ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Libya. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Libya. Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi rules by decree, with almost no accountability or transparency. About 98 percent of Libyans are Sunni Muslim. Libya has no formal constitution; a mixture of Islamic belief, nationalism, and the socialist theory promoted in Qaddafi's Green Book provides principles and structures of governance, but the document lacks legal status. Limited public debate occurs within government bodies, but free expression and free media do not exist in Libya. The state owns and controls all media and thus controls reporting of domestic and international issues.
