Features of the life of the population of the home of the Libyan tradition. African countries. Libya. Internal differences and cities

Libya has a very rich cuisine that combines Arabic and Mediterranean dishes with Italian essence. One of the popular local dishes is couscous, which is made from cereals, meat, and potatoes. Alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited in the country, as the state follows Islamic law.

The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya shares a common cultural heritage with the neighboring Arabian Peninsula. Local residents give preference to family life. Residents often visit the country's picturesque beaches. The country also has several important archaeological sites, especially Leptis Magna, which is preserved as a Roman site.

Art of Libya

While traveling in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, you can meet many different types rock art, especially in the southwestern part of the Fezzan region. Here you can find images or engravings of the primitive era, which depict human figures, wild animals, as well as simply abstract figures.

Music of Libya

A variety of Arabic music has gained popularity and recognition in Libya, including Andalusi music (locally called malouf), chaabi, and Arabic classical music. The Tuareg community, who live in the southern part of the Saharan region, are known for performing their own folk music. They perform music on a musical instrument, which is a single-stringed violin called anzad, to the accompaniment of drums. Other instruments frequently used in the country are the zokra, bagpipes, flute, tambourine, oud, lute, and darbuka, a type of drum. Huda is a camel rider's song sung by Bedouin poet-singers and can often be heard in different regions of the country.

During the Muslim holy month Ramadan Libyans don't work. General day off is Friday. Banks are open from 8 to 12 hours (Saturday - Thursday) and from 16 to 17 hours (Saturday - Wednesday). There are few ATMs. Visa and Dinners Club cards are available for use only at the airport and large hotels. Dollars are the preferred foreign currency, while euros are practically not in use.

To enter the country, tourists need a foreign passport with the surname must be in Arabic (fits on any free page of the passport), visa, 1000 US dollars or the equivalent in Libyan dinars. For children under 16 years of age, a power of attorney from the parents is required; the names of the children are included in the visa of the parents (mother). For pets, two copies of a veterinary certificate of rabies vaccination are required.

Entry to Libya is prohibited persons who have an Israeli visa in their passport. It is prohibited to import any alcohol, dishes made from or containing pork, weapons, drugs, goods made in Israel, pornographic products (any image of a fully or partially naked body). It is prohibited to import and export the national currency of Libya. Alcohol has been legally prohibited in the country since 1969 under penalty of imprisonment, and there are no exceptions for foreign tourists.

Communication in Libya preferably in Arabic. Many Libyans who studied in the USSR many years ago remember the Russian language. Many people know a few words in Italian, English, French, and Spanish, but this knowledge is fragmentary and full-fledged communication most likely will not work. The inscriptions in the vast majority of cases are in Arabic.

Beach holidays in Libya are not developed, since the beaches are in poor condition. Diving is not allowed - there are no conditions.

The most popular types of recreation in the country are historical excursions to desert cities and safaris in the Sahara Desert.

* do not visit the Sahara in spring - this is a period of sandstorms;
* cover photo and video cameras from sand with plastic bags;
* you can drive a jeep along the dunes without effort, but you should not drive onto the ridge - the sand is loose, and the opposite slope may be steep, you can roll over;
* in winter you can run on the dunes barefoot - the temperature of the sand is +20...+30°C, and in summer the sand heats up to +100°C;
* in oases the reservoirs are highly salty, it is impossible to drown in them, the water temperature is +20...+25°C, and at a depth of one and a half meters the water is very hot;
* in winter, snakes and scorpions sleep, but sticks, stones and other objects should be taken and moved carefully, tents should be closed tightly, all things should be unfolded and stored only inside the tent.

The official name is the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Al-Jamahiriyya al-Arabiya al-Libiyya al-Shaabiyya al-Ishtirakiya al-Uzma).

Located in North Africa. Area 1,760 thousand km2, population - 5.37 million people. (2002). The official language is Arabic. The capital is Tripoli (2.27 million people, 2001). Public holidays - Revolution Day on September 1 (since 1969), Proclamation Day of the Jamahiriya on March 2 (since 1977). The monetary unit is the Libyan dinar (equal to 1000 dirhams).

Member of the UN (since 1955), Arab League (since 1953), AU (since 1963).

Sights of Libya

Geography of Libya

It is located between 19° and 33° north latitude and 9° and 26° east longitude. It is washed in the north by the Mediterranean Sea. The coastline is poorly dissected, the only large bay is Greater Sirte (or Sidra, Arabic: Surt).
It borders Egypt and Sudan in the east and southeast, Chad and Niger in the south, Algeria and Tunisia in the west.

More than 9/10 of the territory is occupied by desert and semi-desert spaces of the Sahara (in the east called the Libyan Desert). Plateaus and plains (200-600 m) alternate with basins (up to 131 m below sea level), low (up to 1200 m) mountain ranges and ridges with extinct volcanoes. Only the northern spurs of the Tibesti Highlands rise higher in the southeast and extreme south, where the highest point of Libyan territory is located - Bette Peak (2286 m).

Among the mineral resources, proven reserves of oil stand out - 4130 million tons and natural gas - 1314 billion m3 (at the beginning of 2001, the first and third largest in Africa, respectively). Other resources have been poorly explored. There are known iron ore reserves of approx. 5.7 billion tons of magnesium (total reserves 7.5 million tons) and potassium (1.6 million tons) salts, the presence of phosphates, gypsum and raw materials for cement production, as well as other minerals.

Soil cover is almost absent in most of the territory, which is occupied by lifeless spaces, mainly sandy, clayey, pebble-crushed stone or rocky and salt marshes. The exceptions are a narrow (8-15 km wide) strip on the coastal plains of the north, except for its middle part along the Gulf of Sirte, as well as oases in the inland areas, usually low-lying, covered with fertile silty sediments. Only in the extreme east in Cyrenaica and in the west in Tripolitania does this fertile zone in some places expand to 40 km.

A desert tropical climate with sharp seasonal and daily temperature changes predominates. In summer, daytime temperatures usually exceed +40 °C, maximum temperatures exceed +50 °C; in winter during the day +25-30 °C, and at night 0 °C and below. On Tibesti, night frosts reach -15 °C. Central Libya is one of the regions of the planet with minimal rainfall. Typically, every 5-6 years the country is hit by droughts lasting 1-2 years. Only along the eastern and western coasts there are zones of a milder climate of the dry Mediterranean subtropics, 15-20 km wide, and then another 20 km inland - steppes.

There are no rivers with constant flow and natural freshwater lakes. There are numerous oueds (wadis) - dry riverbeds, sometimes filled with rain streams from October to March. There are large reserves of groundwater, feeding springs and fertile oases.

In humid places near the coasts, small zones of wild forests, thickets of Phoenician juniper, maquis (dense evergreen shrubs and low trees - myrtle, oleander, pistachio), groves of Aleppo pine, acacia, sycamore (fig tree, or fig), tamarisk, olive, carob have been preserved wood, cedar, cypress, holm oak, Euphrates poplar. Around the cities, plantings of eucalyptus, palm, pine, fruit trees and shrubs are expanding: pomegranate, apricot, citrus, olive, banana, almond, grape, laurel. It is mostly cultivable agricultural land, together with land in the interior oases, barely reaching 1.9% of Libyan territory.

The fauna is not very diverse. Reptiles (snakes, lizards), insects and arachnids (scorpions, phalanges) predominate; among mammals - rodents, hares are less common, among predators - jackals, hyenas, red foxes, fennec foxes (small representatives of wolves, weighing up to 1.5 kg); wild boars are more common in the north, artiodactyls - antelopes, gazelles - in the far south. Birds (pigeons, swallows, crows, eagles, falcons, vultures) nest more in oases, mountainous areas and coastal areas. Many migratory birds from European countries winter there. Coastal waters are rich - more than 300 species of fish, including commercial ones (anchovy, mackerel, tuna, horse mackerel, sardine, eel), as well as valuable species of sponges.

Population of Libya

Average annual natural population growth, according to UN statistics, was 4.2% in 1970-90, 2.1% in 1991-2000. Fertility rate 27.6%, mortality 3.5%, infant mortality 27.9 people. per 1000 newborns, average life expectancy is 75.9 years (2002). Age structure of the population: 0-14 years - 35%, 15-64 years - 61%, 65 years and older - 4%. The average male to female ratio is 1.06. Urban population 88% (2000). Literacy (% of residents over 15 years of age who can read) 76.2 (1995).

Libyan Arabs predominate everywhere (more than 80% of the number of citizens) - descendants of nomadic migrants (mostly 11th century) from the central part of the Arabian Peninsula. The indigenous inhabitants of the country are the Berbers, from one of the ancient tribes from which its name came, and the Tuaregs barely make up 6-7% of the population, mainly in the south and southwest, where small representatives of the Negroid race - the Tubu and Hausa - also live. There are many temporary residents in Libya (up to 663 thousand, 2002 estimate) - mostly working immigrants from Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and other countries. The number and national composition of newcomers changed noticeably depending on the political and economic situation in the 1990s.

The only official language is Arabic, which is the mother tongue of the vast majority of native Libyans. A minority, mainly Berbers, are bilingual, although their writing also uses the Arabic alphabet. English and Italian are spoken in the cities.

The state religion is Islam. He is confessed by St. 99% of the population. Few Christians, mostly Catholics (almost exclusively immigrants from Western Europe and very rarely - local Berbers and Arabs). More than 2/3 of Muslims are Sunnis, followers of the Maliki madhhab - one of the four “orthodox” religious and legal schools. Up to 1/3 of Libyans are committed to the teachings of the Senusites.

History of Libya

The first mentions of early government entities(alliances of Berber tribes) on modern Libyan territory in Egyptian sources go back to the 2nd half. 3rd millennium BC From the 7th century BC. in the north of the country the “colonial powers” ​​of antiquity competed: Greece, Carthage, Rome. To the south was the original kingdom of the Garamantes - a people probably formed by Berbers and descendants of people from the countries of the Aegean Sea. Garamantida, independent or dependent on Rome, existed for over one and a half millennia before the Arab conquest in 642-43. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Libya experienced invasions, confrontation between feudal monarchies, religious and political associations of Arab and Berber tribes. From ser. 16th century established itself here until 1911-12 Ottoman Empire, whose power was limited to the coast and a few cities with immediate surroundings in the interior of the territory. To the beginning 1930s after long resistance the country was occupied by Italy; At the end of the 2nd World War, it came under the control of the British and French military administrations until 1951, when it became an independent kingdom. After the revolutionary putsch on September 1, 1969, young officers led by the unchallenged leader Muammar al-Gaddafi overthrew the monarchy and proclaimed Libya a republic, and since March 1977 it became “jamahiriyya” (from Arabic “mass”), or “state of the masses.”

Government structure and political system of Libya

The role of the fundamental law is officially fulfilled by the Koran, according to the brief Declaration on the Establishment of People's Power, adopted on March 2, 1977 at an extraordinary session of the highest legislative body - the General People's Congress (GPC). This document proclaimed “direct democracy” - democracy exercised through basic people's congresses, people's committees, corporate and professional associations, as well as through the All-Russian People's Commissariat. The Koran is declared to be the fundamental law - in fact the equivalent of the missing "secular" constitution.

The principles of the unique system of Libya were formulated by M. Gaddafi in the middle. 1970s as a “third world theory” that denies capitalism and communism. Government, other government bodies along with party and all other political institutions in the generally accepted sense, since 1977 they have been abolished and formally replaced by a system of “direct democracy”. The Constitutional Declaration declared its basis to be local (primary) people's assemblies of citizens. All adult population (from 18 years of age) of independent administrative-territorial units (neighborhoods, villages) are required to participate in such meetings to directly resolve current economic, cultural, and other issues of a local scale; to discuss national problems of domestic and foreign policy, make proposals and recommendations, as well as to elect permanent representative and executive bodies - people's committees and their secretaries. Primary committees automatically form meetings and elected bodies of the next, municipal level. Finally, the municipal committees in full and the secretaries of the primary ones, together with representatives of trade unions and other mass public organizations form the supreme legislative body - the Supreme People's Commissariat. More than half of its delegates are members of the secretariats of primary and municipal congresses, formed mainly on a territorial basis. The remaining members of the All-Russian People's Congress are delegated according to professional and corporate characteristics and are represented by members of the secretariats of people's congresses of corporate associations. At all industrial, construction and service enterprises, primary people's congresses (PNC) are created consisting of all their employees who have reached 18 years of age. These NCPs elect people's committees from among the leadership, technical personnel and workers, which perform the functions of state administration. The secretariats of NPCs of the same profile form people's congresses of the relevant industries, where they represent the teams of their enterprises.

The VNK elects a general secretariat, which performs the functions of the highest government agency during the period between sessions. The Secretary General of the GNC - Mubarak Abdullah al-Shameh (since March 2000) - is formally the head of state and legislative branch. At sessions, usually annual, the GPC makes resolutions on national issues and appoints the Supreme People's Committee (essentially the government) consisting of the committee's general secretary (chief of cabinet) - Shukri Muhammad Ghanim (since June 2003) - and secretaries - heads of the relevant secretariats (ministries) .

The “Leader of the Libyan Revolution” - Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi - is formally only an honorary “ideological” leader of the country. However, without holding any official positions in the Jamahiriya system, he actually concentrates all the real power.

The capital and seat of all foreign diplomatic missions remains the center of the most densely populated region - the city of Tripoli (over 1269.7 thousand inhabitants, 2003 estimate), although almost all government secretariats (ministries) have been moved outside its boundaries since 1988: the majority are in the city. Surt, as well as in the cities. Benghazi (second in number of inhabitants - 734.9 thousand), Kufra, Ras al-Anouf.

From the 2nd half. 1980s economic and political liberalization campaigns are periodically carried out in Libya, many political prisoners have been released, and Libyan citizens are allowed free entry and exit from the country.

American sanctions against Libya, many of which had been in place since 1981, remained in effect in 2003, despite widespread dissatisfaction with them among business circles. On the contrary, the EU lifted most of the sanctions in September 1999 and invited Libya to participate in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership program adopted in Barcelona in 1995. Some European countries began to actively develop political and economic ties with Libya in the hope of making profitable investments there. However, the European embargo on arms sales to Libya remained in force.

Armed forces (August 1999, thousand people): total - 65, incl. army - 35 (estimate), navy - 8, air force - 22. People's militia - 40 thousand. Military appropriations for the 1999/2000 fiscal year are $1.3 billion, or 3.9% of GDP.

Libya has diplomatic relations from the Russian Federation (established from the USSR on September 4, 1955). At the end of December 1991, it officially declared recognition of Russia.

Economy of Libya

GDP at currency purchasing power parity is $40 billion, and per capita is $7,600 (2001). Industry structure (est. 1997,%) by contribution to GDP (in brackets - by employment): agriculture, forestry and fishing - 7 (17), industry and construction - 47 (29), service sector - 46 (54).
The economically active population is 1.5 million people, unemployment is 30%, although the most significant contribution to the latter figure is made not so much by native Libyans as by immigrant workers (2000). Inflation in 2001 13.6%, in 2002 1.9% (estimate).

The oil and gas industry firmly holds a dominant role in the Libyan economy (about 68 million tons of oil were produced in 2001). Its contribution to gross industrial output (together with capital construction) exceeds 57%, while in current foreign exchange earnings - 98%, and in income state budget - 75%.

It was thanks to the abrupt growth of these incomes that the Libyan state in the 1970-80s. generously financed extensive development plans. Their main successes boiled down to the expansion and modernization of economic and social infrastructure, oil refining complexes (the annual capacity of installations for direct distillation is up to 17.4 million tons) and gas, mainly export-oriented, the creation of centers for the production of basic, large-scale products organic chemistry(polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, urea, etc.). Other industrial sectors (production of consumer goods for the domestic market, assembly of agricultural, construction, automotive equipment) depend on the import of foreign equipment, raw materials, components and often on foreign labor. Despite sharp changes in oil and gas revenues in the 2nd half. In the 1980s and 1990s, they remained the basis of the economy and society, providing the Libyan population with the lead in average income on the African continent, and the state, the monopoly owner of the subsoil, with a key role in the implementation of the vast majority of projects.

The development of the Libyan agricultural sector is hampered by a shortage of agricultural land, depletion and salinization of natural sources of fresh water and its underground reserves on the coast, as well as the mass relocation of indigenous rural residents to cities. The collection of the main crop products in 2000 was (thousand tons): barley - 70, wheat - 160, potatoes - 209; other vegetable and horticultural products in 1998: olives - 190, tomatoes - 158, onions (dry) - 180, watermelons - 210, dates - 130, citrus fruits - 66. Livestock farming is also developing (produced in 1998, thousand tons: beef and veal - 21, mutton and lamb - 37, poultry meat - 98, cow's milk - 100, sheep's milk - 40) and fishing (in 1997 the total catch by live weight was measured at 32.7 thousand tons, which almost entirely fell on the coastal zone Mediterranean Sea - 32.3 thousand tons). However, by the beginning 21st century 75-80% of the needs for agricultural products, especially food, were met through imports.

There have been no operating railways since 1965. Length of roads in 1996 (thousand km): total - 24.5; incl. main (presumably with hard surface) - 6.8; secondary (ground) - 17.7. By 2002, the main pipeline routes in the oil and gas sector of the economy reached the following length (thousand km): oil pipelines - 4.8, gas pipelines - approx. 2 (including 256 km for transporting liquefied petroleum gas). The largest and most expensive Libyan transport project of the 20-21 centuries: “The Great Man-Made River” - a system of water pipelines with unique technical solutions (of the five planned, two of its lines are in operation with pipes with a diameter of up to 4 m, a total length of about 2510 km and a throughput capacity of up to 4.5 million m3 of water per day) from natural underground freshwater reservoirs in the interior of the Sahara to cities, coastal agricultural areas and oases.

The main seaports are Tripoli, Benghazi, Marsa el-Bureika, Misrata, Tobruk, Al-Homs, Ras el-Anouf, Zuwara, Derna. International maritime cargo transportation (1993, thousand tons): loading - 62,491; unloading - 7808. As of 1999, the throughput of ports, in addition to oil terminals, is 15 million tons.

In 2001 there were 136 airports, incl. 58 - with hard surface runways. Since 1995, civil aviation aircraft have flown 3 million km on regular routes; 623 thousand passengers were transported, their flow amounted to 398 million passenger-km; freight traffic - 32 million tkm.

In 1998, the telephone network numbered (thousand subscribers): main lines - 500, mobile communications - 20. In 2002 there was 1 Internet provider, and the number of users in 2001 was estimated at 20 thousand.

In 1998, the total number of tourist arrivals amounted to 850.3 thousand people.

Within the framework of liberal, but strictly limited economic reforms Cooperative forms of ownership, private industrial, trade and banking activities are encouraged, processes of denationalization continue, some Libyan manufacturing enterprises are corporatized and privatized, sometimes large ones - for example, the metallurgical plant in Misrata. The most important goals of the national socio-economic strategy are invariably the development of natural resources alternatives to oil and gas, achieving food self-sufficiency, sectoral and territorial diversification, accelerated development of the country's interior and other measures with the broad involvement of private investment in their implementation. The Libyan leadership declares its readiness to open the doors to foreign investment (at the first stage, mainly in the tourism sector). In 1997, the Law on Foreign Investments was adopted, which provides for attracting investments also in other sectors: mechanical engineering, Agriculture, healthcare, consumer services and others at the discretion of the government. Projects implemented within the framework of the mentioned law are guaranteed a number of “standard” privileges in world practice. However, neither moderate liberalism, nor privatization, nor the revival of small and medium-sized private businesses almost in any way affect key sectors, primarily the oil and gas industry, as well as the main types of foreign economic activity, including export-import, foreign exchange and financial, other transactions and contracts that are held owned and/or under strict state control.

Since January 2002, measures have been taken to unify the exchange rate of the national currency (to abandon the system of multiple rates): the Libyan dinar was devalued by 51% against the US dollar, and at the same time, customs duties on most imported goods were reduced by 50% to compensate the bulk of their consumers negative consequences of currency regulation - in line with the general course towards financial recovery, curbing inflation and stimulating foreign investment.

The state budget, according to estimates for 2001, was reduced to a small surplus (in billion dollars) - 0.1, with revenues - 9.3 and expenses - 9.2, including current and capital. A long-standing serious problem remains the inefficiency of most costs, of which approx. 60% comes from the salary of civil servants.

Libya's average national income per capita is higher than that of any other African country. This allows the state to finance free healthcare, education, a significant part of the housing stock and other social services at a relatively high level and maintain continental primacy in most components of quality of life. True, only a small share of these benefits extends to numerous foreign workers.

Thanks to the high conditions on the world markets for hydrocarbon raw materials and their primary processing products after 1999, the conditions and financial results of foreign economic activity were favorable (billion dollars): exports - 13.1, imports - 8.7, positive trade balance - 4.4 , foreign liquid assets (excluding gold reserves) - 14.8, external debt - 4.7 (2001). The value of Libyan exports is dominated by crude oil, with some petroleum products, natural gas and chemicals also present. The main import items have traditionally been machinery, equipment and vehicles, food, and industrial consumer products. The dominant role among Libyan foreign economic partners is played by Italy, Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Japan, South Korea, which account for approx. 75% of the total value of trade turnover.

Science and culture of Libya

The Libyan education system, free at all levels, is entirely government funded. 12-year school education, incl. 9-year (schools of the first and second stages) compulsory. In 1999/2000 academic year schools of the first two levels had 766,087 students and 97,334 teachers. A further 717,000 students attended tertiary, vocational and technical schools. teacher training colleges, as well as religious educational institutions. At the same time, 287,172 students were studying at 5 Libyan universities. The largest of them are Al-Fatih in Tripoli and Ghar Younis in Benghazi. By share of students high school in terms of the entire population, the country firmly holds 3rd place in Africa (excluding the many Libyans studying abroad).

The Libyan State Library and National Archives are located in Tripoli, and the largest book depository (300,000 volumes) is the Ghar Younis University Library.

Since 1982, the scientific center for atomic research has been operating in the city of Tadjoura, the largest of the Arab ones, equipped with an experimental reactor and other complex equipment made from used. THE USSR.

The oldest known cities in the country are the Greco-Libyan colonies of Gurena (later Cyrene, now Shahhat) and Apollonia (Marsa-Susa) from the 7th century. BC. preserve monuments of high ancient culture (serfs, residential, sports, memorial buildings, temples, theaters, baths). Their likely peers are Gara-ma (Germa, Djerma) and the predecessor of the current settlement of Jebel Zinkekra - the first urban centers of the Garamantes. The restored Roman amphitheater in the city of Sabratha, founded by the Phoenicians, is the largest in Africa. No less interesting are museum exhibitions, epigraphic collections of libraries with ancient Egyptian, Libyan, Punic, Greek, Roman, medieval Arabic and Turkish manuscripts, as well as preserved arts and crafts: carpet weaving, embroidery, leather embossing, etc.

Libya's population is more than 6 million people.

National composition:

• Arabs (90%);
• other peoples (Berbers, Tuaregs, Hausa, Tubu).

88% of the population lives in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. Arabs mainly inhabit the central part of the Arabian Peninsula, Berbers - the southwest of Tripolitania, Circassians - Tripoli and other large cities, Tuaregs - Fezzan. In addition, Greeks, Turks, Italians, and Maltese live in Libya.

The average population density is 2-3 people per 1 sq. km. The northern regions of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania are characterized by a population density of 50 people per 1 sq. km, and in the rest of the territory less than 1 person lives per 1 sq. km.

The official language is Arabic, but English and Italian are common in large cities.

Major cities: Tripoli, Benghazi, Al-Bayda, Misrata, Tobruk, Sebha, Bani Walid, Zawiya.

The vast majority of Libyans (87%) profess Islam (Sunni), the rest are Catholic and Christian.

Lifespan

On average, Libyans live to 77 years.

Libya has relatively low infant and child mortality rates. It is worth noting that at the birth of a child, the state transfers 5,000 euros to his account, and for the wedding, the newlyweds receive $60,000 from the government for arrangement.

Libya is the most sober country: people here are sent to prison for 5 years for drinking alcohol. In addition, there are no beggars on the streets: the country's population belongs to the middle class.

Traditions and customs of the people of Libya

Libyans are conservative people, and this largely relates to family life: here the main role assigned to religious and patriarchal traditions.

The lot of women in Libya is to take care of family and children, so they very rarely leave home. But today, networks of women’s organizations are being created for them, where women learn to read and write, traditional crafts (carpet weaving), learn about sanitary and hygienic standards, how to properly care for children, etc.

As for wedding traditions, in Libya the groom’s mother proposes marriage to the bride, coming to her house along with her closest relatives. The engagement takes place in the bride's house: relatives, neighbors and friends of the groom's mother come to her with gifts - perfumes, jewelry, clothes, sweets. And the Libyan wedding itself is accompanied by theatrical performances - here it is customary to dance, sing, and perform various colorful rituals.

If you are going to Libya, take out full medical insurance, take your own first aid kit from home and drink only bottled water in the country of temporary stay.

A large number of Libyans are called Khoulougli (Sons of Soldiers), these are those Libyans who descended from the marriages of Ottoman soldiers with Libyan women. They mainly live in Misrata (200 km east of Tripoli), Tajoura (a suburb of Tripoli), and Zawiya (approximately 50 km west of Tripoli). For a long time they were exempt from tax and had the right to serve in the army. They have now merged with the Arab population, but can be distinguished by their appearance and skin color. There are also Tuareg (Berber population) and Tebu tribal groups, concentrated in the south, living a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are citizens of other African nations, including North Africans (primarily Egyptians and Tunisians), and Sub-Saharan Africans. According to the CIA Factbook, Libyan Berbers and Arabs make up 97% of Libya's population; the other 3% are Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Afghans, Turks, Indians, and Sub-Saharan Africans (Lvova 1984: 50).

Berbers, once the majority, have now been reduced to a few villages in western Tripolitania. Most of the Jews went to Israel, and the Italian community was reduced to a figure of about 30 thousand people living in Tripolitania.

Story

In the name lava, passed into Hebrew. Lehabim, the ancient Egyptians, from the time of the New Kingdom, began to call one of the tribes that lived to the west of them and subsequently came to the fore little by little among related tribes: Tehennu, Temehu, Kaikasha, Shaitep (?), Mashawasha, Isawada, Aasa, Wakana . The last four names are compared by Brugsch with the Maxii, Asbiti, Ovsei and Maci of Herodotus; the first two have been used since ancient times as common name Western peoples.

Characteristic features: white skin color, tattoo, unique colored cloaks and belts, an ostrich feather on the head and braids hanging down to the temples. In all likelihood, these were the ancestors of the native Berber population of North Africa. The Jews considered them Hamites, related to the Egyptians. The latter waged wars with them even during the Middle Kingdom, but they became especially dangerous to Egypt during the 19th dynasty. Under Merenpta, in the 5th year of his reign, they carried out a devastating invasion of Egypt under the command of King Maranui, recruiting an army from the sea robbers who appeared at the same time. The pharaoh managed to repel them, as did Ramses III, under whom there were new invasions under the command of the kings Chautmara and Kapur. The long inscriptions of the temple of Medinet Habu glorify the victories of the Egyptians with laudatory odes and images of triumphs with a mass of captives. During the weak 20th Dynasty, L. managed, however, to gradually conquer Egypt through peaceful colonization and the influx of Egyptian offices and troops. As a result of this process, identical to that which took place in the 4th-5th centuries. in the Roman Empire, the delta was covered with a network of Libyan military settlements and principalities, from which the Bubastid monarchy and the so-called first developed. dodecarchy (see), and then - the Psametikh dynasty. Among the classics, the name Λύβιοι refers to the Berber natives, as opposed to the Phoenicians and Greeks. The Numids and the Moors were also counted among them.

Religion

The predominant religion among Libyans is Islam. They adhere to Sunni Islam, but a minority adheres to Ibadism (Kharijism), primarily in Jebel Nefusa and Zawarah. Approximately 97 out of 100 Libyans are followers of Islam. Besides the vast majority of Sunni Muslims, there are also very small Christian communities made up almost exclusively of foreigners (Kobishchanov 2003: 34). There is a small Anglican community made up mainly of African immigrant workers in Tripoli; it is part of the Egyptian diocese. There are also approximately 40,000 Catholics in Libya, served by two bishops, one in Tripoli (serving the Italian community) and one in Benghazi (serving the Maltese community). Many residents of Cyrenaica are considered followers of the Senusite dervish brotherhood, a religious movement that spread to North Africa in the 18th century. (Tokarev 1976: 231).

Language

Main language The language spoken by Libyans is Arabic, which is also the official language. Libyans speak the Libyan Arabic dialect, which is part of the Maghreb dialect group. Tamaziq (Berber languages ​​that have no official status) is spoken by Libyan Berbers. In addition, the Tuaregs speak Tamahak, the only known northern Tamashq language. The Italian language was once widely used, especially among the educated stratum of Libyan society. During the years of the British administration (1943-1951), the English language became widespread, becoming especially popular with the appearance of American and British oil companies in Libya. Now, along with Arabic, V largest cities English and Italian are also widely spoken (Eichenwald 1998: 256).

Transformation in the context of modernization

Many Libyans enjoy a nomadic lifestyle. This is manifested at least in the fact that rich Libyan city dwellers tend to go to the desert on weekends, even in very hot weather. Tent cities (similar to Bedouin camps) appear on the hot sand; next to the canvas walls there are now not camels, as before, but cars and electric generators for portable air conditioners.

The demonstration effect of the city influences nomads, forcing many to abandon their usual way of life and start a new, urban one. But many Bedouins were never able to get used to the benefits of urban civilization and returned to the desert. The development of industry in Libya, the settlement of nomads, the increase in the number of agricultural and urban workers, and emigration are destroying the traditional way of life of the Libyans. Illiteracy is decreasing.

Migration

Libya has a slightly different history of migration policy. Thanks to its oil development and high per capita GDP, it was a target country for migrant workers. There was some limited temporary emigration [ When?] to Malta and Egypt, consisting mainly of businessmen and students (NDI, 2005:27), but since Libya removed formal travel restrictions, there has been an increase in youth travel to Italy and Malta. However, the Libyan diaspora is very small. On the other hand, the number and proportion of immigrants in Libya is quite high: estimates range from 1.1-1.4 million (NDI, 2005) to 1.8 million, of whom only 600 thousand are legal workers (EC, 2004:5 ). With a total registered population of about 5.5 million, this means the immigrant to population ratio is on the order of 25-30%. Most temporary workers traditionally come from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, although the more recent visa-free entry for all of Africa has also brought in large numbers of sub-Saharan Africans (NDI, 2005:29).

Life and traditions

Family life important for Libyan families, most of whom live in apartments and other independent accommodation units, with precise accommodation patterns depending on their income and wealth (Aichenwald 1998: 255).