Wyatt Greco

Logan
Issues P.1
2 February 2016
Step 2
Political Structure: The origin of the political structure in Libya is from the ideas and
rules set by Muammar Gaddafi. He was the primary leader and ruled Libya for around 40 years
from 1969 to 2011. Libya had a constitution that was made by the National Transitional Council
in 2011 after the overthrow of Gaddafi. They ruled for about one year and even changed the solid
green flag design. After the National Transitional Council then came the General National
Congress. They won with most popular vote in 2012 and their task was to start a democratic
government and constitution. They were given an eighteen month deadline but when that time
came they werent very close to being done so they ended up staying for two years total. Now
ruling is the Council of Deputies with Aguila Saleh Issa as their president. The stability of the
Libyan government is not very good. They have had many different people in charge of their
country in the past 6 years with policies and laws changing every time. Right now they are also
in the second Libyan civil war with the Council of Deputies fighting to hold their position
against the new General National Congress.
Natural Resources: Libya has many natural resource exports with oil being about 80% of
all profits. Crude/refined petroleum, petroleum gas and nitrogenous fertilizers are also big
exports in Libya and they account for the other 20% of export profits. Libya is the only
mediterranean country that does not have a free trade agreement with Europe besides Syria
although they still trade goods with each other. The top export destinations of Libya are

Germany, Italy, France, the US and Spain. The top import locations are from Italy, China,
Turkey, Germany and Egypt. The whole country of Libya is not yet self sufficient. There are
some areas where they are but the country in whole not so much. Libyans are now trying to
become more self sufficient by having internet, education, and the Arid Lands Information
Network is providing the people with community knowledge centers with a solar energy
generator that is connected to a satellite internet receiver. There are many ways that the Libyan
people are trying to come more self sufficient and soon may be.
Cultural Factors: The ethnic groups of Libya consist of Arabs and Berbers and most are
islamic with that being 97%. Arabs are across most of the middle east and are is the most
populated ethnic group. Berbers are the indigenous people of Africa and are estimated to have
lived in Africa for almost 5,000 years. The berbers are also called Imazighen and what they call
themselves can change depending on the location in Libya that someone might be. Libyan people
have many different customs. Some of their customs are: Failing to greet someone is unkind, lots
of hand movements during conversations to show emphasis, they visit each other very often to
show respect, and Libyans start meals by washing their hands and end the same way. Also their
main meal is lunch, with breakfast and dinner being very light, and family is their most treasured
thing.
History: Libyas first inhabitants were the Imazighen. Outsiders later came and called
them Berbers, a term many Libyans still use. First, greeks colonized the eastern coast. Then, in
146 BC, Romans defeated the Phoenicians and took control of Libya. Next the area was invaded
and Germanic Vandal tribes (beginning in AD 429), the Byzantine Empire (AD 533), and Arabs
(AD 640). Libya slowly became Arabized as thousands of Arabs settled there and somewhat
replaced the berbers. Muslim dynasties ruled until the 1500s, when the control of Libya passed

between Spain, Malta, Barbary sea pirates, and finally the Ottoman Empire, which ruled from the
mid-1500s to the early 1900s. Then idris ruled until 1969 when Muammar Gaddafi took over.
Just prior to this libya discovered oil and became a richer country. Gaddafi used this money to
make hospitals, schools, roads, and more access to food and water. Gaddafi then tried to merge
Libya with Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, and Chad and caused military conflicts with Egypt in 1977,
Uganda in 1979, and Chad in 19837. Libya was defeated in each case, but not before creating
regional instability. In 1989, Libya then restored relations with the Arab world (Egypt in
particular) and formed an economic union called the Arab Maghreb Union with Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco, and Mauritania. In 2011 Gaddafi was killed and overthrown and that situation was
talked about in political structure. The last 6 months of Libyan history havent been very good.
There have been many terrorist attacks with lots of deaths and shots taken to overthrow the
current government. Overall recent history for Libya has not been good.
Economy: The dinar is the currency of Libya. The dinar is subdivided into 1000 dirham
and was introduced in September 1971 and replaced the pound. It is issued by the Central Bank
of Libya, which also looks over the banking system and regulates credit. In 1972, the Libyan
Arab Foreign Bank was established to deal with overseas investment. Until 1975, old coins
circulated. In 1975, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dirhams
which had the coat of arms of the Federation of Arab Republics. These were then followed in
1979 by a second series of coins, in the same denominations with and dinar coins were
being issued in 2001 and 2004. There are still new coins and money being made. Libya has many
miscellaneous things that they depend on just like anywhere else. They also have a debt of
$6.319 billion as of December 31st 2013. In 2003, with the lifting of the sanctions, Libya
decided to open its economy to foreign investment and has also become a part of the World

Trade Organization (WTO). As part of its WTO bid, Libya has started numerous trade reforms,
such as limiting the number of import bans, getting rid of licenses for most goods, and reducing
money granted by the government. Libya is also part of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area
(GAFTA) and the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), that has ties to the Community of Sahel
Saharan States (CENSAD) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
(COMESA). It has trade agreements with Morocco and Jordan. Also Libya is the only
Mediterranean country except for syria that has not made a Free Trade Agreement with the EU.
Libya has a medium sized economy in the big cities but some parts of the country aren't even
inhabited. Libya has many jobs like we would in the US with jobs in the restaurants, banks,
schools, hospitals, oil fields, ext. The economy is not incredibly strong but is doing okay. The
living standards of Libya are pretty good compared to some other african countries especial in
the cities. The lower standards are in the areas with low populations that do not get paid attention
to by the government just like some other countries around the world. The GDP of Libya is 74.2
billion USD as of 2013.

Questions

1. Government is the main issue in Libya along with their climate

2. Limited natural fresh water, Desertification, Natural Hazards:Hot, Dry,
Storms,Sandstorms, government changes, terrorist attacks

3. Climate has been an issue for a very long time but government issues began in
2011 when people wanted Gaddafi overthrown
4. Resources are all around with little in the middle of the country. Most of the
resources are controlled by the government.

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