State of Libya
Libya, 1977 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. A bloodless military coup in 1969, initiated by a coalition led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King Idris I and created a republic. Since 2011, Libya has been involved in a political and humanitarian crisis, and by 2014, two rival authorities claimed to govern Libya, which led to a second civil war, with parts of Libya split between separate governments, based in Tripoli and Tobruk, as well as various tribal and Islamist militias. The two main warring sides signed a permanent ceasefire in 2020, and a unity government took authority to plan for democratic elections, though political rivalries continue to delay this.
Seat of power: Tripoli
Rulers
Abdul Ati al-Obeidi
Prime Minister of Libya, 1977–1979
He was Prime Minister from 1977 to 1979 and General Secretary of General People's Congress from 1979 to 1981.
Portrait of Abdul Ati al-Obeidi: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, OGL v1.0, file
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Jadallah Azzuz at-Talhi
Prime Minister of Libya, 1979–1984
Talhi was Secretary-General of the People's Committee in Libya for two terms, first from 2 March 1979 to 16 February 1984, then from September 1986 to 1 March 1987.
Jadallah Azzuz at-Talhi
Prime Minister of Libya, 1986–1987
Talhi served as foreign minister of Libya in the late 1980s, replacing Kamel Maghur as foreign minister.
Abuzed Omar Dorda
Prime Minister of Libya, 1990–1994
He was the General Secretary of the People's Committee (Prime Minister) of Libya from 7 October 1990 to 29 January 1994. He was Libya's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1997 to 2003.
Mohamed Ahmed Mangush
Prime Minister of Libya, 1997–2000
He was General Secretary of the People's Committee in Libya (prime minister) from 29 December 1997 to 1 March 2000.
Imbarek Shamekh
Prime Minister of Libya, 2000–2003
He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2009, and Prime Minister from 2000 to 2003.
Shukri Ghanem
Prime Minister of Libya, 2003–2006
He was the General Secretary of the General People's Committee of Libya (prime minister) from June 2003 until March 2006, when he was replaced by his deputy, Baghdadi Mahmudi.
Portrait of Shukri Ghanem: Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
Baghdadi Mahmudi
Prime Minister of Libya, 2006–2011
He was Secretary of the General People's Committee (prime minister) of Libya from 5 March 2006 to as late as 1 September 2011, when he acknowledged the collapse of the GPCO and the ascendance of the National Transitional Council as a result of the Libyan Civil War.
Portrait of Baghdadi Mahmudi: premier.gov.ru, CC BY 4.0, file
Abdurrahim El-Keib
Prime Minister of Libya, 2011–2012
He served as interim Prime Minister of Libya from 24 November 2011 to 14 November 2012. He was appointed to the position by the country's National Transitional Council on the understanding that he would be replaced when the General National Congress was elected and took power.
Portrait of Abdurrahim El-Keib: DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo, Public domain, file
Ali Zeidan
Prime Minister of Libya, 2012–2014
He was appointed by the General National Congress on 14 October 2012, and took office on 14 November after Congress approved his cabinet nominees. He was ousted by the parliament committee and fled from Libya on 14 March 2014.
Portrait of Ali Zeidan: US Department of State, Public domain, file
Abdullah al-Thani
Prime Minister of Libya, 2014–2021
He served as the prime minister of Libya, from 2014, when he took over in an interim capacity after the dismissal of Ali Zeidan, to 2021. In the context of the second Libyan civil war, he served as prime minister under the Tobruk-based government.
Portrait of Abdullah al-Thani: Amanda Lucidon / White House, Public domain, file
Omar al-Hasi
Prime Minister of Libya, 2014–2015
He was the prime minister of the General National Congress-led National Salvation Government in Tripoli.
Khalifa al-Ghawi
Prime Minister of Libya, 2015–2017
He was the prime minister of the General National Congress-led National Salvation Government in Tripoli. On 1 December 2015, he formed a new cabinet.
Fayez al-Sarraj
Chairman of the Presidential Council, 2016–2021
He served as the Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and head of government of the Government of National Accord, which was formed on 17 December 2015 under the Libyan Political Agreement, from 2016 to 2021.
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Mohamed al-Menfi
Chairman of the Presidential Council, 2021 to today
On 5 February 2021, he was chosen as the chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum. Previously, he had served as the Libyan Ambassador to Greece.
Portrait of Mohamed al-Menfi: European Union, Attribution, file
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Culture
- The official language of Libya is Arabic, with vernacular Libyan Arabic being spoken most widely.
- Libya is a developing country ranking 115th by HDI, and has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves in the world.
- In March 2022, the House of Representatives ceased recognising the Government of National Unity and proclaimed an alternative government, the Government of National Stability (GNS).
Picture
Cyrene was an ancient Greek colony and Roman city near present-day Shahhat in northeastern Libya, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982.
Image: Maher27777, Public domain, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.