Libya

Located in Northern Africa; Libya is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. The sovereign state is comprised of three historical regions. These are  Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. Libya is the 16th largest country worldwide and Africa’s fourth largest by population. Tripoli is the capital and largest city. Benghazi, in Eastern Libya, is the second largest. Italy invaded and inhabited Libya from 1911 to 1943 and finally became an independent kingdom in 1951.

Libya belongs to international groups including the  Arab League, the OIC and OPEC, and the United Nations. Libya’s legislature is a unicameral Council of Deputies. The former 200-seat legislature was the General National Congress. In 2012, parliamentary elections took place in Libya, which were the first free elections held in over 40 years in the country.

The Libyan economy is fueled by oil and gas exports and has struggled in the past few years as oil prices decrease.  The instability has helped create a shadow economy which contributes to the economy’s destabilization, inflation, and the weakness of the Libyan currency, the dinar.  Many governmental services are erratic, with power outages common due to a lack of fuel for power generation.  Living conditions in general have been in decline since 2011.

Islam is the primary religion in the country, with nearly 96 percent of inhabitants belonging to the religious denomination, and the Holy Quran is designated as the law of the society under the Proclamation of People's Authority. Egyptian code and precedent serve as the basis for the Libyan judiciary. The Libyan government is largely in transition and the court system is currently in flux.

Visitors to the National Law Review will find the latest content and news stories about Libya online. Cryptocurrency, international affairs, immigration, travel bans, and human rights issues, are among the topics visitors can read about online. News stories are updated regularly.