Exploring Libya -- Global Learning for Kids

This month Global Learning for Kids had us exploring Libya. Libya is a country in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Chad and Niger. It is the fourth largest country in Africa. It has the tenth largest oil reserves in the world. The capital and largest city is Tripoli which is home to more than one million of the six million people who live in Libya. The other large city is Benghazi.

By CIA map (CIA World Factbook)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Libya has gone through many various leaders and countries controlling it. It was inhabited as early as 8000 BC. In 1951 it declared its independence after Allied Forces were controlling it. It became a kingdom with King Idris I. In 1969 a military group led by Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the government and Gaddafi became a dictator. In 2011 there was a civil war and during it Gaddafi was captured and killed.

Libya is an Islamic state and about 97% of its population is Islamic. Libya was also once home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. Italian Facists however set up concentration camps during World War II near Tripoli and the surviving Jews mostly left in 1951 when Libya declared its independence. (Source)

Libyan Flag

In 1951 a new flag was introduced for Libya. However Gaddafi changed it to a solid green banner. In 2011 it was changed back to the flag from the Kingdom of Libya. (Source)

To find resources to explore Libya with Hazel we went to the library. I found a few books that were good to read for her, but still did not feel like we had much of a focus. There is not a whole lot of material out there for a younger elementary student on Libya in the United States. Perhaps this is because of the poor relations between the countries. I decided to see what animals live in Libya. Since much of Libya is desert the list was not super long or at least what I could explore was not super long. We picked three animals.

We have not read all the books about these animals yet. However the Mediterranean Monk Seals are extremely endangered. There are only about 500 of them left in the wild. This seems so sad to us. These monk seals do live off the coast of Libya in the Mediterranean Sea.

So this was our exploration of Libya. We spent a lot of time talking about the relationship between the United States and Libya and why we don't always get along. Hazel had many questions.

This post is part of the Global Learning for Kids Series. For more on Libya, please check out these other great posts and if you have any on Libya, please share them here!

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