Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice Management
October 15, 2012
Introduction Libya is one of the largest countries in Africa, but largely due to its vast desert environment, with the population being less than most of the other surrounding countries. Libya has no water above ground; everything comes either from the ocean or the underground water system that irrigate the underside of Libya. Libya’s flag is now the same flag that Libya used between 1951 and 1969 which represents the “Libyan Republic.” Libya also has a huge history of religions and cultured as well as some of the oldest architectures on the planet.
Geography Libya expands over 1, 759, 540 square kilometers, making it the 17th largest nation in the world by size and slightly larger then Alaska. Libya’s coastline is the longest coastline of any African country bordering the Mediterranean at 1, 770 kilometers. For the most party, Libya experiences a dry climate and desert like in nature with most of its natural hazards starting because of the hot and dry conditions. As a result the highest temperature recorded from September 13, 1922 was approximately 136 degrees Fahrenheit.
People The vast land has an extremely small population, estimated at 5,613,380 million in July of 2012; this number does not include the estimated 166,520 non-nationals. The indigenous population is homogenous, with 97 percent claiming to be of Arab ancestry. While largely rural, the massive oil wealth beginning in the 1960’s changed the economic and residential profile of the population. For instance, between 1954 and 1964, the citizen population of Tripoli grew by 58%, while Benghazi grew by 66 percent. A five-year placed introduced in the 1960’s was geared to bring prosperity to rural areas. Its success slowed the migrations to the urban areas and made paid employment widely available through the country. With the large oil industry, numbers of Europeans and North American traveled to Libya and became workers to the country. Oil revenues allowed the stated to greatly expand its work force while the wealth stimulated the private sector. Thus over the years, large numbers of guest workers have found their way to Libya from Eastern Europe and the surrounding Mediterranean and Arab states.
Government
Libya's government is based on popular assemblies. All Libyan citizens age 18 or older may vote and hold public office. About 1,000 local groups elect a representative to the General People's Congress (GPC), which officially runs the national government. The General People's Congress meets every year to consider legislation and to select the members of the General People's Committee, which develops national policy. Libya is divided into 24 political units called baldiyas. When Gaddafi took power, he formed an inner circle filled with a necessary strength to keep the nation moving in the proper progressive direction. It was Gaddafi’s strength and his functioning, “State of the masses,” that satisfied the Libyan’s and made them willing to accept the power structures until the civil war in 2011. Although the Libyans were accepting of this new form of government, the dictatorship was bound to become corrupt-seeing that close friends and family took part in different divisions of the government. The tribal leaders were allowed to represent their local communities and provide socio-economic development plans, which allowed them to protect the tribal and regional interest. This allowed for tribes to feel that they had some sort of say at the national level.
After Gaddafi’s death on October 20th, 2011, Libya became liberated and “The NTC declares Libya to be officially ‘liberated” and announces plans to hold elections within eight months.” As of August 8, 2012, the National Transitional Council officially handed power over to the wholly elected General National Congress, which is tasked with the formation
