Libya

THE SOCIALIST PEOPLE'S Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya) is a country in north Africa located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and borders Egypt, Sudan, Niger, Chad, Algeria, and Tunisia. It has a territory of nearly 700,000 square miles, but the great majority of this is part of the almost uninhabitable Sahara Desert, and the population of some 5.8 million is almost entirely located along the coastal region.

The discovery of oil in 1959 completely changed the economy of the country from one entirely dependent on transfers from outside to a welfare state where government services are newly provided. A wealthy monarchy was established, only to be broken up 10 years later by a coup, which saw the installation of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The long-standing leader Gaddafi has supported various anti-Western policies and groups, and thus Libya has had less opportunity to benefit from economic growth stimulated by cross-border business investment than other countries.

However, ties with the former colonial power of Italy have been more productive and there are signs that Gaddafi has moderated his stance in any case. The U.S. government instituted a trade boycott in 1982 and the United Nations enforced an international boycott in 1992 as a result of Libya's alleged complicity in the Lockerbie (airplane) bombing. These boycotts were lifted at the end of 2004 after the state renounced the intention to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction.

Statistics describing quality of life show that Libya compares favorably with other north African and Arab countries. Mortality and life expectancy rates are better [Page 639]than those of its neighbors. As an Islamic state, Libya's women have fewer opportunities to access education and to have a career, but with an overall adult literacy rate of 81.7 percent, it is a more socially liberal regime than most in the region. Libya is one of only three African nations to have ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which seeks to eradicate female genital mutilation.

The Sahara Desert dominates the majority of the Libyan landscape, forcing most of the population to live in the coastal region.

Oil dominates the Libyan economy, representing 99 percent of the value of all exports while employing only 10 percent of the domestic workforce. Lack of human resources has meant the presence of large numbers of foreign workers in Libya to service the oil industry, although these are now being repatriated because of the extreme drain of foreign reserves owing to remittances. The government has acted as the principal means of redistribution of revenues so that all Libyans can benefit from health and education services. As a self-proclaimed socialist state under its guide, Gaddafi, who has no formal position in government, Libya's political system is unclear and its policies and decisions difficult to challenge. Committees run various aspects of the state but it is believed that in reality, Gaddafi rules unopposed.

Libyan agriculture is very limited, hampered by low levels of technology and investment and vulnerable to external shocks, such as plagues of locusts. Libya has been working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to improve its agriculture and that of its southern neighbors, and to search for ways to help control locusts. The famine in Libya's southern neighbor, Niger, in 2005 demonstrates the suddenness with which food insecurity can strike. Libya recognizes its responsibility in assisting neighbors both for ethical reasons and also because of the potential for instability if large numbers of refugees seek to enter Libyan territory. Much of the state's charitable international work is organized through the Gaddafi Foundation.

...