Demographics of Libya include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the Libyan population.

No complete population or vital statistics registration exists in Libya. The estimates in this article are from the 2010 Revision of the World Population Prospects which was prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, unless otherwise indicated.^[1]

Demographics of Libya, Data of FAO, year 2006; Number of inhabitants in thousands. to see the latest information, please visit this official site: http://www.gait.gov.ly/info/info2.htm

Population[link]

Population pyramid for Libya in 2011.

Libyan young men in Bayda. In 2010, about 30 % of the population was under the age of 15.

Libya has a small population residing in a large land area. Population density is about 50 persons per km² (130/sq. mi.) in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than one person per km² (2.6/sq. mi.) elsewhere. Ninety percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area, primarily along the coast. About 88% of the population is urban, mostly concentrated in the four largest cities, Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata and Bayda. Thirty percent of the population is estimated to be under the age of 15, but this proportion has decreased considerably during the past decades.

Population census[link]

Eight population censuses were carried out in Libya, the first in 1931 and the most recent one in 2006.^[2][3] The population sixfolded between 1931 and 2006.

Vital statistics[link]

During the past 60 years the demographic situation of Libya changed considerably. Since the 1950s, life expectancy increased steadily and the infant mortality rates decreased. As the fertility rates remained high until the 1980s (the number of births tripled between 1950–55 and 1980–85), population growth was very high for three decades. However, after 1985 a fast decrease in fertility was observed from over 7 children per woman in the beginning of the 1980s to less than 3 in 2005-2010. Because of this decrease in fertility the population growth slowed down and also the proportion of Libyans under the age of 15 decreased from 47% in 1985 to 30% in 2010.

Births and Deaths[link]

Life expectancy at birth[link]

1950-1955: 52.9 (males 51.9; females 53.9)
1955-1960: 55.5 (males 54.3; females 56.6)
1960-1965: 58.0 (males 56.7; females 59.3)
1965-1970: 63.4 (males 59.0; females 61.8)
1970-1975: 67.0 (males 61.4; females 70.5)
1975-1980: 70.7 (males 66.0; females 69.3)
1980-1985: 72.4 (males 70.6; females 74.2)
1985-1990: 76.4 (males 74.5; females 78.9)
1990-1995: 76.0 (males 76.9; females 75.7)
1995-2000: 79.6 (males 79.3; females 80.5)
2000-2005: 80.8 (males 80.5; females 80.7)
2005-2010: 80.0 (males 79.7; females 81.9)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics[link]

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[4]

Nationality

noun: Libyan(s)

adjective: Libyan

Vital Statistics[link]

Population

6,733,620 (July 2012 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 32.8% (male 1,104,590/female 1,057,359)

15-64 years: 62.7% (male 2,124,053/female 2,011,226)

65 years and over: 4.6% (male 146,956/female 153,776) (2011 est.)

Median age

total: 24.5 years

male: 24.5 years

female: 24.4 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate

2.007% (2012 est.)

Birth rate

23.47 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

3.41 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.71 children born/woman (2000 est.)

3.01 children born/woman (2010 est.)

2.9 children born/woman (2012 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 78% of total population (2010)

rate of urbanization: 2.1% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female

total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2012 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 19.34 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 21.26 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 17.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 77.83 years

male: 75.5 years

female: 80.27 years (2012 est.)

Ethnic and tribal groups[link]

Ethnic composition of the Libyan population in 1974 (CIA map)

  Arab and Arab-Berber

  Berber

  Tuareg

  Toubou

  uninhabited

Ethnic groups[link]

The native population of Libya is primarily Arab or a mixture of Arab-Berber ethnicities, with a small minority of Berber-speaking tribal groups and small black African groups like Tuareg and Toubou tribes can be found in southern Libya, which are nomadic or semi-nomadic. Most of the Libyans claim descent from the Bedouin Arab tribes of the Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym, who invaded the Maghreb in the 11th century. There is also some Punic admixture, and a curious traditional element from the Romanized Punics such as the Roman toga can be seen in Tripoli's people and was used by Muammar Gaddafi himself.

In the west of the country, there are some Tuareg nomads, mobile across the Libyan-Algerian border. Tuaregs are also scattered over Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

In the southeast, there are small populations of the Nilo-Saharan Toubou (Tibbu), although they occupy between a quarter and a third of the country and who also inhabit Niger and Chad.

Among foreign residents, the largest groups are from other African nations, including citizens of other North African nations (primarily Egyptians) as well as sub-Saharan Africans.

Tribal groups[link]

Libyan society is to a large extent structured along tribal lines, with more than 20 major tribal groups. The major tribal groups of Libya are:^[5]

• Tripolitania: Warfalla, Tarhona, Wershifana, Al-Fwatir, Awlad Busayf, Al-Zintan, Al-Rijban.
• Cyrenaica: Al-Awagir, Al-Abaydat, Drasa, Al-Barasa, Al-Fawakhir, Al-Zuwayya, Al-Majabra, Al-Msmare.
• Sirte: Al-Qaddadfa, Al-Magarha, Al-Magharba, Al-Riyyah, Al-Haraba, Al-Zuwaid, Al-Guwaid.
• Fezzan: Al-Hutman, Al-Hassawna; Toubou, Tuareg.
• Kufra: Al-Zuwayya; Toubou.

Foreign population[link]

Foreign population is estimated at 3%, mostly migrant workers in the oil industry from Tunisia and Egypt, but also including small numbers Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians and people from former Yugoslavia. Due to the Libyan civil war, most of these migrant workers have returned to their homelands or simply left the country for a different one.

Languages[link]

The official language of Libya is Standard Arabic. The prevalent spoken language is Libyan Arabic, spoken by about 6 million Libyans, besides other Arabic dialects (partly spoken by immigrant workers, partly by native populations), viz. Egyptian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic, South Levantine Arabic and Hassaniyya Arabic, amounting to a total number of first-language Arabic speakers of about 95% of total population.

SIL Ethnologue estimates for indigenous minority languages in Libya^[6]:

• Berber languages: ca. 305,000 speakers
  • Nafusi: 184,000 (2006)
  • Tamahaq: 47,000 (2006)
  • Ghadamès: 30,000 (2006)
  • Sawknah: 5,600 (2006)
  • Awjilah: 3,000 (2000)
• Domari: ca. 33,000 speakers (2006)
• Tedaga: 2,000

Non-Arabic languages spoken by temporary foreign workers include (with more than 10,000 speakers each): Punjabi, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Sinhala, Bengali, Tamil, Tagalog, French, Italian, Ukrainian, Serbian, English.

Religions[link]

Almost all Libyans are Sunni Muslim.

Foreigners contribute very little Christian presence, but there are some churches. A small Jewish community historically lived in Libya since antiquity (see history of the Jews in Libya), but the entire Jewish community in Libya eventually fled the country for Italy, Israel, or the United States, particularly after anti-Jewish riots in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel.

References[link]

• CIA World Factbook 2008
• Looklex Encyclopedia

See also[link]

• Health in Libya
• List of Ashraf tribes in Libya

Anthony Bourdain

Bourdain in June 2006
Born	Anthony Michael Bourdain (1956-06-25) June 25, 1956 (age 56) New York City
Cooking style	French
Education	Vassar College Culinary Institute of America
Spouse	Nancy Putkoski (1980s–2000s) Ottavia Busia (April 20, 2007–present)
Television show(s) A Cook's Tour Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations The Layover

Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain (born June 25, 1956) is an American chef, author and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and The Layover.

A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of numerous professional kitchens,^[1] Bourdain is currently a chef-at-large, whose home base is Brasserie Les Halles, New York^[2] where he was executive chef for many years.

Early life and family[link]

Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City to Pierre (d.1987)^[3] and Gladys Bourdain, and grew up in Leonia, New Jersey.^[4] Bourdain has French ancestry on his father's side; his paternal grandfather emigrated from France to New York following World War I.^[5] Bourdain's mother worked for the New York Times as a staff editor^[6]. Bourdain was a student at Englewood School for Boys, graduating in 1973.^[7] He attended Vassar College before dropping out after two years, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978.

Bourdain married his high-school girlfriend, Nancy Putkoski, in the 1980s, remaining together for two decades before divorcing; Bourdain has cited the irrevocable changes that come from traveling widely as the cause of the split.^[8] He currently lives with his second wife, Ottavia Busia. Together, they have a daughter, Ariane, born on April 9, 2007; the couple wed on April 20, 2007.^[9] Busia has appeared in several episodes of No Reservations – notably the episode on Sardinia, her birthplace; the Tuscany episode, in which she plays a disgruntled Italian diner; the Rome episode, and the Naples episode.

Culinary training and career[link]

In Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain describes how his love of food was kindled in France when he tried his first oyster on an oyster fisherman's boat as a youth while on a family vacation. Later, while attending Vassar College, he worked in the seafood restaurants of Provincetown, Massachusetts, which sparked his decision to pursue cooking as a career. Bourdain graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, and went on to run various restaurant kitchens in New York City – including the Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue, and Sullivan's – culminating in the position of executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles beginning in 1998. Brasserie Les Halles is based in Manhattan, with additional locations in Miami and, at the time of Bourdain's tenure, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, Japan.

Media career[link]

Writing[link]

Bourdain gained immediate popularity from his 2000 New York Times bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, an outgrowth of his now famous article in The New Yorker called "Don't Eat Before Reading This".^[10] The book is a witty and rambunctious exposé of the hidden and darker side of the culinary world, and is a memoir of Bourdain's professional life as well.

Bourdain subsequently wrote two more New York Times bestselling nonfiction books: A Cook's Tour (2001), an exotic account of his food and travel exploits across the world, written in conjunction with his first television series; and The Nasty Bits (2006), another collection of exotic, provocative, and humorous anecdotes and essays mainly centered on food. Bourdain's additional books include Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook; the culinary mysteries Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo; a hypothetical historical investigation, Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical; and No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach. His latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, the sequel to Kitchen Confidential, was published in 2010.

Bourdain's articles and essays have appeared many places, including in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Observer, Gourmet, Maxim, Esquire (UK), Scotland on Sunday, The Face, Food Arts, Limb by Limb, BlackBook, The Independent, Best Life, the Financial Times, and Town & Country. On the Internet, Bourdain's blog for Season 3 of Top Chef^[11] was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Cultural/Personal in 2008.^[12]

Television[link]

The acclaim surrounding Bourdain's racy memoir, Kitchen Confidential, led to an offer by the Food Network to host his own food and world-travel show, A Cook's Tour, which premiered in January 2002. In July 2005, he premiered a new, somewhat similar television series, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on the Travel Channel. As a further result of the immense popularity of Kitchen Confidential, the Fox sitcom Kitchen Confidential aired in 2005, in which the character "Jack Bourdain" is based loosely on the biography and persona of Anthony Bourdain.

In July 2006, Bourdain was in Beirut filming an episode of No Reservations when the Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out. Bourdain and his crew were evacuated with other American citizens on the morning of July 20 by the United States Marines.^[13] Because of the unexpected conflict only a few hours of footage were available from the first restaurant on their agenda. Bourdain's producers compiled the Beirut footage into a No Reservations episode which aired on August 21, 2006. Uncharacteristically, the episode included footage of both Bourdain and his production staff, and included not only their initial attempts to film the episode, but also their firsthand encounters with Hezbollah supporters, their days of waiting for news with other expatriates in a Beirut hotel, and their eventual escape aided by a "cleaner" (unseen in the footage), whom Bourdain dubbed "Mr. Wolf" after the character portrayed by Harvey Keitel in the movie, Pulp Fiction. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2007.^[14]

Bourdain has appeared five times as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef reality cooking competition program: first in the November 2006 "Thanksgiving" episode of Season 2; and then again in June 2007 in the first episode of Season 3, judging the "exotic surf and turf" competition featuring ingredients including abalone, alligator, black chicken, geoduck and eel. His third appearance was also in Season 3, as an expert on air travel, judging the competitors' airplane meals. Bourdain also wrote weekly blog commentaries for many of the Season 3 episodes, filling in as a guest blogger while Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio was busy opening a new restaurant. Bourdain next appeared as a guest judge for the opening episode of Season 4, in which pairs of chefs competed head-to-head in the preparation of various classic dishes; and again in the Season 4 Restaurant Wars episode, temporarily taking the place of head judge Tom Colicchio, was at a charity event. He is also one of the main judges on the Top Chef All-Stars Season 8.

Bourdain appeared in an episode of TLC's reality show Miami Ink which aired August 28, 2006. Artist Chris Garver tattooed a skull on Bourdain's right shoulder. Bourdain, who noted it was his fourth tattoo, said that one reason for the skull was that he wished to balance the ouroboros tattoo he had done on his opposite shoulder in Malaysia while filming Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Bourdain made a guest appearance on the August 6, 2007 New York City episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern; Zimmern appeared as a guest on the New York City episode of Bourdain's No Reservations airing the same day. On October 20, 2008 Bourdain hosted a special, "At the Table with Anthony Bourdain," on the Travel Channel. Bourdain also has a brief cameo appearance in the 2008 movie Far Cry.^[15]

In 2010, Bourdain appeared on Nick, Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! as Dr. Tony. He is currently consulting and writing for the HBO series, Treme.^[16][17]

Travel Channel announced in July 2011 that it would be adding a second one-hour ten-episode Bourdain show to be titled The Layover, premiering November 21, 2011.^[18] The show's concept is that each episode features an exploration of a city that can be undertaken within an air travel layover of 24 to 48 hours.

Also in 2011, Bourdain voiced himself in a cameo on an episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Food Wife" in which Marge, Lisa, and Bart start a food blog called "The Three Mouthkateers" and Homer winds up in a meth lab.^[19]

In May 2012, Bourdain announced that he would be leaving the Travel Channel to host a show for CNN focusing on other cuisines and cultures.^[20]

Publishing[link]

Ecco Press, a division of HarperCollins, announced in September 2011 that Bourdain would have his own publishing line, which would include acquiring three to five titles per year that "reflect his remarkably eclectic tastes".^[21] The first books that the imprint will publish, to be released in 2013, will include Spaghetti Junction: Riding Shotgun with an L.A. Chef by Roy Choi, Prophets of Smoked Meat by Daniel Vaughn, and Fight Shark by Mark Miller.^[22] Bourdain has also announced plans to publish a book by Marilyn Hagerty.^[23]

In describing the line, Bourdain said, "This will be a line of books for people with strong voices who are good at something – who speak with authority. Discern nothing from this initial list – other than a general affection for people who cook food and like food. The ability to kick people in the head is just as compelling to us – as long as that's coupled with an ability to vividly describe the experience. We are just as intent on crossing genres as we are enthusiastic about our first three authors. It only gets weirder from here."^[24]

Public persona[link]

Bourdain in Chicago in 2007

Because of Bourdain's liberal use of profanity and sexual references in his television show No Reservations, the network has placed viewer discretion advisories on each segment of each episode. In recent seasons, the advisories include animation that is related in some way to the episode.

Known for consuming exotic ethnic dishes, Bourdain is famous for eating sheep testicles in Morocco, ant eggs in Puebla, Mexico, a raw seal eyeball as part of a traditional Inuit seal hunt, and a whole cobra – beating heart, blood, bile, and meat – in Vietnam. According to Bourdain, the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten is a Chicken McNugget,^[25] though he has also declared that the unwashed warthog rectum he ate in Namibia^[26] and the fermented shark he ate in Iceland^[27] are among "the worst meals of [his] life."

He has been known for being an unrepentant drinker and smoker. In a nod to Bourdain's (at the time) two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, renowned chef Thomas Keller once served him a 20-course tasting menu which included a mid-meal "coffee and cigarette": a coffee custard infused with tobacco, together with a foie gras mousse.^[28] Bourdain stopped cigarette smoking in the summer of 2007 because of the birth of his daughter.^[29] He is also a former user of cocaine, heroin, and LSD. In Kitchen Confidential he writes of his experience in a trendy SoHo restaurant in 1981: "We were high all the time, sneaking off to the walk-in refrigerator at every opportunity to 'conceptualize.' Hardly a decision was made without drugs. Cannabis, methaqualone, cocaine, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms soaked in honey and used to sweeten tea, secobarbital, tuinal, amphetamine, codeine and, increasingly, heroin, which we'd send a Spanish-speaking busboy over to Alphabet City to get."^[30] In the same book, Bourdain frankly describes his former addiction, including how he once resorted to selling his record collection on the street in order to raise enough money to purchase drugs.

Bourdain is also noted for his put-downs of celebrity chefs, such as Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Sandra Lee, and Rachael Ray, and appears to be irritated by both the overt commercialism of the celebrity cooking industry and its lack of culinary authenticity. He has voiced a "serious disdain for food demigods like Alan Richman, Alice Waters, and Alain Ducasse."^[31] Bourdain has recognized the irony of his transformation into a celebrity chef and has, to some extent, begun to qualify his insults. He has been consistently outspoken in his praise for chefs he admires, particularly Thomas Keller, Gordon Ramsay, Eric Ripert, Ferran Adrià, Fergus Henderson, Marco Pierre White, and Mario Batali.^[32] Bourdain has also spoken very highly of Julia Child, saying that she "influenced the way I grew up and my entire value system."^[33]

Bourdain is also known for his sarcastic comments about vegan and vegetarian activists, saying that their lifestyle is rude to the inhabitants of many countries he visits. Bourdain says he considers vegetarianism, except in the case of religious strictures as in India, a "First World luxury."^[34] He has clarified that he believes Americans eat too much meat, and admires vegetarians who allow themselves to put aside their vegetarianism when they travel in order to be respectful of their hosts.^[35]

Bourdain's taste in music is also a matter of public record. His book, The Nasty Bits, is dedicated to "Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee" of the Ramones. Bourdain has declared fond appreciation for their music, as well that of other early punk bands such as The Stooges, Dead Boys, Television, The New York Dolls, and The Voidoids. Additionally, Bourdain writes in Kitchen Confidential that the playing of music by Billy Joel in his kitchen was grounds for immediate firing (coincidentally, Joel is a fan of his and has subsequently visited the restaurant^[36]). In the 2006 No Reservations episode in Sweden, Bourdain proclaimed that his all-time favorite album (his "desert island disc") is the groundbreaking punk record Fun House by The Stooges; he also made it clear that he despises the Swedish pop group ABBA. On his 2007 No Reservations Holiday Special episode, the rock band Queens of the Stone Age were the featured dinner guests, adding food-inspired holiday songs to the episode's soundtrack.

Interests and advocacy[link]

Bourdain is an advocate for communicating the value and tastiness of traditional or "peasant" foods, including specifically all of the varietal bits and unused animal parts not usually eaten by affluent 21st-century US citizens.^[37] Bourdain has also consistently noted and championed the high quality and deliciousness of freshly prepared street food in other countries – especially developing countries – as compared to fast food chains in the U.S.^[38]

Bourdain often acknowledges and champions the industrious Spanish-speaking immigrants – often from Mexico or Ecuador – who make up a majority of the chefs and cooks in many U.S. restaurants, including upscale restaurants, regardless of cuisine.^[39][40] Bourdain considers them to be talented chefs and invaluable cooks, underpaid and unrecognized even though they have become the backbone of the U.S. restaurant industry.^[41][42]

Awards and nominations[link]

Bourdain was named Food Writer of the Year in 2001 by Bon Appétit magazine for Kitchen Confidential.^[43]

A Cook's Tour was named Food Book of the Year in 2002 by the British Guild of Food Writers.^[44]

The Beirut episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which documented the experiences of Bourdain and his crew during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming in 2007.^[14]

Bourdain's blog for the reality competition show Top Chef^[11] was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Culture / Personal in 2008.^[12]

In 2008, Bourdain was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.

In 2009 and 2011, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming.

In 2010, Anthony Bourdain was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for non-fiction writing.

In 2010, Anthony Bourdain was awarded an Honorary CLIO Awards, which is given to individuals who are changing the world by encouraging people to think differently.

Bibliography[link]

Nonfiction

• Bourdain, Anthony (2000). Kitchen Confidential. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1-58234-082-X. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2001). A Cook's Tour. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1-58234-140-0. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2001). Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/1-58234-133-9|1-58234-133-9]]. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2004). Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-58234-180-4. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2006). The Nasty Bits. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-59691-360-8. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2007). No Reservations. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-59691-447-6. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2010). Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. Ecco/HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-171894-7.

Fiction

• Bourdain, Anthony (1995). Bone in the Throat. New York: Villard Books. ISBN 0-679-43552-2. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (1997). Gone Bamboo. New York: Villard Books. ISBN 0-679-44880-2. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2001). Bobby Gold. Edinburgh: Canongate Crime. ISBN 1-84195-145-5. 

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Bourdain, Anthony. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Updated ed., New York: Harper Perennial (January 9, 2007).
• Bourdain's biography on TravelChannel.com

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Anthony Bourdain

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anthony Bourdain

• Anthony Bourdain official Travel Channel website
• Anthony Bourdain at the Internet Movie Database
• Anthony Bourdain at the Chef and Restaurant Database
• One-hour video interview from Authors@Google (2007)

Libyan civil war
Part of the Arab Spring
Clockwise from top-left: The National Transitional Council flag is flown by anti-Gaddafi fighters in Brega on 10 March 2011; protesters in Bayda; protesters and defectors clash with Libyan soldiers in Bayda on 17 February 2011; a French rescue helicopter lands on USS Mount Whitney, at the beginning of the military intervention; remains of two Palmaria heavy howitzers of the Libyan Army, destroyed by French warplanes near Benghazi; USS Barry launches one of its Tomahawk missiles during Operation Unified Protector.
Date 17 February – 23 October 2011 (8 months and 3 days) Location Libya Result Overthrow of Gaddafi government Anti-Gaddafi forces take control of all major Libyan cities. Muammar Gaddafi is killed.[1] The National Transitional Council assumes interim control of Libya. 102 countries, UN, EU, AL and AU diplomatically recognise the National Transitional Council as the sole governing authority for Libya. Inter factional fighting ongoing[2]
Belligerents
National Transitional Council National Liberation Army Free Libyan Air Force Anti-Gaddafi tribes[3][4][5]  Qatar[6][7][8][9] UN member states enforcing UNSC Resolution 1973: 22x20px NATO full list  Bulgaria  Belgium  Canada  Denmark  France  Greece  Italy  Netherlands  Norway[10]  Romania  Spain  Turkey  United Kingdom  United States  Jordan[11]  Qatar  Sweden  UAE[12] Spillover conflict:  Tunisia (minor border clashes)	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Libyan Armed Forces Libyan Army Libyan Air Force Libyan Navy Paramilitary forces Pro-Gaddafi tribes[3][4][13] Foreign mercenaries[14][15][16][17][18] (disputed)[19] 25px Justice and Equality Movement[20][21]
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Abdul Jalil (Chairman of the NTC)[22] Abdul Hafiz Ghoga (Vice-Chairman of the NTC) Mahmoud Jibril (Interim Libyan Prime Minister) Omar El-Hariri[23] (Minister of Military Affairs until 19 May) Jalal al-Digheily (Defence Minister from 19 May) Abdul Fatah Younis † (Commander-in-Chief of armed forces until assassinated 28 July in Benghazi) Suleiman Mahmoud[24] (Commander-in-Chief from 28 July) Khalifa Belqasim Haftar (Lieutenant general, 3rd in command) Khalid Shahmah (Major general) Abdelhakim Belhadj (Head of Tripoli Military Council) Mahdi al-Harati (Commander of Tripoli Brigade) Abu Oweis (Deputy commander of Tripoli Brigade) Abdul Hassan (Commander of Al Horia Brigade) Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah 22x20px Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Secretary General) 22x20px James G. Stavridis (SACEUR) 22x20px Charles Bouchard (Operational Commander)[25] 22x20px Ralph Jodice (Air Commander) 22x20px Rinaldo Veri (Maritime Commander) 22x20px Carter Ham Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada) Marc Lessard Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Prime Minister of Denmark to 3 Oct) Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Prime Minister of Denmark from 3 Oct) Knud Bartels Nicolas Sarkozy (President of France) Édouard Guillaud Silvio Berlusconi (Prime Minister of Italy) Rinaldo Veri Jens Stoltenberg (Prime Minister of Norway) Harald Sunde Traian Băsescu (President of Romania) Ștefan Dănilă David Cameron (Prime Minister of the UK) Sir Stuart Peach (Chief of Joint Operations) Barack Obama (President of the United States) Carter Ham Sam Locklear Abdullah II (King of Jordan) Sverker Göranson Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (President of the United Arab Emirates)	Muammar Gaddafi † Muammar Gaddafi's sons: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (Captured after war's end) Khamis Gaddafi †[26] Mutassim Gaddafi † Saif al-Arab Gaddafi †[27] Al-Saadi Gaddafi (Captured after war's end)[28] Military leaders: Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr † (Minister of Defence) Abdullah Senussi (Captured after war's end) Massoud Abdelhafid (Head of the secret police) Baghdadi Mahmudi (POW) (Libyan Prime Minister) Mahdi al-Arabi (POW) (Deputy chief of staff of the army and commander of special forces) Mohamed Abu Al-Quasim al-Zwai (POW) (Secretary-General of the General People's Congress) Abuzed Omar Dorda (POW) (Head of National Intelligence) Khouildi Hamidi (POW) (Deputy head of the secret police) Abdul Ati al-Obeidi (POW) (Foreign Minister) Moussa Ibrahim (Gaddafi Spokesman) Hasan al-Kabir al-Gaddafi (Head of Revolutionary Guard Corps) Rafi al-Sharif (Head of the Navy) Ali Sharif al-Rifi (General and Head of the Air Force) Ali Kana (General and commander of southern forces) Nasr al-Mabrouk (General and primary police commander) Ahmed al-Gaddafi al-Qahsi † (Army colonel and Gaddafi's cousin) Mansour Dhao (POW) (Head of Gaddafi's personal guards)
Strength
17,000 defecting soldiers and volunteers[29] 200,000 volunteers by war's end (NTC estimate)[30] International Forces: Numerous air and maritime forces (see here)	20,000[31]–40,000[32] soldiers and militia
Casualties and losses
5,849–7,241 opposition fighters and supporters killed, 2,716–2,835 missing (see here) 1 airman killed in traffic accident in Italy[33] 3 Dutch Marines captured (later released)[34]	2,319–3,224 soldiers killed (see here), 7,000 captured*[35]
Estimated total casualties on both sides, including civilians: 25,000[36]–30,000 killed, 4,000 missing,[37] 50,000 injured[38]
*Large number of loyalist or immigrant civilians, not military personnel, among those captured by rebels,[39] only an estimated minimum of 1,542+ confirmed as soldiers[40]

The Libyan civil war (also referred to as the Libyan revolution^[41]), was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government.^[42][43] The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on Tuesday, 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security forces that fired on the crowd.^[19] The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country,^[44] with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council.

The United Nations Security Council passed an initial resolution on 26 February, freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his inner circle and restricting their travel, and referred the matter to the International Criminal Court for investigation.^[45] In early March, Gaddafi's forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before attacking Benghazi. A further U.N. resolution authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians.^[46] The Gaddafi government then announced a ceasefire, but failed to uphold it,^[47] though it then accused rebels of violating the ceasefire when they continued to fight as well.^[48] Throughout the conflict, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting because the plans set forth did not include the removal of Gaddafi.^[49]

In August, rebel forces began a coastal offensive, taking back territory lost weeks before and ultimately capturing the capital city of Tripoli,^[50] while Gaddafi evaded capture and loyalists engaged in a rearguard campaign.^[51] On 16 September 2011, the National Transitional Council was recognised by the United Nations as the legal representative of Libya, replacing the Gaddafi government. Muammar Gaddafi remained at large until 20 October 2011, when he was captured and killed attempting to escape from Sirte.^[52] The National Transitional Council "declared the liberation of Libya" and the official end of the war on 23 October 2011.^[53]

Amidst the aftermath of the civil war, a low-level insurgency by former Gaddafi loyalists still continued. In addition, there have been various disagreements and strife between local militia and tribes. The most serious clashes erupted in late January 2012. On 23 January, the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid was captured by local fighters, who subsequently established a non-NTC town council due to the NTC's refusal to cooperate with tribal leaders.^[54][55]

Background[link]

Leadership[link]

Muammar Gaddafi became the de-facto ruler of Libya after he led a military coup that overthrew King Idris I in 1969.^[56] He abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951, and adopted laws based on his own ideology outlined in his manifesto The Green Book. He officially stepped down from power in 1977, and subsequently claimed to be merely a "symbolic figurehead" until 2011, with the Libyan government up until then also denying that he held any power.^[57][58]