Subdivisions of Libya
Overview
Table:
year
number of divisions
name of divisions

historically (Persians)
1(?) Barqa Shatrapani/Satrapy
Shatrapani/satrapy

historically (Greeks)
1(?) Libya Satrapy
satrapy

historically Roman Empire
Roman Libya: Creta et Cyrenaica
province

historically Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Tripolitania)
Ottoman Tripolitania 1
vilayet

colonised territory (1st phase)
Italian North Africa,
from 1912 to 1927
1[9] (Italian Libya) or
2[10]
governorate or province

colonised territory (2nd phase)
Italian North Africa
from 1927 to 1934
2 (Italian Cyrenaica,[11] Italian Tripolitania[12])
also Fezzan?[13]
governorate or province

colonised territory (3rd phase)
Italian Libya
from 1934 to 1937
3[14] (Cyrenaica, Fezzan, Tripolitania) or
4[15] or
1[16]
province

colonised territory (4th phase)
Provinces of the Fourth Shore
within the Italian Colonial Empire
from 1937 to 1940
4[15] (Tripoli, Bengazi, Derna, Misurata) or
5[17] (along with Southern Military Territory) or
1 [16]
province[18]

colonised territory (5th phase)
after World War II
from 1943 to 1951
3[19] (Cyrenaica and Tripolitania were British; Fezzan-Ghadames was French)
province

after independence in 1951-1952 (Kingdom of Libya)
3
muhafazah (governorate)

in Kingdom of Libya after 1963 and
in Libyan Jamahiriya after 1969 coup d'état
10
muhafazah (governorate)

after 1983
46
baladiyah

after 1987-1988
25
baladiyah

after 1995
13
shabiyah (district)

after 1998
26
shabiyah (district)

after 2001
32
shabiyah (district)

after 2007
22
shabiyah (district)

after 2013
99 to 108
baladiyah

Leveraging the tabular data and the passages listed below.

State the answer to the question: What is the name of divisions whose year was directly involved more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

The Latin name Libya ( from Greek Λιβύη : Libyē , which came from Berber : Libu ) referred to the region west of the Nile generally corresponding to the Atlantic Mountains according to Diodorus . Its people were ancestors of the modern Libyan . They occupied the area for thousands of years before the beginning of human records in ancient Egypt . Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements . More narrowly , Libya could also refer to the country immediately west of Egypt , viz Marmarica ( Libya Inferior ) and Cyrenaica ( Libya Superior ) . The Libyan Sea or Mare Libycum was the part of the Mediterranean Sea south of Crete , between Cyrene and Alexandria . In the Hellenistic period , the Berbers were known as Libyans , a Greek term for the inhabitants of the Berber world . Their lands were called Libya and extended from modern Morocco to the western borders of ancient Egypt . Modern Egypt contains the Siwa Oasis , which was part of ancient Libya . The Siwi language , a Berber language , is still spoken in the area .
The history of Iran , which was commonly known until the mid-20th century as Persia in the Western world , is intertwined with the history of a larger region , also to an extent known as Greater Iran , comprising the area from Anatolia , the Bosphorus , and Egypt in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east , and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Steppe in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south . Iran is home to one of the world 's oldest continuous major civilizations , with historical and urban settlements dating back to 7000 BC . The south-western and western part of the Iranian Plateau participated in the traditional Ancient Near East with Elam , from the Early Bronze Age , and later with various other peoples , such as the Kassites , Mannaeans , and Gutians . Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel calls the Persians the first Historical People . The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC . The Achaemenid Empire ( 550-330 BC ) , founded by Cyrus the Great , was the first true global superpower state and it ruled from the Balkans to North Africa and also Central Asia , spanning three continents , from their seat of power in Persis ( Persepolis ) . It was the largest empire yet seen and the first world empire . The Achaemenid Empire was the only civilization in all of history to connect over 40% of the global population , accounting for approximately 49.4 million of the world 's 112.4 million people in around 480 BC . They were succeeded by the Seleucid , Parthian , and Sasanian Empires , who successively governed Iran for almost 1,000 years and made Iran once again as a leading power in the world . Persia 's arch-rival was the Roman Empire and its successor , the Byzantine Empire . The Iranian Empire proper begins in the Iron Age , following the influx of Iranian peoples . Iranian people gave rise to the Medes , the Achaemenid , Parthian , and Sasanian Empires of classical antiquity .
Cyrenaica ( /saɪrəˈneɪ.ɪkə/ SY-rə-NAY-ik-ə ; Arabic : برقة , romanized : Barqah ; Koinē Greek : Κυρηναϊκή [ ἐπαρχία ] , romanized : Kurēnaïkḗ [ eparkhíā ] , after the city of Cyrene ) is the eastern coastal region of Libya . Also known as Pentapolis ( Five Cities ) in antiquity , it formed part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica , later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca . During the Islamic period , the area came to be known as Barqa , after the city of Barca . Cyrenaica was the name of an administrative division of Italian Libya from 1927 until 1943 , then under British military and civil administration from 1943 until 1951 , and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until 1963 . In a wider sense , still in use , Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between longitudes E16 and E25 , including the Kufra District . Cyrenaica borders on Tripolitania in the northwest and on Fezzan in the southwest . The region that used to be Cyrenaica officially until 1963 has formed several shabiyat , the administrative divisions of Libya , since 1995 . The 2011 Libyan Civil War started in Cyrenaica , which came largely under the control of the National Transitional Council ( headquartered in Benghazi ) for most of the war . In 2012 , the National Transitional Council declared Cyrenaica to be an autonomous region of Libya .
Satraps ( /ˈsætrəp/ ) were the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors , such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires . The satrap served as viceroy to the king , though with considerable autonomy ; and the word also came to suggest tyranny , or ostentatious splendour . The word satrap is also often used metaphorically in modern literature to refer to world leaders or governors who are heavily influenced by larger world superpowers or hegemonies and act as their surrogates . [ citation needed ]
Ancient Greece ( Greek : Ἑλλάς , romanized : Hellás ) was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity ( c. AD 600 ) . Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era . Roughly three centuries after the Late Bronze Age collapse of Mycenaean Greece , Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC , ushering in the Archaic period and colonization of the Mediterranean Basin . This was followed by the period of Classical Greece , an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars , lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC . Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedon , Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea . The Hellenistic period came to an end with the conquests and annexations of the eastern Mediterranean world by the Roman Republic , which established the Roman province of Macedonia in Roman Greece , and later the province of Achaea during the Roman Empire . Classical Greek culture , especially philosophy , had a powerful influence on ancient Rome , which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean Basin and Europe . For this reason , Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization . Classical Greek culture gave great importance to knowledge . Science and religion were not separate and getting closer to the truth meant getting closer to the gods . In this context , they understood the importance of mathematics as an instrument for obtaining more reliable ( divine ) knowledge . Greek culture , in a few centuries and with a limited population , managed to explore and make progress in many fields of science , mathematics , philosophy and knowledge in general .
Libya ( Old Persian : 𐎱𐎢𐎫𐎠𐎹 Putāya ) was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire according to King Darius I of Persia Naqshe Rustam and King Xerxes I of Persia ' Daiva inscription . It is also mentioned as being part of the 6th district by Herodotus , which also included Cyrene , a Greek colony in Libya . When King Cambyses II of Persia conquered Egypt , the king of Cyrene , Arcesilaus III , sided with Persia . When he was killed trying to maintain power , Queen Pheretima invited the Persians to take Cyrene . The satrap of Egypt , Aryandes , accepted , sending an army under two Persians to support Pheretime . The expedition lasted nearly a year and resulted in the subjugation of the Libyans ; the Persians penetrated as far west as the Euseperides ( Benghazi ) . A puppet king , Battus IV , was installed , and Libya was made into a Persian satrapy . It is possible that Cyrene gained independence with the rebellion of Egypt in 404 BCE , but ultimately , Achaemenid control of the region was lost after Alexander 's conquests .
The Roman Empire ( Latin : Imperium Rōmānum , Classical Latin : [ ɪmˈpɛrɪ.ũː roːˈmaːnũː ] ; Koinē Greek : Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων , romanized : Basileía tōn Rhōmaíōn ) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome . As a polity it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe , North Africa and West Asia ruled by emperors . From the accession of Caesar Augustus to the military anarchy of the third century , it was a principate with Italy as metropole of the provinces and its city of Rome as sole capital ( 27 BC - 286 AD ) . Although fragmented briefly during the military crisis , the empire was forcibly reassembled , then ruled by multiple emperors who shared rule over the Western Roman Empire ( based in Milan and later in Ravenna ) and over the Eastern Roman Empire ( based in Nicomedia and later in Constantinople ) . Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until 476 AD , when it sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople ( Byzantium - Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , Byzántion ) following the capture of Ravenna by the barbarians of Odoacer and the subsequent deposition of Romulus Augustus . The fall of the Western Roman Empire to Germanic kings , along with the hellenization of the Eastern Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire , conventionally marks the end of Ancient Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages . The predecessor state of the Roman Empire , the Roman Republic ( which had replaced Rome 's monarchy in the 6th century BC ) became severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflicts . In the mid-1st century BC Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC . Civil wars and proscriptions continued , culminating in the victory of Octavian , Caesar 's adopted son , over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC . The following year Octavian conquered Ptolemaic Egypt , ending the Hellenistic period that had begun with the conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedon in the 4th century BC . Octavian 's power then became unassailable , and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title Augustus , effectively making him the first Roman emperor . The first two centuries of the Empire saw a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana ( Roman Peace ) .
The area of North Africa which has been known as Libya since 1911 was under Roman domination between 146 BC and 672 AD . The Latin name Libya at the time referred to the continent of Africa in general . What is now coastal Libya was known as Tripolitania and Pentapolis , divided between the Africa province in the west , and Creta et Cyrenaica in the east . In 296 AD , the Emperor Diocletian separated the administration of Crete from Cyrenaica and in the latter formed the new provinces of Upper Libya and Lower Libya , using the term Libya as a political state for the first time in history .
Crete and Cyrenaica ( Latin : Provincia Creta et Cyrenaica ) was a senatorial province of the Roman Empire , established in 67 BC . It comprised the island of Crete and the region of Cyrenaica in present-day Libya .
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state . The term derives from the ancient Roman provincia , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire 's territorial possessions outside Italy . The term province has since been adopted by many countries . In some countries with no actual provinces , the provinces is a metaphorical term meaning outside the capital city . While some provinces were produced artificially by colonial powers , others were formed around local groups with their own ethnic identities . Many have their own powers independent of central or federal authority , especially in Canada . In other countries , like China or France , provinces are the creation of central government , with very little autonomy .
The Ottoman Empire ( /ˈɒtəmən/ ; Ottoman Turkish : دولت عليه عثمانیه Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye , literally The Exalted Ottoman State ; Modern Turkish : Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti ; French : Empire ottoman ) [ note 6 ] was a state and caliphate that controlled much of Southeast Europe , Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries . It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt ( modern-day Bilecik Province ) by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I . Although initially the dynasty was of Turkic origin , it was Persianised in terms of language , culture , literature and habits . After 1354 , the Ottomans crossed into Europe , and with the conquest of the Balkans , the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire . The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror . During the 16th and 17th centuries , at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent , the Ottoman Empire was a multinational , multilingual empire controlling most of Southeast Europe , parts of Central Europe , Western Asia , parts of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus , North Africa and the Horn of Africa . At the beginning of the 17th century , the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states . Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire , while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries . [ note 7 ] With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean Basin , the Ottoman Empire was at the centre of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries . While the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent , this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians . The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy , society and military throughout the 17th and much of the 18th century . However , during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768 , the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals , the Habsburg and Russian empires .
The coastal region of what is today Libya was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1864 , as the Eyalet of Tripolitania ( Ottoman Turkish : ایالت طرابلس غرب Eyālet-i Trâblus Gârb ) or Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary from 1864 to 1912 and as the Vilayet of Tripolitania ( Ottoman Turkish : ولايت طرابلس غرب Vilâyet-i Trâblus Gârb ) from 1864 to 1912 . It was also known as the Kingdom of Tripoli , even though it was not technically a kingdom , but an Ottoman province ruled by pashas ( governors ) . The Karamanli dynasty ruled the province as de facto hereditary monarchs from 1711 to 1835 , despite remaining under nominal Ottoman rule and suzerainty from Constantinople . Besides the core territory of Tripolitania , Barca was also considered part of the kingdom of Tripoli , because it was de facto ruled by the Pasha of Tripoli , also the nominal Ottoman governor-general . Ottoman name of Trablus Garb literally means Tripoli in the West since the state already had another Tripoli in the east also called Trablus conquered by Selim I after the battle at Marj Dabiq . After Tripolitania was annexed names of the eyalets are changed to Tripoli in the East ( Trablus Şam ) and Tripoli in the West which is Roman Tripolitania ( Trablus Garb ) . A remnant of the centuries of Turkish rule is the presence of a population of Turkish origin , and those of partial Turkish origin - the Kouloughlis .
A vilayet ( Turkish pronunciation : [ vilaːˈjet ] ; French : vilaïet or vilayet [ note 1 ] ) was a first-order administrative division , or province of the later Ottoman Empire , introduced with the promulgation of the Vilayet Law ( Turkish : Teşkil-i Vilayet Nizamnamesi ) of 21 January 1867 . The reform was part of the ongoing administrative reforms that were being enacted throughout the empire , and enshrined in the Imperial Edict of 1856 . The reform was at first implemented experimentally in the Danube Vilayet , specially formed in 1864 and headed by the leading reformist Midhat Pasha . The reform was gradually implemented , and not until 1884 was it applied to the entirety of the Empire 's provinces .
Italian Libya ( Italian : Libia Italiana ; Arabic : ليبيا الإيطالية , Lībyā al-Īṭālīya ) was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy located in North Africa , in what is now modern Libya . Italian Libya was formed from the Italian colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania that were taken by the Kingdom of Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1911 , during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 to 1912 . The unified colony was established in 1934 by governor Italo Balbo , with Tripoli as the capital . The territory of the previous two colonies had already been referred to sometimes as Italian Libya or Italian North Africa ( Africa Settentrionale Italiana , or ASI ) , both names kept being used after the unification , with Italian Libya now being the official name of the newly combined colony . In 1923 , indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order organized the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya . The rebellion was totally put down by Italian forces in 1932 , after the so-called pacification campaign , which resulted in the deaths of a quarter of Cyrenaica 's population . During World War II , Italian Libya became the setting for the North African Campaign . Although the Italians were defeated there by the Allies in 1943 , many of the Italian settlers still remained in Libya . Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty , Italy officially relinquished all claims to Libya , which was administrated by the United Kingdom and France until its independence in 1951 .
Italian Libya ( Italian : Libia Italiana ; Arabic : ليبيا الإيطالية , Lībyā al-Īṭālīya ) was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy located in North Africa , in what is now modern Libya . Italian Libya was formed from the Italian colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania that were taken by the Kingdom of Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1911 , during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 to 1912 . The unified colony was established in 1934 by governor Italo Balbo , with Tripoli as the capital . The territory of the previous two colonies had already been referred to sometimes as Italian Libya or Italian North Africa ( Africa Settentrionale Italiana , or ASI ) , both names kept being used after the unification , with Italian Libya now being the official name of the newly combined colony . In 1923 , indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order organized the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya . The rebellion was totally put down by Italian forces in 1932 , after the so-called pacification campaign , which resulted in the deaths of a quarter of Cyrenaica 's population . During World War II , Italian Libya became the setting for the North African Campaign . Although the Italians were defeated there by the Allies in 1943 , many of the Italian settlers still remained in Libya . Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty , Italy officially relinquished all claims to Libya , which was administrated by the United Kingdom and France until its independence in 1951 .
A governorate is an administrative division of a country . It is headed by a governor . As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces , the term governorate is often used in translation from non-English-speaking administrations . The most common usage is as a translation of the Arabic Muhafazah . It may also refer to the guberniya and general-gubernatorstvo of Imperial Russia or the 34 gobernaciones of Imperial Spain .
Italian Cyrenaica was an Italian colony , located in present-day eastern Libya , that existed from 1912 to 1934 . It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 . In 1934 , it became part of Italian Libya .
Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony , located in present-day western Libya , that existed from 1911 to 1934 . It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 . Italian Tripolitania included the western northern half of Libya , with Tripoli as its main city . In 1934 , it was unified with Cyrenaica in the colony of Italian Libya .
Fezzan ( UK : /fɛˈzɑːn/ fez-AHN , US : /fɛˈzæn , fəˈzæn/ fez-AN , fə-ZAN ; Berber languages : ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ , romanized : Fezzan ; Arabic : فزان , romanized : Fizzān ; Latin : Phazania ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya . It is largely desert , but broken by mountains , uplands , and dry river valleys ( wadis ) in the north , where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara Desert . The term originally applied to the land beyond the coastal strip of Africa proconsularis , including the Nafusa and extending west of modern Libya over Ouargla and Illizi . As these Berber areas came to be associated with the regions of Tripoli , Cirta or Algiers , the name was increasingly applied to the arid areas south of Tripolitania . Fezzan is Libyas poorest region .
Cyrenaica ( /saɪrəˈneɪ.ɪkə/ SY-rə-NAY-ik-ə ; Arabic : برقة , romanized : Barqah ; Koinē Greek : Κυρηναϊκή [ ἐπαρχία ] , romanized : Kurēnaïkḗ [ eparkhíā ] , after the city of Cyrene ) is the eastern coastal region of Libya . Also known as Pentapolis ( Five Cities ) in antiquity , it formed part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica , later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca . During the Islamic period , the area came to be known as Barqa , after the city of Barca . Cyrenaica was the name of an administrative division of Italian Libya from 1927 until 1943 , then under British military and civil administration from 1943 until 1951 , and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until 1963 . In a wider sense , still in use , Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between longitudes E16 and E25 , including the Kufra District . Cyrenaica borders on Tripolitania in the northwest and on Fezzan in the southwest . The region that used to be Cyrenaica officially until 1963 has formed several shabiyat , the administrative divisions of Libya , since 1995 . The 2011 Libyan Civil War started in Cyrenaica , which came largely under the control of the National Transitional Council ( headquartered in Benghazi ) for most of the war . In 2012 , the National Transitional Council declared Cyrenaica to be an autonomous region of Libya .
Tripolitania /trɪpɒlɪˈteɪniə/ ( Arabic : طرابلس Ṭarābulus , Berber : Ṭrables , from Vulgar Latin *Trapoletanius , from Latin Regio Tripolitana , from Greek Τριπολιτάνια ) is a historic region and former province of Libya . Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934 . From 1934 to 1963 , Tripolitania was one of three administrative divisions within Italian Libya and the Kingdom of Libya , alongside Cyrenaica to the east and Fezzan to the south . The region had been settled since antiquity , first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire . Following the defeat of Carthage in the Punic Wars , Rome organized the region ( along with what is now modern day Tunisia ) , into a province known as Africa , and placed it under the administration of a proconsul . During the Diocletian reforms of the late 3rd century , all of North Africa was placed into the newly created Diocese of Africa , of which Tripolitania was a constituent province . After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century , Tripolitania changed hands between the Vandals and the Byzantine Empire , until it was taken during the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 8th century . It was part of the region known to the Islamic world as Ifriqiya , whose boundaries roughly mirrored those of the old Roman province of Africa Proconsularis . Though nominally under the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate , local dynasties such as the Aghlabids and later the Fatimid Caliphate were practically independent . The native Berbers , who had inhabited the area locally for centuries before the arrival of the Arabs , established their own native Hafsid dynasty over Ifriqiya in the 13th century , and would control the region until it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century , who established Ottoman Tripolitania as a distinct province .
The Provinces of Libya were prescribed in 1934 , during the last period of colonial Italian Libya , and continued through post-independence Libya until 1963 when the Governorates system was instituted .
Italian Libya ( Italian : Libia Italiana ; Arabic : ليبيا الإيطالية , Lībyā al-Īṭālīya ) was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy located in North Africa , in what is now modern Libya . Italian Libya was formed from the Italian colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania that were taken by the Kingdom of Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1911 , during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 to 1912 . The unified colony was established in 1934 by governor Italo Balbo , with Tripoli as the capital . The territory of the previous two colonies had already been referred to sometimes as Italian Libya or Italian North Africa ( Africa Settentrionale Italiana , or ASI ) , both names kept being used after the unification , with Italian Libya now being the official name of the newly combined colony . In 1923 , indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order organized the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya . The rebellion was totally put down by Italian forces in 1932 , after the so-called pacification campaign , which resulted in the deaths of a quarter of Cyrenaica 's population . During World War II , Italian Libya became the setting for the North African Campaign . Although the Italians were defeated there by the Allies in 1943 , many of the Italian settlers still remained in Libya . Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty , Italy officially relinquished all claims to Libya , which was administrated by the United Kingdom and France until its independence in 1951 .
The Italian colonial empire ( Italian : Impero coloniale italiano ) , known as the Italian Empire ( Impero italiano ) between 1936 and 1943 , comprised the colonies , protectorates , concessions , dependencies and trust territories of the Kingdom of Italy ( after 1946 the Italian Republic ) . The genesis of the Italian colonial empire was the purchase in 1869 of Assab Bay on the Red Sea by an Italian navigation company which intended to establish a coaling station at the time the Suez Canal was being opened to navigation . This was taken over by the Italian government in 1882 , becoming modern Italy 's first overseas territory . Over the next two decades , the pace of European acquisitions in Africa increased , causing the so-called Scramble for Africa . By the start of the First World War in 1914 , Italy had acquired in Africa the colony of Eritrea on the Red Sea coast , a large protectorate and later colony in Somalia , and authority in formerly Ottoman Tripolitania and Cyrenaica ( gained after the Italo-Turkish War ) which were later unified in the colony of Libya . Outside Africa , Italy possessed the Dodecanese Islands off the coast of Turkey ( following the Italo-Turkish War ) and a concession in Tianjin in China ( following the Boxer War ) . During the First World War , Italy occupied southern Albania to prevent it from falling to Austria-Hungary . In 1917 , it established a protectorate over Albania , which remained in place until 1920 . The Fascist government that came to power with Benito Mussolini in 1922 sought to increase the size of the Italian empire and to satisfy the claims of Italian irredentists . In its second invasion of Ethiopia in 1935-36 , Italy was successful and it merged its new conquest with its older east African colonies to create Italian East Africa . In 1939 , Italy invaded Albania and incorporated it into the Fascist state . During the Second World War ( 1939-1945 ) , Italy occupied British Somaliland , parts of south-eastern France , western Egypt and most of Greece , but then lost those conquests and its African colonies , including Ethiopia , to the invading allied forces by 1943 .
Tripoli Province ( Provincia di Tripoli in Italian ) was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule . It was established in 1937 , with the official name : Commissariato Generale Provinciale di Tripoli . It lasted until 1947 .
Benghazi Province , or Provincia di Bengasi in Italian , was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule . It was established in 1937 .
The Southern Military Territory ( Italian : Territorio Militare del Sud ) refers to the jurisdictional territory within the colony of Italian Libya ( 1911-1947 ) , administered by the Italian military in the Libyan Sahara .
World War II ( often abbreviated to WWII or WW2 ) , also known as the Second World War , was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 . The vast majority of the world 's countries - including all the great powers - eventually formed two opposing military alliances : the Allies and the Axis . A state of total war emerged , directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries . The major participants threw their entire economic , industrial , and scientific capabilities behind the war effort , blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources . World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history , marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities , most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China . It included massacres , the genocide of the Holocaust , strategic bombing , premeditated death from starvation and disease , and the only use of nuclear weapons in war . Japan , which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific , was at war with China by 1937 , [ b ] though neither side had declared war on the other . World War II is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 , with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom . From late 1939 to early 1941 , in a series of campaigns and treaties , Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe , and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan . Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 , Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours , Poland , Finland , Romania and the Baltic states . Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa , and the Fall of France in mid 1940 , the war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the British Empire . War in the Balkans , the aerial Battle of Britain , the Blitz , and the long Battle of the Atlantic followed .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK or U.K. ) or Britain , [ note 11 ] is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland . Existing under its current name since 1921 , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland . Otherwise , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east , the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland . The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles ( 240,000 km2 ) . The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . [ note 12 ] The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 1952 , making her the world 's longest-serving current head of state . The United Kingdom 's capital and largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million . Other major cities include Birmingham , Manchester , Glasgow , Leeds and Liverpool . The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . Their capitals are London , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively .
Fezzan ( UK : /fɛˈzɑːn/ fez-AHN , US : /fɛˈzæn , fəˈzæn/ fez-AN , fə-ZAN ; Berber languages : ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ , romanized : Fezzan ; Arabic : فزان , romanized : Fizzān ; Latin : Phazania ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya . It is largely desert , but broken by mountains , uplands , and dry river valleys ( wadis ) in the north , where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara Desert . The term originally applied to the land beyond the coastal strip of Africa proconsularis , including the Nafusa and extending west of modern Libya over Ouargla and Illizi . As these Berber areas came to be associated with the regions of Tripoli , Cirta or Algiers , the name was increasingly applied to the arid areas south of Tripolitania . Fezzan is Libyas poorest region .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
The Kingdom of Libya ( Arabic : المملكة الليبية ; Libyan Kingdom ; Italian : Regno di Libia ) , called the United Kingdom of Libya until 1963 , came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi on 1 September 1969 overthrew King Idris and established the Libyan Arab Republic .
A muḥāfaẓah ( Arabic : محافظة [ muˈħaːfaðˤa ] ; pl . محافظات muḥāfaẓāt [ muħaːfaˈðˤaːt ] ) is a first-level administrative division of many Arab countries , and a second-level administrative division in Saudi Arabia . The term is usually translated to governorate , and occasionally to province . It comes from the Arabic root ح ف ظ ḥ-f-ẓ , which means to keep and guard . The head of a muḥāfaẓah is the muḥāfiẓ .
The governorates of Libya ( muhafazah ) were a tenfold top-level administrative division of Libya from 1963 until 1983 . They came into being on 27 April 1963 . In 1970 , after the 1 September 1969 Free Officers Movement coup , there was an administrative reorganization which gave local authorities more power to implement policies of the national government , and redesignated some of the names and boundaries of the ten governorates . In February 1975 , Libya issued a law that abolished the governorates and their service directorates , however they continued to operate until they were fully replaced in 1983 by the baladiyat system districts . Historically , the three provinces of Libya ( Tripolitania in the northwest , Cyrenaica in the east , and Fezzan in the southwest ) were sometimes called governorates . [ citation needed ]
Muammar Gaddafi became the de facto leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan military officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état . After the king had fled the country , the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council ( RCC ) headed by Gaddafi abolished the monarchy and the old constitution and established the Libyan Arab Republic , with the motto freedom , socialism and unity . After coming to power , the RCC government initiated a process of directing funds toward providing education , health care and housing for all . Public education in the country became free and primary education compulsory for both sexes . Medical care became available to the public at no cost , but providing housing for all was a task the RCC government was not able to complete . Under Gaddafi , per capita income in the country rose to more than US $ 11,000 , the fifth highest in Africa . The increase in prosperity was accompanied by a controversial foreign policy , and there was increased domestic political repression . During the 1980s and 1990s , Gaddafi , in alliance with the Eastern Bloc and Fidel Castro 's Cuba , openly supported rebel movements like Nelson Mandela 's African National Congress , the Palestine Liberation Organization , the Irish Republican Army and the Polisario Front ( Western Sahara ) . Gaddafi 's government was either known to be or suspected of participating in or aiding terrorist acts by these and other proxy forces . Additionally , Gaddafi undertook several invasions of neighboring states in Africa , notably Chad in the 1970s and 1980s . All of his actions led to a deterioration of Libya 's foreign relations with several countries , mostly Western states , and culminated in the 1986 United States bombing of Libya . Gaddafi defended his government 's actions by citing the need to support anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movements around the world .
Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi [ b ] ( c. 1942 - October 20 , 2011 ) , commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi , was a Libyan revolutionary , politician , and political theorist . He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 , and then as the Brother Leader of the Great Socialist People 's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011 . He was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism but later ruled according to his own Third International Theory . Born near Sirte , Italian Libya , to a poor Bedouin family , Gaddafi became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha , later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy , Benghazi . Within the military , he founded a revolutionary group which deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris in a 1969 coup . Having taken power , Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council . Ruling by decree , he deported Libya 's Italian and Jewish populations and ejected its Western military bases . Strengthening ties to Arab nationalist governments - particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser 's Egypt - he unsuccessfully advocated pan-Arab political union . An Islamic modernist , he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted Islamic socialism . He nationalized the oil industry and used the increasing state revenues to bolster the military , fund foreign revolutionaries , and implement social programs emphasizing house-building , healthcare and education projects . In 1973 , he initiated a Popular Revolution with the formation of Basic People 's Congresses , presented as a system of direct democracy , but retained personal control over major decisions . He outlined his Third International Theory that year , publishing these ideas in The Green Book .
The Baladiyah ( singular ) , or baladiyat ( plural ) , is the current second-level administration subdivision of Libya being reintroduced in 2012 by the General National Congress with Law 59 on the system of local administration , dividing the country into governorates ( muhafazat ) and districts ( baladiyat ) , with baladiyah having local councils . Baladiyah is an Arabic word used in many Arab countries to denote administrative divisions of a country .
Shabiyah ( Arabic : شعبية ) ( plural : Shabiyat , شعبيات ) is an administrative division of Libya . It is often translated as popularate , but also as municipality or district .