Tripoli

1,759,540 km²
(42.4x the Netherlands)

UTC +2

Arabic, Berber and Nilo-Sahara languages

Bikkubiti - 2,285 m

The first national flag of modern Libya dates from 1951. After a coup of Moammar al-Gaddafi in 1969, the flag was replaced by a tricolor with red, white and black. After the attempts to achieve a federation of Arab Republics failed in 1977, a green flag was introduced. After the revolution in 2011, the flag from 1951 re-entered.

After independence, the Libyan pound was introduced with the same value a the pound sterling. In 1971 the Libyan pound was replaced by the Libyan dinar. Depicted on the banknote is a dictator Moammar Mohammed al-Qadhafi. He came to power in 1969 after a coup. In February 2011, the people rebelled in imitation of other Arab countries. In late October 2011 he was arrested and murdered in his hometown of Sirte. Qadhafi was in power for 42 years.

The region of eastern Libya has been known as the cyrenaica since ancient times. Greek settlers populated this region which was ruled by the Ptolemans of Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. At the turn of the century the coastline becomes the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. In the east, at the coast, are archaeological sites such as Ptolemais, Apollonia and Cyrene. Cyrene is the most beautiful site and the oldest and most famous city of the Pentapolis. It is located on the steep hills of the Jebel Akdar, overlooking the coast. Here was the last stronghold of Byzantine troops in Libya. The Zeus Temple is a jewel and measures 70 meters by 32 meters. The temple was built in the Doric style in the 5th century BC.



In the capital Tripoli, definitely go to the medina and to the museum in the fortress with beautiful mosaics and statues.

The highlight of this trip is undoubtedly the desert tour with Toyota land cruisers that starts in the town of Murzuq. Spend the night on high sand dunes in the Wan Caza sea od sand. You'll drive through a moonscape and see rock paintings after which you cross the dunes again. In the Akakus Mountains you will find petroglyphs and giant stone arches. Finally you come to the Dadawa lakes in the Idehan (sand sea) Ubari. The lakes were created after the last ice age, 12,000 years ago. Of the 20 lakes, 15 have permanent water. They lie in the middle of the sand plain.

Ghadames was a city in the Garamant empire. The Romans conquered it in 19 BC and renamed it Cydamae. After the Romans, two Tuareg tribes, the Walit and the Wazit, reigned here. Each of which had its own king. The old medina is a beautiful labyrinth of covered alleys where sunlight enters through holes. The roofs are interconnected because the women had to walk over the roofs and the men through the alleys.

Around the Jebel Nafusa, the hills in the west, lie the Berber settlements Yefren, Qasr al Hadj and Nalut. Visit the old medina (city) in Yefren which has been abandoned. This region is home to some old grain castles. These are small fortresses with only one entrance. They differ in size and shape. On the inside are warehouses for grain, oil etc. Each family had its own compartment which could closed with a door. The storage areas at the top could be reached via the lifting beams. The tribe managed the stocks and kept the records. There was surveillance, even when the tribe was on another location. They are no longer in use. The castle is round in Qasr al Hadj. The one in Nalut is rectangular and disordered.

In the 7th century BC, Phoenicians founded three trading posts in the west of Libya. Sabratha, Oea (Tripoli) and Leptis Magna. The Phoenicians were defeated in the 2nd century BC by the Romans. The Romans added the area of Tripolitania to their Province of Africa Proconsularis. Septimus Severus was born in Leptis Magna in 146. He ruled over the Roman Empire from 193 to 211. Leptis Magna was one of the wealthiest cities of the Roman empire.