Most of these African migrants used Libya as a transit point on their way to Europe, but there were occasional reports of Africans being sold as slaves, even after the revolution of 2012. How many died in the Second Libyan Civil War? These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Migrant work in Gaddafis Libya was always precarious, subject to the political whims of the regime. Instead, Amazigh identity was defined by clan or tribal association. Libya is a notable example of how ethnic identity is shaping political events and redefining the future of the nation. Arabs and Berbers (Berbers) constitute 97% of the total population in Libya (Berbers 5%), while the remaining 3% include (Syrians, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Pakistanis, Turks, Tunisians, and Indians). The rebels National Transitional Council (NTC) has made contact with some members of the group, but analysts say that reprisals or attacks against those believed to have been loyal to Gaddafi could cause problems. However, the Amazigh did not historically share a single cultural or ethnic identity the way Arabs did. Analysts estimate just over 560,000 live within Libya. 
Tech and Engineering - Questions & Answers, Health and Medicine - Questions & Answers. They were enlisted initially in the Islamic Legion that he set up in the 1970s, which was composed mainly of migrants from poor Sahelian countries and used to support his military adventures in sub-Saharan Africa. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The south-western Sahara is the domain of the Amazigh Tuareg, who speak Tamasheq. The majority of Libyans are Sunni Muslims and follow the Maliki school of law. 
It did not fit with the main official narrative that emphasized Arab Bedouin identity. A small Jewish community historically lived in Libya since antiquity (see History of the Jews in Libya), but the almost the entire Jewish community in Libya eventually fled the country for Italy, Israel, or the United States, particularly after anti-Jewish riots in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War between Arab countries and Israel. The general absence of formal structures through which to govern poses another challenge.. They are reported to have been among the most vocal opponents of Gaddafi during the uprising, and are said to be relatively well armed. What the IOM described as a large population of Sub-Saharan Africans mainly from Niger, Chad, Mali, Nigeria and Ghana. In Fezzan, Africans also worked in farming and other agriculture. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are from other African nations, including citizens of other North African nations (primarily Egyptians) and West Africans. Where the capital, Tripoli, acquires 1.19 million; While Benghazi ranks second in terms of population, with about 821.5 thousand people. In 2012 the UNHCR stated that the Libyan government indicated its willingness to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention. J1 is prevalent in some North African and all Levantine groups and found at high frequencies in the Arabian Peninsula. The Warfalla supplied many personnel for Gaddafis security apparatus. Although Libya is not an attractive destination for migrants, transit migrants from the East and mainly East Africa have continued since 2014 to exploit its political instability and weak border controls and use it as a major departure point for migration across the central Mediterranean to Europe in numbers. Historically Berber, over the centuries, Libya has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Italians. In these circumstances, many Tuareg sought refuge in Libya. Analysts say the tribe became wealthy under his rule, is sometimes accused of having a stranglehold on power and makes up the core elements of some of the regime protection units. But some members -- perhaps part of assorted subtribes that benefited less from his rule -- may have abandoned him early in the uprising. Ultimately, their main interest is seen to be ensuring they continue to benefit from Libyas oil. The IOM reported that migrants could be purchased for between 270 and 800 Libyan dinars, depending on nationality and type of work. It was not until April 2013 that a Toubou cultural festival could be held in Murzuq, as reported by the Libya Herald. B.R.
At the same time, the Libyan Civil War has exacerbated other tribal conflicts and some worry could lead to greater ethnic conflict. Broadly speaking, the Banu Hilal settled in Tripolitania and the Banu Salim in Cyrenaica. [28] Like other Maghrebi countries, couscous and tajine are traditional of Libya. He represents Zuwara, on the Tunisian border, and is the first member of the Amazigh community since al-Barouni to win a leadership role in Libya.
[citation needed], The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. The tribe was historically the basis of social organization across North Africa, although structures changed over time. In Jebel Nafusa villages such as Nalut, Gasr al-Hajj (Qasr al-Haj), Yafran, Jadu, and Kabaw, ancient qasrs (fortified granaries) and olive presses remain from this period. When the Italians colonized Libya in 1911, an estimated 21,000 Jews lived in Tripoli. The Phoenicians had a big impact on Libya. Libya is a Mediterranean nation of Northern Africa with a population of roughly 6.4 million. This was a minor tribe, but it was allied to the much larger Warfalla (near Bani Walid), Zuwayya (near Kufra), and Magarha tribes. It is the capital of the country and first in terms of urban population, as well as Benghazi, Libya's second largest city. The Human Poverty Index of 2007 (UNDP) put Libya at 13.4, compared with Egypt (23.4) and Algeria (17.5) and the richer Arab Gulf states such as Oman (14.7) and Saudi Arabia (12.1). 5 percent of the total population is Imazighen, also known as Berbers, a name that comes from the Latin barbari, used by the Romans for all people outside the Greco-Latin sphere.
[18], Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022. Arabic varieties are partly spoken by immigrant workers and partly by local Libyan populations. They were mainly males between the ages of 26 and 35, employed in construction as carpenters, masons, and labourers. So, who exactly lives in Libya?
Two major smuggling routes, via Murzuq and Kufra, serve for the exchange of illicit weapons, petrol, and food, as well as drugs and alcohol. Their history goes back to the 3rd century BCE, and they flourished during the Roman period by reaching an accommodation with their rulers.
The Tarhuna make up roughly a third of the population of the capital Tripoli, while the Zentan are located between Tripoli and the Tunisian border. In addition, there are mixed Arab-Amazigh tribes called Marabtin, such as the Fawakhir, Mnifa, and Qatan. For now, there seems to have been little in the way of tension between Berber and Arab rebels, but some say it might emerge in due course. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Its spread in the Mediterranean is believed to have been facilitated by the maritime trading culture of the Phoenicians (1550 BC- 300 BC). There, they provided some of the structures that might otherwise have been provided by a centralized state: mediation in disputes, assistance to the poor, the encouragement of trade, and, particularly when the Ottoman Empire proved unable to mount effective resistance to the encroaching armies of Christian powers, a military organization. The reasons for this lie in changes associated with the progressive impoverishment of desert communities during the late 19th and the 20th centuries. Combined with the prevailing opinion that labour should be done by black Africans, this leads many Africans to feel that they are discriminated against. In the aftermath of the 2011 crisis, the IOM created a profile of Chadians who had fled to their home country: The majority were males aged between 18 and 35 who had never completed primary school and were working as unskilled labourers in construction and agriculture. Libya also has small communities of Christians: Roman Catholics, Coptic Orthodox, and Anglicans have their own places of worship. The Bani Walid overlap geographically with the Warfalla, and was reported to have defected from military units early in the uprising. ; While 56.78% of the total population is in the age group (15-54 years), 5.52% is between (55-64 years), while 4.04% are 65 years and over. Libya had occupied the Aozou Strip; however, in 1990 the International Court of Justice submitted the case and allowed the full recuperation of territory to Chad. Gaddafis revolutionary framework was centred on his own Qadhadhfa tribe. Libyan officials have offered asylum to non-Libyan Tuareg. It does not store any personal data. Many Amazigh groups, including a major group called the Tuareg, are nomadic pastoralists. Chronicle of the Middle East and North Africa, Discrimination Against Foreign Minorities, establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, former royal regime was based in Cyrenaica, The Toubou Tribes in Libya: A Unique World, In Libya, the Amazighs fight for their rights, but risk getting caught in the countrys ongoing and bloody conflict, Five Years After Arab Spring, Libyas Tawergha Prepare to Return Home, Libya: The Coming of Islam in the 7th Century, Libya: Ottoman Control, Corsairs and Karamanli in the 16th Century, Libya: The Second Ottoman period and the rise of al-Senussi (1823 1859), Libya: Italys fourth coast at the End of the 19th Century, Libya: Independence and King Idris (1951), Libya: Constructing a Modern Kingdom (1951 1969). Their political system also provided them with a strong sense of identity. Rebel military leader Abdel Fattah Younes -- killed in an attack by other rebels -- was a member of this group, but Jalil was keen to appear alongside tribal leaders immediately afterwards and serious divisions looked to have been avoided. This term is a catch-all for a wide number of people, so this group is perhaps more accurately known as Amazigh, their own term for their ethnic group. Various factions seek to strengthen their claims by exploiting rivalries between Amazigh clans, as well as Arab clans. [10], As of 2012[update] the major tribal groups of Libya, by region, were as follows:[25]. In reality, this top level of descent is usually mythical, but genuine kinship links do exist at lower levels, the clans and lineages, which are functioning social and political networks.
Tuareg rebels have attacked other Saharan governments and oil installations in pursuit of independence but have traditionally not clashed with the Libyan government, leading to some to suspect that Gaddafi armed them. The Gaddafi regime welcomed them, promising housing, education, development, and a national identity.
Abdessalam Jalloud, Gaddafis second-in-command for at least two decades, was a prominent member of the Magarha, as was Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was found guilty of the Lockerbie bombings.
They have less contact with other groups and with political circles due to their traditional ways of life. Libyan cuisine is heavily influenced by Mediterranean, Arabic and North African (Berber cuisine) traditions. The countrys annual population growth rate was 1.33%, compared to 2019, which in turn recorded a population increase rate of 1.48%, according to World Bank data. The Berber languages are related to the ancient Egyptian and Semitic languages. Libya has never provided figures to the World Bank on per capita gross national income nor on wealth distribution by percentiles. In 1970, Gaddafi ordered all British and American military bases closed. What is the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program? Its adherents (Salafis) believe that the pious ancestors (salaf), who were associates of the Prophet Muhammad, should be the only model for later Muslims in matters of belief, worship, and conduct. Marabtin tribes used the land as clients of dominant tribes. In pre-colonial North Africa, Sufi adherents gathered into brotherhoods, and these orders became popular particularly in rural areas. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. In 2004, Gaddafi promised to pay Jews compensation, on condition that they could show they did not hold possessions confiscated from Palestinians after 1948 or had returned them to their rightful owners. After 1969, Gaddafi adopted a pro-Palestinian stance and seized all Jewish properties. Several senior officials from this group publicly defected at the beginning of the uprising. Non-Arabic languages had largely been spoken by foreign workers (who had been massively employed in Libya in various infrastructure projects prior to the 2011 civil war), and those languages with more than 10,000 speakers included Punjabi, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Sinhala, Bengal, Tamil, Tagalog, French, Italian, Ukrainian, Serbian, and English. The region is a major tourist attraction. The estimated fertility rate in 2021 AD was 3.13 births/woman. The Salafiya is a religious movement of reform that emerged in Islam in the 19th century. Libyas descent into chaos is only accelerating, with little hope in sight. Let's break down our two majority populations a little more. It was largely opposed to the Gaddafi regime. Another common paternal lineage in Libya and North Africa is haplogroup J through its subtypes J1 (M267) and J2 (M172). However, after 1985 a fast decrease in fertility was observed from over 7 children per woman in the beginning of the 1980s to less than 3 in 2005-2010. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. It has been estimated that there are approximately 140 different tribes (many of which have branches stretching over international frontiers into Tunisia to Egypt to Chad), but, according to Faraj Najem, a sociologist who has specialized in the study of Libyan tribes, no more than thirty wield any demonstrable influence (al-Sharq al-Awsat, 22 February 2011). Gaddafis wife Safia came from the Barasa.
The Libyan revolution in 2011 led to a drastic reduction in migration and forced about 800,000 migrants to flee to third countries, especially Tunisia and Egypt, or to their countries of origin. Many people had to give up their nomadic way of life and move to cities. flashcard set{{course.flashcardSetCoun > 1 ? In 1952, when Libya became independent, it was the poorest sovereign state in the world. Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (1.VII.2015): Eight population censuses have been carried out in Libya, the first in 1931 and the most recent one in 2006.
Souhail Karam, Jon Hemming, Tribal ties key to Gaddafi rule, Reuters (2011), Served as "starter", the soup is mentioned in the New York Times, Learn how and when to remove this template message, " : ", "Libyans in Egypt losing hope of returning home", "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables", "Libyan Canadians cast ballots in first post-Gadhafi election - iPolitics", "MMIGRATION PROFILE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA FOR 2014", http://www.hejleh.com/countries/libya.html, "Save BIG with $9.99 .COMs from GoDaddy! [23] Among the non-Arabized Berber groups are the nomadic Tuareg, who inhabit the southern areas as well as parts of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
According to official figures, only 12,000 to 15,000 live in Libya, around Ghat, Ghadames, and Murzuq. Although the coup failed and a number of leaders were killed, imprisoned and driven into exile, the tribe maintained sizeable numbers within the military. Among the workers were construction workers and laborers from Tunisia, teachers and laborers from Egypt, teachers from Palestine, and doctors and nurses from Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. In the 1990s, as the economic situation deteriorated and unemployment increased, resentment of Africans grew. At the same time, these communities were diverse, with a variety of modes of production.
Political tensions in Mali and Niger in the 1990s caused further migrations and a war in which Tuareg in Mali fought for more autonomy from the black Malian government. In 1951, the country was granted independence by the United Nations, being governed by King Idris. These articles are posted in this country file or elsewhere on our website: There is no consensus on the origin of the Toubou people. {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}} lessons
As of 2019, twenty-eight percent of the population is estimated to be under the age of 15, but this proportion has decreased considerably during the past decades. 318,007 were third-country nationals (TCN) whom the IOM assisted with onward passage to their own countries of origin. According to the CIA World Factbook.
Some Libyans, mostly in the rebel movement, say such traditional structures are not very important in urban areas, but others say that they may prove vital in the absence of traditional government structures. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Libya is home to roughly 6.4 million people, the majority of whom are Muslim and speak Arabic. Below are the latest articles by acclaimed journalists and academics concerning the topic Population and Libya. However, there are many who fear that the wind is blowing in that direction. To represent the voice of the regions people, we carefully echo the regions heartbeat by Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. In its early stages, the conflict divided Libya once again along those lines, with the area around Benghazi under opposition control and the rebels taking the flag of the former Cyrenaican monarchy ousted by Gaddafi. Almost 3% of the population is Christian, with some local Christian church adherents in Eastern Libya - the Copts. Population density is about 50 persons per km (130/sq. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It was one of the largest migration crises in modern history. They were believed to be broadly loyal to Gaddafi in the conflict, although again details are sparse. The regime demolished Toubou homes in Kufra and exiled residents to Chad.
Parents were not allowed to give their children Amazigh names. The average life expectancy at birth in the same year was 76.93 years (74.68 years for males and 79.29 years for females). These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Demographically, Libyas population is much more homogenous than that of other countries in North Africa. Arabic is the official language of the country, while Italian and English are widely understood in major cities. In January 2003, the Libya Herald reported that the only sewage facility in Cyrenaica was no longer functioning, and other reports said it was more than forty years old. Only a few Berbers still lead a semi-nomadic life. After the war with Chad and the 1994 ruling by the International Court of Justice that obliged Gaddafi to hand back the Aouzou Strip, he declared that the Toubou were really Chadians. The nomadic Toubou community resides in the Tibesti Mountains, which are divided between Chad and Libya. Some studies suggest a Paleolithic component for E-M81 and E-M78, while other studies point to a Neolithic origin.
At first glance, the nation seems fairly homogenous, and in fact 97% of citizens identify as ethnically Berber or Arab. The rise of fascism in Italy greatly disadvantaged the Jewish community economically and culturally, as it did Libyan Muslims, who faced their most severe repression under Mussolinis Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani. The Arab ethnic group is native to the Arabian Peninsula, arriving in Libya during Islamic military campaigns of the 7th century CE.
This discrepancy comes from unreliable statistics over the years (reflecting political turmoil in the nation) as well as a strong historic pressure to identify with Arab ancestry. After the 9th century, they were confined to isolated communities in the Mzab in Algeria, the island of Djerba in Tunisia, and the Jebel Nafusa. In general terms, Libyas oil and gas wealth has produced a classification of low human poverty, but, according to Libyan sources, there is a large but unquantified difference in income between east and west, with Tripoli more prosperous than Benghazi in infrastructure, houses, schools, and hospitals. The relative deprivation in the east was the product of Libyas history: the former royal regime was based in Cyrenaica, and, during the Gaddafi period, the major Islamic opposition came from the east. in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than one person per km (2.7/sq. Tribes, subtribes and other groups have a variety of leadership structures, and rarely simply function as monolithic blocks, analysts say. The early years of independence, in the 1960s and 1970s, coincided with severe droughts in the Sahara that decimated the Tuaregs livestock. Analysts say this tribe is the second largest and it has had mixed relations with Gaddafis government. Two of these tribes, the Awlad Nuh and the Awlad al-Shaykh, live more independently and act as traditional mediators in disputes. By 1980, when a consistent series of International Monetary Fund (IMF) data begins, per capita GDP in current US dollars was USD 12,807 per annum. During the war, the territory was under an Anglo-French military government until it was overrun by the Axis Powers, who, in turn, were defeated by the Allies in 1943.
copyright 2003-2022 Study.com. Mitchell. In fact, while Italian is not an official language of Libya, it is spoken and understood in most cities. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. On the other hand, E-M78 and E-M123 are frequent in the Levant and Egypt and decline towards Northwest Africa. However, Libya should never be mistaken for any of the other nations of Northern Africa that fit this rough description. After the 2011 revolt, a growing number of Salafi groups in Libya sought to profit from the unstable security situation that existed during the period of transitional government. J2 is sporadically detected in North Africa and Iberia and is very frequent in the Levant/Anatolia/Iran region. offering fact-checked and therefore credible information. The original homeland of the Tuareg stretches from Libya, Niger, Algeria, and Mali to Mauritania. As Libyan place names show, the Imazighen/Berbers were once dominant in the region, but today the largest communities are to be found in the Jebel Nafusa region, the Jifara plain, and Zuwara. Each of these can relate, to some degree, back to the ethnic composition of the nation. Demographic Yearbooks 1948-2008", "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics", "The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency", "UPDATE 1-FACTBOX-Tribal ties key to Gaddafi rule", Genome-Wide and Paternal Diversity Reveal a Recent Origin of Human Populations in North Africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demographics_of_Libya&oldid=1097601981, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2014, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2012, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles needing additional references from June 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 July 2022, at 16:45.
Historically, the Berbers were marginalized from government and politics which were centred in Arabic-speaking or, under the Ottomans, Turkish-speaking towns, although Sulaiman al-Barouni, from the Jebel Nafusa, was President of the short-lived Tripolitanian Republic in 1919.
The Zuwayya, Warfalla, Magarha, and Maslata dominate Fezzan but are also important in the hinterland of Tripoli. Many of the coastal towns and cities of Libya were founded by the Phoenicians as trade outposts within the southern Mediterranean coast in order to facilitate the Phoenician business activities in the area. With its territory running from the port of Sirte midway between Tripoli and Benghazi down into the Sahara, he used it to help cement his power.
With the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948 and the 1967 June War, all remaining Libyan Jews migrated to Israel. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. CIA World Factbook demographic statistics. They occupy between a quarter and a third of the country and also inhabit Niger and Chad. It has been previously associated with the Islamic expansion. Cultural divisions between its two major cities of Tripoli and Benghazi can be traced to before the Romans. The other prominent tribes are the Awaqir, the Magharba, the Abid, the Urfa, the Ubaidat, the Hasa, the Fawaid, and the Dursa. Most had spent one to five years in Libya, but some families had been there for thirty years or more and had children born in Libya. Due to the Libyan Civil War, most of these migrant workers have returned to their homelands or simply left the country for a different one, however a good minority still work in Libya. Exact numbers are not available, but in March 2011 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that, before the revolution, there were 2.5 million foreign nationals living in Libya. Defeated by the Ottoman administration in Tripoli at the end of the 1830s, the survivors of the Awlad Sulayman took refuge in the Lake Chad basin where they reconstituted the conditions for their success in Libia; they controlled trans-Saharan trade and maintained their links with Libian society. Libya is a major nation of Northern Africa.
Largely rural and living in oil-producing regions of the east and interior, the tribe is relatively small but might demand greater say in the use of oil revenues. 7 chapters | This article is about Libyans () and their population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. E1b1b-M78 has probably emerged in the Egypt/Libya area and is today widely distributed in North Africa, East Africa, and West Asia. However, Libyan Jews were generally spared the fate of their European counterparts because they were embedded in middle class and administrative positions. Tunisians, Pakistanis, and Indians make up the last of the notable ethnic minorities. Because Imazighen tribes long resisted Roman domination on the coast, the name was applied especially to them. Gaddafis support was strongest in his own tribe as well as southern, often African tribes from Libyas old desert province of Fazzan. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Their propagandists reached Tripolitania and later took root in the Jebel Nafusa, where they formed a local imamate that expanded briefly onto the coast in the mid-8th century before being forced back into the desert.
Tech and Engineering - Questions & Answers, Health and Medicine - Questions & Answers. They were enlisted initially in the Islamic Legion that he set up in the 1970s, which was composed mainly of migrants from poor Sahelian countries and used to support his military adventures in sub-Saharan Africa. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The south-western Sahara is the domain of the Amazigh Tuareg, who speak Tamasheq. The majority of Libyans are Sunni Muslims and follow the Maliki school of law. It did not fit with the main official narrative that emphasized Arab Bedouin identity. A small Jewish community historically lived in Libya since antiquity (see History of the Jews in Libya), but the almost the entire Jewish community in Libya eventually fled the country for Italy, Israel, or the United States, particularly after anti-Jewish riots in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War between Arab countries and Israel. The general absence of formal structures through which to govern poses another challenge.. They are reported to have been among the most vocal opponents of Gaddafi during the uprising, and are said to be relatively well armed. What the IOM described as a large population of Sub-Saharan Africans mainly from Niger, Chad, Mali, Nigeria and Ghana. In Fezzan, Africans also worked in farming and other agriculture. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are from other African nations, including citizens of other North African nations (primarily Egyptians) and West Africans. Where the capital, Tripoli, acquires 1.19 million; While Benghazi ranks second in terms of population, with about 821.5 thousand people. In 2012 the UNHCR stated that the Libyan government indicated its willingness to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention. J1 is prevalent in some North African and all Levantine groups and found at high frequencies in the Arabian Peninsula. The Warfalla supplied many personnel for Gaddafis security apparatus. Although Libya is not an attractive destination for migrants, transit migrants from the East and mainly East Africa have continued since 2014 to exploit its political instability and weak border controls and use it as a major departure point for migration across the central Mediterranean to Europe in numbers. Historically Berber, over the centuries, Libya has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Italians. In these circumstances, many Tuareg sought refuge in Libya. Analysts say the tribe became wealthy under his rule, is sometimes accused of having a stranglehold on power and makes up the core elements of some of the regime protection units. But some members -- perhaps part of assorted subtribes that benefited less from his rule -- may have abandoned him early in the uprising. Ultimately, their main interest is seen to be ensuring they continue to benefit from Libyas oil. The IOM reported that migrants could be purchased for between 270 and 800 Libyan dinars, depending on nationality and type of work. It was not until April 2013 that a Toubou cultural festival could be held in Murzuq, as reported by the Libya Herald. B.R. At the same time, the Libyan Civil War has exacerbated other tribal conflicts and some worry could lead to greater ethnic conflict. Broadly speaking, the Banu Hilal settled in Tripolitania and the Banu Salim in Cyrenaica. [28] Like other Maghrebi countries, couscous and tajine are traditional of Libya. He represents Zuwara, on the Tunisian border, and is the first member of the Amazigh community since al-Barouni to win a leadership role in Libya.
[citation needed], The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. The tribe was historically the basis of social organization across North Africa, although structures changed over time. In Jebel Nafusa villages such as Nalut, Gasr al-Hajj (Qasr al-Haj), Yafran, Jadu, and Kabaw, ancient qasrs (fortified granaries) and olive presses remain from this period. When the Italians colonized Libya in 1911, an estimated 21,000 Jews lived in Tripoli. The Phoenicians had a big impact on Libya. Libya is a Mediterranean nation of Northern Africa with a population of roughly 6.4 million. This was a minor tribe, but it was allied to the much larger Warfalla (near Bani Walid), Zuwayya (near Kufra), and Magarha tribes. It is the capital of the country and first in terms of urban population, as well as Benghazi, Libya's second largest city. The Human Poverty Index of 2007 (UNDP) put Libya at 13.4, compared with Egypt (23.4) and Algeria (17.5) and the richer Arab Gulf states such as Oman (14.7) and Saudi Arabia (12.1). 5 percent of the total population is Imazighen, also known as Berbers, a name that comes from the Latin barbari, used by the Romans for all people outside the Greco-Latin sphere.
[18], Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022. Arabic varieties are partly spoken by immigrant workers and partly by local Libyan populations. They were mainly males between the ages of 26 and 35, employed in construction as carpenters, masons, and labourers. So, who exactly lives in Libya?
Two major smuggling routes, via Murzuq and Kufra, serve for the exchange of illicit weapons, petrol, and food, as well as drugs and alcohol. Their history goes back to the 3rd century BCE, and they flourished during the Roman period by reaching an accommodation with their rulers.
The Tarhuna make up roughly a third of the population of the capital Tripoli, while the Zentan are located between Tripoli and the Tunisian border. In addition, there are mixed Arab-Amazigh tribes called Marabtin, such as the Fawakhir, Mnifa, and Qatan. For now, there seems to have been little in the way of tension between Berber and Arab rebels, but some say it might emerge in due course. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Its spread in the Mediterranean is believed to have been facilitated by the maritime trading culture of the Phoenicians (1550 BC- 300 BC). There, they provided some of the structures that might otherwise have been provided by a centralized state: mediation in disputes, assistance to the poor, the encouragement of trade, and, particularly when the Ottoman Empire proved unable to mount effective resistance to the encroaching armies of Christian powers, a military organization. The reasons for this lie in changes associated with the progressive impoverishment of desert communities during the late 19th and the 20th centuries. Combined with the prevailing opinion that labour should be done by black Africans, this leads many Africans to feel that they are discriminated against. In the aftermath of the 2011 crisis, the IOM created a profile of Chadians who had fled to their home country: The majority were males aged between 18 and 35 who had never completed primary school and were working as unskilled labourers in construction and agriculture. Libya also has small communities of Christians: Roman Catholics, Coptic Orthodox, and Anglicans have their own places of worship. The Bani Walid overlap geographically with the Warfalla, and was reported to have defected from military units early in the uprising. ; While 56.78% of the total population is in the age group (15-54 years), 5.52% is between (55-64 years), while 4.04% are 65 years and over. Libya had occupied the Aozou Strip; however, in 1990 the International Court of Justice submitted the case and allowed the full recuperation of territory to Chad. Gaddafis revolutionary framework was centred on his own Qadhadhfa tribe. Libyan officials have offered asylum to non-Libyan Tuareg. It does not store any personal data. Many Amazigh groups, including a major group called the Tuareg, are nomadic pastoralists. Chronicle of the Middle East and North Africa, Discrimination Against Foreign Minorities, establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, former royal regime was based in Cyrenaica, The Toubou Tribes in Libya: A Unique World, In Libya, the Amazighs fight for their rights, but risk getting caught in the countrys ongoing and bloody conflict, Five Years After Arab Spring, Libyas Tawergha Prepare to Return Home, Libya: The Coming of Islam in the 7th Century, Libya: Ottoman Control, Corsairs and Karamanli in the 16th Century, Libya: The Second Ottoman period and the rise of al-Senussi (1823 1859), Libya: Italys fourth coast at the End of the 19th Century, Libya: Independence and King Idris (1951), Libya: Constructing a Modern Kingdom (1951 1969). Their political system also provided them with a strong sense of identity. Rebel military leader Abdel Fattah Younes -- killed in an attack by other rebels -- was a member of this group, but Jalil was keen to appear alongside tribal leaders immediately afterwards and serious divisions looked to have been avoided. This term is a catch-all for a wide number of people, so this group is perhaps more accurately known as Amazigh, their own term for their ethnic group. Various factions seek to strengthen their claims by exploiting rivalries between Amazigh clans, as well as Arab clans. [10], As of 2012[update] the major tribal groups of Libya, by region, were as follows:[25]. In reality, this top level of descent is usually mythical, but genuine kinship links do exist at lower levels, the clans and lineages, which are functioning social and political networks.
Tuareg rebels have attacked other Saharan governments and oil installations in pursuit of independence but have traditionally not clashed with the Libyan government, leading to some to suspect that Gaddafi armed them. The Gaddafi regime welcomed them, promising housing, education, development, and a national identity.
Abdessalam Jalloud, Gaddafis second-in-command for at least two decades, was a prominent member of the Magarha, as was Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was found guilty of the Lockerbie bombings.
They have less contact with other groups and with political circles due to their traditional ways of life. Libyan cuisine is heavily influenced by Mediterranean, Arabic and North African (Berber cuisine) traditions. The countrys annual population growth rate was 1.33%, compared to 2019, which in turn recorded a population increase rate of 1.48%, according to World Bank data. The Berber languages are related to the ancient Egyptian and Semitic languages. Libya has never provided figures to the World Bank on per capita gross national income nor on wealth distribution by percentiles. In 1970, Gaddafi ordered all British and American military bases closed. What is the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program? Its adherents (Salafis) believe that the pious ancestors (salaf), who were associates of the Prophet Muhammad, should be the only model for later Muslims in matters of belief, worship, and conduct. Marabtin tribes used the land as clients of dominant tribes. In pre-colonial North Africa, Sufi adherents gathered into brotherhoods, and these orders became popular particularly in rural areas. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. In 2004, Gaddafi promised to pay Jews compensation, on condition that they could show they did not hold possessions confiscated from Palestinians after 1948 or had returned them to their rightful owners. After 1969, Gaddafi adopted a pro-Palestinian stance and seized all Jewish properties. Several senior officials from this group publicly defected at the beginning of the uprising. Non-Arabic languages had largely been spoken by foreign workers (who had been massively employed in Libya in various infrastructure projects prior to the 2011 civil war), and those languages with more than 10,000 speakers included Punjabi, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Sinhala, Bengal, Tamil, Tagalog, French, Italian, Ukrainian, Serbian, and English. The region is a major tourist attraction. The estimated fertility rate in 2021 AD was 3.13 births/woman. The Salafiya is a religious movement of reform that emerged in Islam in the 19th century. Libyas descent into chaos is only accelerating, with little hope in sight. Let's break down our two majority populations a little more. It was largely opposed to the Gaddafi regime. Another common paternal lineage in Libya and North Africa is haplogroup J through its subtypes J1 (M267) and J2 (M172). However, after 1985 a fast decrease in fertility was observed from over 7 children per woman in the beginning of the 1980s to less than 3 in 2005-2010. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. It has been estimated that there are approximately 140 different tribes (many of which have branches stretching over international frontiers into Tunisia to Egypt to Chad), but, according to Faraj Najem, a sociologist who has specialized in the study of Libyan tribes, no more than thirty wield any demonstrable influence (al-Sharq al-Awsat, 22 February 2011). Gaddafis wife Safia came from the Barasa.
The Libyan revolution in 2011 led to a drastic reduction in migration and forced about 800,000 migrants to flee to third countries, especially Tunisia and Egypt, or to their countries of origin. Many people had to give up their nomadic way of life and move to cities. flashcard set{{course.flashcardSetCoun > 1 ? In 1952, when Libya became independent, it was the poorest sovereign state in the world. Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (1.VII.2015): Eight population censuses have been carried out in Libya, the first in 1931 and the most recent one in 2006.
Souhail Karam, Jon Hemming, Tribal ties key to Gaddafi rule, Reuters (2011), Served as "starter", the soup is mentioned in the New York Times, Learn how and when to remove this template message, " : ", "Libyans in Egypt losing hope of returning home", "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables", "Libyan Canadians cast ballots in first post-Gadhafi election - iPolitics", "MMIGRATION PROFILE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA FOR 2014", http://www.hejleh.com/countries/libya.html, "Save BIG with $9.99 .COMs from GoDaddy! [23] Among the non-Arabized Berber groups are the nomadic Tuareg, who inhabit the southern areas as well as parts of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
According to official figures, only 12,000 to 15,000 live in Libya, around Ghat, Ghadames, and Murzuq. Although the coup failed and a number of leaders were killed, imprisoned and driven into exile, the tribe maintained sizeable numbers within the military. Among the workers were construction workers and laborers from Tunisia, teachers and laborers from Egypt, teachers from Palestine, and doctors and nurses from Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. In the 1990s, as the economic situation deteriorated and unemployment increased, resentment of Africans grew. At the same time, these communities were diverse, with a variety of modes of production.
Political tensions in Mali and Niger in the 1990s caused further migrations and a war in which Tuareg in Mali fought for more autonomy from the black Malian government. In 1951, the country was granted independence by the United Nations, being governed by King Idris. These articles are posted in this country file or elsewhere on our website: There is no consensus on the origin of the Toubou people. {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}} lessons
As of 2019, twenty-eight percent of the population is estimated to be under the age of 15, but this proportion has decreased considerably during the past decades. 318,007 were third-country nationals (TCN) whom the IOM assisted with onward passage to their own countries of origin. According to the CIA World Factbook.
Some Libyans, mostly in the rebel movement, say such traditional structures are not very important in urban areas, but others say that they may prove vital in the absence of traditional government structures. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Libya is home to roughly 6.4 million people, the majority of whom are Muslim and speak Arabic. Below are the latest articles by acclaimed journalists and academics concerning the topic Population and Libya. However, there are many who fear that the wind is blowing in that direction. To represent the voice of the regions people, we carefully echo the regions heartbeat by Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. In its early stages, the conflict divided Libya once again along those lines, with the area around Benghazi under opposition control and the rebels taking the flag of the former Cyrenaican monarchy ousted by Gaddafi. Almost 3% of the population is Christian, with some local Christian church adherents in Eastern Libya - the Copts. Population density is about 50 persons per km (130/sq. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It was one of the largest migration crises in modern history. They were believed to be broadly loyal to Gaddafi in the conflict, although again details are sparse. The regime demolished Toubou homes in Kufra and exiled residents to Chad.
Parents were not allowed to give their children Amazigh names. The average life expectancy at birth in the same year was 76.93 years (74.68 years for males and 79.29 years for females). These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Demographically, Libyas population is much more homogenous than that of other countries in North Africa. Arabic is the official language of the country, while Italian and English are widely understood in major cities. In January 2003, the Libya Herald reported that the only sewage facility in Cyrenaica was no longer functioning, and other reports said it was more than forty years old. Only a few Berbers still lead a semi-nomadic life. After the war with Chad and the 1994 ruling by the International Court of Justice that obliged Gaddafi to hand back the Aouzou Strip, he declared that the Toubou were really Chadians. The nomadic Toubou community resides in the Tibesti Mountains, which are divided between Chad and Libya. Some studies suggest a Paleolithic component for E-M81 and E-M78, while other studies point to a Neolithic origin.
At first glance, the nation seems fairly homogenous, and in fact 97% of citizens identify as ethnically Berber or Arab. The rise of fascism in Italy greatly disadvantaged the Jewish community economically and culturally, as it did Libyan Muslims, who faced their most severe repression under Mussolinis Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani. The Arab ethnic group is native to the Arabian Peninsula, arriving in Libya during Islamic military campaigns of the 7th century CE.
This discrepancy comes from unreliable statistics over the years (reflecting political turmoil in the nation) as well as a strong historic pressure to identify with Arab ancestry. After the 9th century, they were confined to isolated communities in the Mzab in Algeria, the island of Djerba in Tunisia, and the Jebel Nafusa. In general terms, Libyas oil and gas wealth has produced a classification of low human poverty, but, according to Libyan sources, there is a large but unquantified difference in income between east and west, with Tripoli more prosperous than Benghazi in infrastructure, houses, schools, and hospitals. The relative deprivation in the east was the product of Libyas history: the former royal regime was based in Cyrenaica, and, during the Gaddafi period, the major Islamic opposition came from the east. in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than one person per km (2.7/sq. Tribes, subtribes and other groups have a variety of leadership structures, and rarely simply function as monolithic blocks, analysts say. The early years of independence, in the 1960s and 1970s, coincided with severe droughts in the Sahara that decimated the Tuaregs livestock. Analysts say this tribe is the second largest and it has had mixed relations with Gaddafis government. Two of these tribes, the Awlad Nuh and the Awlad al-Shaykh, live more independently and act as traditional mediators in disputes. By 1980, when a consistent series of International Monetary Fund (IMF) data begins, per capita GDP in current US dollars was USD 12,807 per annum. During the war, the territory was under an Anglo-French military government until it was overrun by the Axis Powers, who, in turn, were defeated by the Allies in 1943.
copyright 2003-2022 Study.com. Mitchell. In fact, while Italian is not an official language of Libya, it is spoken and understood in most cities. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. On the other hand, E-M78 and E-M123 are frequent in the Levant and Egypt and decline towards Northwest Africa. However, Libya should never be mistaken for any of the other nations of Northern Africa that fit this rough description. After the 2011 revolt, a growing number of Salafi groups in Libya sought to profit from the unstable security situation that existed during the period of transitional government. J2 is sporadically detected in North Africa and Iberia and is very frequent in the Levant/Anatolia/Iran region. offering fact-checked and therefore credible information. The original homeland of the Tuareg stretches from Libya, Niger, Algeria, and Mali to Mauritania. As Libyan place names show, the Imazighen/Berbers were once dominant in the region, but today the largest communities are to be found in the Jebel Nafusa region, the Jifara plain, and Zuwara. Each of these can relate, to some degree, back to the ethnic composition of the nation. Demographic Yearbooks 1948-2008", "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics", "The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency", "UPDATE 1-FACTBOX-Tribal ties key to Gaddafi rule", Genome-Wide and Paternal Diversity Reveal a Recent Origin of Human Populations in North Africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demographics_of_Libya&oldid=1097601981, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2014, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2012, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles needing additional references from June 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 July 2022, at 16:45.
Historically, the Berbers were marginalized from government and politics which were centred in Arabic-speaking or, under the Ottomans, Turkish-speaking towns, although Sulaiman al-Barouni, from the Jebel Nafusa, was President of the short-lived Tripolitanian Republic in 1919.
The Zuwayya, Warfalla, Magarha, and Maslata dominate Fezzan but are also important in the hinterland of Tripoli. Many of the coastal towns and cities of Libya were founded by the Phoenicians as trade outposts within the southern Mediterranean coast in order to facilitate the Phoenician business activities in the area. With its territory running from the port of Sirte midway between Tripoli and Benghazi down into the Sahara, he used it to help cement his power.
With the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948 and the 1967 June War, all remaining Libyan Jews migrated to Israel. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. CIA World Factbook demographic statistics. They occupy between a quarter and a third of the country and also inhabit Niger and Chad. It has been previously associated with the Islamic expansion. Cultural divisions between its two major cities of Tripoli and Benghazi can be traced to before the Romans. The other prominent tribes are the Awaqir, the Magharba, the Abid, the Urfa, the Ubaidat, the Hasa, the Fawaid, and the Dursa. Most had spent one to five years in Libya, but some families had been there for thirty years or more and had children born in Libya. Due to the Libyan Civil War, most of these migrant workers have returned to their homelands or simply left the country for a different one, however a good minority still work in Libya. Exact numbers are not available, but in March 2011 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that, before the revolution, there were 2.5 million foreign nationals living in Libya. Defeated by the Ottoman administration in Tripoli at the end of the 1830s, the survivors of the Awlad Sulayman took refuge in the Lake Chad basin where they reconstituted the conditions for their success in Libia; they controlled trans-Saharan trade and maintained their links with Libian society. Libya is a major nation of Northern Africa.
Largely rural and living in oil-producing regions of the east and interior, the tribe is relatively small but might demand greater say in the use of oil revenues. 7 chapters | This article is about Libyans () and their population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. E1b1b-M78 has probably emerged in the Egypt/Libya area and is today widely distributed in North Africa, East Africa, and West Asia. However, Libyan Jews were generally spared the fate of their European counterparts because they were embedded in middle class and administrative positions. Tunisians, Pakistanis, and Indians make up the last of the notable ethnic minorities. Because Imazighen tribes long resisted Roman domination on the coast, the name was applied especially to them. Gaddafis support was strongest in his own tribe as well as southern, often African tribes from Libyas old desert province of Fazzan. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Their propagandists reached Tripolitania and later took root in the Jebel Nafusa, where they formed a local imamate that expanded briefly onto the coast in the mid-8th century before being forced back into the desert.