have experienced a dramatic rise in the standard of
living during the past 20 years, more recent economic austerity
measures as well as tighter internal security controls have
caused a general deterioration in the quality of life for many
Libyans.  Nonetheless, distribution of national wealth remains
more equitable in Libya than in many other developing countries.

Libya's major trading partners are Italy, Germany, Spain, France,
and countries of the former Soviet Union.  In response to Libyan
support of terrorism, the U.S. Government prohibited the
importation of Libyan crude oil into the United States in March
1982 and imposed strict controls on U.S.-origin goods intended
for export to Libya.  A total ban on trade with Libya went into
effect in January 1986.

Although agriculture is the second-largest sector in the economy,
Libya is self-sufficient in few foods.  Higher incomes and a
growing population have caused food consumption to rise.
Domestic food production meets only about 25% of demand.  A
long-term objective is to become self-sufficient in agriculture,
although the scarcity of water is a serious obstacle.  Libya is
undertaking a multi-billion-dollar project to tap water resources
deep under the Sahara to meet coastal population water needs in
the 1990s.  However, technical and administrative problems are
hindering progress.


FOREIGN RELATIONS
Since 1969, Qadhafi has determined Libya's foreign policy.  His
principal foreign policy goals have been Arab unity, elimination
of Israel, advancement of Islam, support for Palestinians,
elimination of outside--particularly Western--influence in the
Middle East and Africa, and support for a range of
"revolutionary" causes.

After the 1969 coup, Qadhafi closed American and British bases on
Libyan territory and partially nationalized all foreign oil and
commercial interests in Libya.  He played a key role in
introducing oil as a political weapon for challenging the West.
He hoped that an oil price rise and embargo in 1973 would
persuade the West--especially the United States--to end support
for Israel.  Qadhafi rejected both Soviet communism and Western
capitalism, seeking an allegedly middle course.

Libya's relationship with the former Soviet Union involved
massive Libyan arms purchases from the Soviet bloc and the
presence of thousands of its advisers.  Libya's use--and heavy
loss--of Soviet-supplied weaponry in its war with Chad was a
notable breach of an apparent Soviet-Libyan understanding not to
use the weapons for activities inconsistent with Soviet
objectives.  As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir
in mid-1987.

Since the fall of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Libya has
concentrated upon expanding diplomatic ties with Third World
countries and increasing its commercial links with Europe and
East Asia.  Libya recently has made substantial investments in
international financial institutions and petroleum refining and
marketing operations.  These foreign investments, however, have
been the target of varying enforcement actions under UN Security
Council Resolution 883, which imposed a limited freeze on Libyan
assets abroad.

Merger Attempts with Neighbors
In pursuit of his goal of Arab unity, Qadhafi has tried
unsuccessfully at various times to merge with Egypt, Sudan,
Tunisia, Algeria, and Syria.  In August 1981, he signed a treaty
with Ethiopia and the then-People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
(South Yemen) that attempted to provide a framework for
coordinating the foreign policies of the three countries.  In
1984, Libya concluded a treaty of union with Morocco.  Morocco
abrogated this treaty in August 1986.  In 1987, Libya once again
proposed a bilateral union, with Algeria.  Algeria then called on
Libya to join a 1983 tripartite pact linking Algeria, Tunisia,
and Mauritania.  Qadhafi rejected this offer.  Libya and Tunisia
subsequently re-stored diplomatic relations in December 1987, as
did Egypt and Libya in 1989.  Libya also joined in the 1988
establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union that linked Mauritania,
Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, in addition to Libya, in a
grouping modeled on the European Union.

Terrorism
In addition to using oil as leverage in his foreign policy,
Qadhafi's principal tactics have been destabilization of weaker
governments and terrorism.  Libya continues to harbor and finance
groups all over the world that share Qadhafi's revolutionary and
anti-Western views, including the Japanese Red Army and such
radical Muslim groups as the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command and Abu Nidal's Fatah Revolutionary
Council.  Its support for terrorist activity against U.S.
citizens and interests resulted in U.S. air strikes against Libya
in April 1986; the precipitating event for this U.S. action was
the bombing of a Berlin discotheque which killed an American
serviceman and for which evidence of Libyan complicity had been
discovered.

In October 1987, a Libyan arms shipment was intercepted on its
way to the Irish Republican Army.  In 1988, operatives of the Abu
Nidal Organization, which is headquartered in Libya, launched a
grenade attack on a Khartoum hotel and sprayed a Greek passenger
ferry with machine-gun fire.  Later that year, two Libyan
intelligence agents planted an explosive device in Malta on the
flight connecting with Pan Am flight 103 in Germany which later
exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers and
crew and 11 people on the ground.  In September 1989, Libya
masterminded the bombing of UTA flight 772 over Niger, killing
all 171 persons aboard.

Libyan terrorism also has targeted anti-Qadhafi dissidents
overseas.  Qadhafi's public calls for the deaths of Libyan
opponents abroad during the latter half of 1993 raised strong
suspicions of his regime's involvement in the disappearance of
prominent Libyan dissident Mansour Kikhya from Cairo in December
1993.

Subversion
While supporting terrorist groups, Qadhafi also has attempted to
undermine other Arab and African states by supporting coups,
funding and training opposition political parties and guerrilla
groups, and plotting assassinations of rival leaders.  He also
has sought involvement in Asia and Latin America through support
for various subversive groups.  Use of such methods has strained
Libyan relations with many nations.

Qadhafi's foreign interventions included a bid to prop up former
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1979; incursions and intermittent
war with Chad throughout the 1980s; continued claims on territory
in Chad, Niger, and Algeria; and alleged support of Islamic
fundamentalist groups in Sudan, Algeria, and Egypt.  Libya
withdrew its forces from the disputed Aouzou Strip in mid-1994,
after the International Court of Justice ruled Libya's presence
an illegal occupation of Chadian territory.


U.S.-LIBYAN RELATIONS
The United States supported the UN resolution providing for
Libyan independence in 1951 and raised the status of its office
at Tripoli from a consulate general to a legation.  Libya opened
a legation in Washington, DC, in 1954.  Both countries
subsequently raised their missions to embassy level.

After Qadhafi's 1969 coup, U.S.-Libyan relations became
increasingly strained because of Libya's foreign policies
supporting international terrorism and subversion against
moderate Arab and African governments.  In 1972, the United
States withdrew its ambassador.  Export controls on military
equipment and civil aircraft were imposed during the 1970s, and
U.S. embassy staff members were withdrawn from Tripoli after a
mob attacked and set fire to the embassy in December 1979.  The
U.S. Government declared Libya a "state sponsor of terrorism" on
December 29, 1979.

In May 1981, the U.S. Government closed the Libyan "people's
bureau" (embassy) in Washington, DC, and expelled the Libyan
staff in response to a general pattern of conduct by the people's
bureau contrary to internationally accepted standards of
diplomatic behavior.

In August 1981, two Libyan jets fired on U.S. aircraft
participating in a routine naval exercise over international
waters of the Mediterranean claimed by Libya.  The U.S. planes
returned fire and shot down the attacking Libyan aircraft.  In
December 1981, the State Department invalidated U.S. passports
for travel to Libya and, for purposes of safety, advised all U.S.
citizens in Libya to leave.  In March 1982, the U.S. Government
prohibited imports of Libyan crude oil into the United States and
expanded the controls on U.S.-origin goods intended for export to
Libya.  Licenses were required for all transactions, except food
and medicine.  In March 1984, U.S. export controls were expanded
to prohibit future exports to the Ras al-Enf petrochemical
complex.  In April 1985, all Export-Import Bank financing was
prohibited.

Due to Libya's continuing support for terrorism, the United
States adopted additional economic sanctions against Libya in
January 1986, including a total ban on direct import and export
trade, commercial contracts, and travel-related activities.  In
addition, Libyan Government assets in the United States were
frozen.  When evidence of Libyan complicity was discovered in the
Berlin discotheque terrorist bombing that killed an American
serviceman, the United States responded by launching an aerial
bombing attack against targets near Tripoli and Benghazi in April
1986.  Since then, the United States has maintained its trade and
travel embargoes and has sought to bring diplomatic and economic
pressure to bear against Libya.

In 1988, Libya was found to be in the process of constructing a
chemical weapons plant at Rabta, a plant which is now the largest
such facility in the Third World.  Libya is currently
constructing another chemical weapons production facility at
Tarhunah.  Libya's support for terrorism and its past regional
aggressions made this development a matter of major concern to
the United States.  In cooperation with like-minded countries,
the United States has since sought to bring a halt to the foreign
technical assistance deemed essential to the completion of this
facility.

In 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by federal
prosecutors in the U.S. and Scotland for their involvement in the
December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103.  In January 1992, the
UN Security Council approved Resolution 731 demanding that Libya
surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772
investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and
cease all support for terrorism.  Libya's refusal to comply led
to the approval of UNSC Resolution 748 on March 31, 1992,
imposing sanctions designed to bring about Libyan compliance.
Continued Libyan defiance led to passage of UNSC Resolution
883--a limited assets freeze and an embargo on selected oil
equipment--in November 1993.





TRAVEL ADVISORY
Since December 1981, U.S. passports have been declared invalid
for travel to, in, or through Libya, unless specifically
validated for such travel by the Department of State.
Unauthorized use of a U.S. passport for travel to Libya is
subject to criminal prosecution under Section 1544 of Title 18,
United States Code.

Persons seeking passport validations or further information
should contact the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
Passport Services, Room 300, 1425 K Street, NW, Washington, DC
20522-1705; or, if abroad, the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
The U.S. Government maintains no diplomatic or consular
representation in Libya, and, therefore, cannot provide
protective services to American citizens.  Very limited services
are available through the embassy of Belgium in Tripoli, which
acts as the U.S. protecting power in Libya.  Further information
is available from the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department
of State.





Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of
Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC -- July 1994 Managing Editor:  Peter A. Knecht -- Editor:
Peter Freeman

Department of State Publication 7815 --  Background Notes Series
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402.