Libya

LIBYA. - Classical name originally given (5th century B.C.) to the entire African continent (insofar as only a small part of it was known) and after 1917 officially used to designate the territories that passed under Italian sovereignty following the victorious war against Turkey of 1911-12.

I. GEOGRAPHY

Libya, which faces the Mediterranean for about 1800 km, from Ras Agadir to the Gulf of Sollum, consists of several distinct natural regions: Tripolitania, a coastal plain dominated by the Gebel, that is, by the edge of the interior plateau; the Sirtica, a flat and arid coastal strip, curving around the Gulf of Sidra; Cyrenaica, a squat peninsula formed by a limestone plateau fringed by a narrow coastal strip; and the Marmarica, a low tableland, likewise arid and steppe-like, which continues into Egypt. The interior region is occupied by a vast rocky desert (hammada) or duney desert (edeien), interrupted by oases, most of which are gathered in the Fezzan, but sometimes entirely isolated (Cufra, Gadames). The climate is mild in the coastal strips, with long dry summers and winter rains (less scarce on the Gebel and on the Cyrenaican plateau), and everywhere suited to white people. Lacking rivers, water is drawn from the water tables and (in Cyrenaica) from springs; wherever this is possible, the soil is cultivated, though in exceedingly rare and limited zones: the Gefata (olive, vine, almond), the Gebel (fruit, cereals and tobacco), the Benghazi plateau (olive and cereals) and a few others. In Cyrenaica there is also some woodland (434,000 ha). Among the wild plants, notable are esparto grass and sparto, widely used (also for cellulose). The most important cultivated products are barley, wheat, dates, wine, oil and citrus fruits. Pastoralism is transhumant in character; above all sheep and goats are raised. Active in the coastal zones is the fishing of tuna and sponges; sea salt, extracted from the coastal saltworks, is a good resource. Industry is modest in scale and is directed above all to products for domestic use (carpets, soap, bricks, milling, oil mills).

The population (817,000 inhabitants in 1936, the time of the last census) is composed for about 2/3 of Arab-Berbers speaking Arabic and for the rest of Arabs (250,000), Kouloughlis (crosses of natives and Turks, 42,000), Jews (29,000) and Negroes (10,000). The Italians, who numbered over 120,000 on the eve of the Second World War, are now greatly reduced in number. The Allied occupation (French in the Fezzan, English in the rest), by causing the abandonment of the numerous and flourishing agricultural estates established by the Italians (almost entirely vanished in Cyrenaica), has dealt a mortal blow to the country's economic development. Libya is to attain its independence in 1952; in the meantime it will be governed by a UN advisory commission, in which Italy is also represented. The pre-war administrative division is given below:

	Provinces and territories	Area in sq km	Population		Capital (and its pop. in 1000 inhab.)
		resident census 1936	density per sq km
Tripoli	191,200	392,564	2.1	Tripoli (96)
Misurata	98,940	215,877	2.2	Misurata (50)
Benghazi	152,030	113,744	0.7	Benghazi (58)
Derna	111,700	46,788	0.4	Derna (17)
Libyan Sahara Terr.	1,205,600	48,403	0.04	Hon
Libya	1,759,470	817,376	0.5

Giuseppe Caraci

II. LIBYA IN SACRED SCRIPTURE

The Greeks applied the name of Augia first to the whole of the then-known African continent and later to the northern coastal strip. The Greek version of the Septuagint and also the Vulgate adopt this twofold meaning in rendering: 1) Pâṭ (Jer. 49:9; Ex. 36:5), a territory along the coasts of the Red Sea, probably present-day Somalia; 2) Lâbhîm (Dan. 11:43; II Chron. 12:3; 16:8; cf. Lâhâbhîm of Gen. 10:13), always associated with Mîṣrâṭîm (= Egypt), designating the region west of the Nile Delta or present-day L.

In Roman times it was divided into two parts: Lower L. (Marmarica) and Upper L. (Cyrenaica). The territory was inhabited by many Jews (Fl. Josephus, Antiq. Jud., I, 6). Among those present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost were also Jews "dwellers in L. near Cyrene" (Acts 2:10). The fortunes of Christianity in L. are closely bound up with those of Egypt, and its most illustrious figure is the bishop Synesius (v.).

Donato Baldi

III. EVANGELIZATION OF LIBYA

Although already from the 13th century some Franciscans had been transiently in L., a truly continuous missionary activity began only in the second half of the 17th century, with the arrival in Tripoli in 1668-69 of the first apostolic prefect, Fr. Mansueto da Castrogiovanni. Apart from individual and sporadic cases of conversions, the mission of the Franciscans consisted in assistance to European Christians. The relief of slaves, religious assistance to European merchants, and efforts for the return of apostates to the Church constituted their difficult mission, which under the regencies of the Karamanlis (1711-1835) obtained in 1732 an explicit declaration of freedom and protection. The definitive abolition of piracy achieved through the armed pressure of France and England (1830), and immigration, especially of Italians, gave the Franciscan mission another direction and ensured its stability.

The missionaries took care to follow the immigrants in order to assist them spiritually. Whereas previously they had not left Tripoli, now they were able to extend their activity to the other cities: Benghazi, Derna, Merg, Misrata and Homs. For the Christian education of the young, the Franciscans requested the cooperation of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (1846-54), of St. Joseph of the Apparition (1854) and of the Marist Brothers (1881). In 1859 there arose in Tripoli, which then counted about 2,500 faithful, a first hospital open to all, in which there were also conversions of Muslims. After the occupation of L. by Italy (1911-12), the apostolic vicariate of L. was erected in 1913. The apostolate of the Franciscans is dedicated to the spiritual assistance of the Italian colonists; care of souls, therefore, as in Christian countries, but a care of the faithful exercised under the eyes of the Mohammedans, with charitable institutions (hospitals, clinics, shelters) and schools open also to them and to their children. Nor were conversions of Muslims lacking thereafter. The missionary personnel for teaching and hospitals was formed by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who succeeded the Marist Brothers in 1912, by the Sisters of St. Joseph (1854), by the Franciscan Missionaries of Egypt (1903), by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent (1912), by the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (1912), by the Sisters of the Holy Family (1920), and by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (1925). In 1927 the apostolic vicariate of L. was divided into 2 vicariates: Tripolitania (today Tripoli) and Cyrenaica (today Benghazi), entrusted to the Franciscans. In 1939 the apostolic vicariate of Derna, entrusted to the Pious Salesian Society of Don Bosco, and the apostolic prefecture of Misrata, entrusted to the secular clergy and then given to the Franciscans, were detached.

Giovanni Rommerskirchen

IV. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LIBYA

Following the events of the Second World War, the legal status of the Catholic Church has not yet been definitively established, and the whole question is still under negotiation between the competent authorities. - See plates LXXXI-LXXXII.

Carlo Corvo