Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Tunisia and Algeria to the west, Niger and Chad to the south, and Sudan and Egypt to the east. This article delves into the specifics of the Libya-Egypt border, its historical context, and its significance in regional conflicts.
Location of Libya in North Africa
Geography and Demographics
Most of this North African country lies in the Sahara desert. The fourth-largest country in Africa, Libya is bigger than the state of Alaska. Libya is almost entirely covered by the Libyan Desert, a flat plateau that’s part of the Sahara, the world's largest hot desert. The capital of Tripoli and Benghazi, the second-largest city, are both located near the coast.
The Berber and Arab ethnic groups make up about 97 percent of the country’s population. The Berbers are considered the earliest inhabitants of the country and are thought to have arrived in Libya around 1200 B.C. Arabs began to settle in the country around 700 A.D., following the rise in popularity of the religion of Islam. Today, most Libyans speak the Arabic language, and nearly 97 percent of the country is Muslim, or followers of Islam.
Historical Context
Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age as descendants from Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures. In classical antiquity, the Phoenicians established city-states and trading posts in western Libya, while several Greek cities were established in the East. Parts of Libya were variously ruled by Carthaginians, Numidians, Persians, and Greeks before the entire region becoming a part of the Roman Empire. Libya was an early centre of Christianity.
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After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century when invasions brought Islam to the region. From then on, centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb shifted the demographic scope of Libya in favour of Arabs. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Ottoman Empire’s reign in Libya lasted until Italy seized control of the country in 1912. The Italian rule lasted just 31 years and ended when the French and British liberated Libya during World War II in 1943. Libya officially gained its independence in 1951.
The country was ruled by monarchs until Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrew King Idris I in 1969. Gaddafi controlled Libya until the 2011 revolution, when he was killed in the early stages of the civil war.
The Frontier Wire and World War II
The Frontier Wire was a 271 km (168 mi) obstacle in Italian Libya, along the length of the border of British-held Egypt, running from El Ramleh, in the Gulf of Sollum (between Bardia and Sollum) south to Jaghbub parallel to the 25th meridian east, the Libya-Egypt and Libya-Sudan borders. From the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 until the conquest of Libya by the British in 1942, it was the scene of military engagements between Italian, British and German forces as the fighting ebbed and flowed across the frontier.
British patrols closed up to the frontier wire on 11 June 1940 and began to dominate the area, harass the garrisons of the frontier forts and set ambushes along the Via Litoranea Libica (renamed Via Balbia later in 1940) and inland tracks. Some Italian troops were unaware that war had been declared and seventy were captured during the day, on the track to Sidi Omar. Italian reinforcements then arrived at the frontier, began to reconnoitre, improved the frontier defences and recaptured Fort Capuzzo.
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Map of North African Campaign during World War II
Fort Capuzzo (Ridotta Capuzzo) was one of the forts built near the border with Egypt and the frontier wire, part of a system of frontier control built in the early 1930s. The Via Litoranea Libica ran south from Bardia to Fort Capuzzo, 13 km (8 mi) west of the port of Sollum in Egypt, then east across the frontier, down the escarpment to the coast. The fort was built with four crenellated stone walls around a yard with living quarters on the edges. A track ran south from the fort, just west of the frontier wire and the border, to Sidi Omar, Fort Maddalena and Giarabub.
On 11 June 1940, the 11th Hussars in Rolls-Royce and Morris CS9 armoured cars closed up to the frontier wire, crossed during the night and exchanged fire with the garrison at Sidi Omar. Sidi Omar was captured on 16 December, during Operation Compass by the 7th Hussars, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2nd RTR) and the 4th Royal Horse Artillery (4th RHA).
On 16 June 1940, two days after the loss of Fort Capuzzo and Fort Maddalena and six days after the Italian declaration of war, the 10th Army formed Raggruppamento D'Avanzo (Colonel Lorenzo D’Avanzo) with orders to end British penetrations of the frontier wire near Fort Capuzzo.
The Siege of Giarabub (now Jaghbub) in Libya, took place between the WDF and the Italian garrison. The 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry Regiment (6th ADCR) began the siege in December 1940 and isolated the oasis, leaving the garrison dependent on the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) for supplies. After being reinforced by the 2/9th Australian Battalion and a battery of the 4th RHA, the Australians attacked and captured Giarabub from 17 to 21 March 1941.
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Soon after the frontier wire system was built, the colonial administration deported the people of the Jebel Akhdar to deny the rebels local support. More than 100,000 people were imprisoned in concentration camps at Suluq and El Agheila, where up to one third of the Cyrenaican population died in squalor.
The History of North Africa Explained (Morocco,Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria)
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