ليبيا

Libya's coast was settled by Phoenicians in the west and Greeks in the east, giving rise to Tripolitania and Cyrenaica — two regions with distinct histories that still shape the country. Rome inherited both and built cities here on an extraordinary scale.

Islamic rule arrived in the seventh century, followed by Ottoman administration and the Karamanli dynasty, Italian colonisation, and independence in 1951.

Across all of it, the Saharan caravan routes carried gold, salt and manuscripts between the Mediterranean and West Africa, and the oasis towns that served them survive in the interior.

Leptis Magna, the birthplace of the emperor Septimius Severus, is among the most complete Roman cities anywhere: its basilica, forum, theatre and arch stand close to the sea. Sabratha keeps a three-storey theatre facade facing the Mediterranean, and Cyrene preserves a Greek city with its sanctuary of Apollo.

Inland, the old town of Ghadames is a labyrinth of covered streets and whitewashed houses built for desert heat, and the Tadrart Acacus mountains hold rock paintings and engravings spanning twelve thousand years — a record of a Sahara that was once green.

More than nine-tenths of Libya is desert. The Ubari sand sea holds a chain of salt lakes among the dunes, and the volcanic massifs of the Acacus and Tibesti rise on the southern frontiers.

To the north, the Jebel Akhdar — the Green Mountain — catches enough rain to support forest and farmland, and the Mediterranean coastline runs for more than 1,700 kilometres.

Libyan culture draws on Arab, Amazigh, Ottoman and Saharan sources. Silverwork, leather, weaving and pottery remain living crafts, and the courtyard houses of the old medinas show centuries of accumulated skill.

Music ranges from the malouf of the coastal cities to the Tuareg and Amazigh traditions of the interior, and the date harvest still marks the year in the oasis towns.