May 21, 2013
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The week's top five must-sees,
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Description
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres, Libya is the 17th largest country in the world.
The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 6.4 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. In 2009 Libya had the highest HDI in Africa and the fifth highest GDP per capita in Africa, behind Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, Gabon, and Botswana. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world and the 17th-highest petroleum production.
A civil war and NATO-led military intervention in 2011 resulted in the ousting and death of the country's former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and the collapse of his 42-year "First of September Revolution" and 34-year-old Jamahiriya state. As a result, Libya is currently undergoing political reconstruction, and is governed under an interim constitution drawn up by the National Transitional Council. Elections to a General National Congress were held on 7 July 2012, and the NTC handed power to the newly elected assembly on 8 August. The assembly has the responsibility of forming a constituent assembly to draft a permanent constitution for Libya, which will then be put to a referendum.
(via Freebase)
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![Gaddafi loyalists blamed for bombing in Libyan capital [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-9012000/9012671/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=1bdf19a4b0bbf747e3ffafa565fcb29f)
![Libya celebrates transfer of power to elected assembly [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-8463000/8463602/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=c6582e1c1d0bb64bf4c56170dc58dc2b)
![Libya elections results place liberal alliance ahead of Islamists [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-7295000/7295255/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=1859f173c0564dbb60d21ba1f3587fb2)
![Libya's former transitional council chief leads early election results [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-6879000/6879488/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=b53c6a0566ad28aec25ec6af59df0cb7)
![Militias shut down three oil refineries in eastern Libya [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-6834000/6834850/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=912004be82f76031bbfe4853e422b067)
![Libyan expats vote in first post-Gaddafi election [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-6656000/6656370/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=fa67cf19b19b54d207d9db56a5bcf11c)
![Discontent brews in eastern Libya as elections near [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-6565000/6565511/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=06791945449c404d40ea58211e5a6e5c "Protesters set fire to piles of voting materials after storming the office of the national election commission in Benghazi July 1, 2012: REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori")
![Libyan court postpones hearing of former intelligence chief [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-6289000/6289501/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=b6ba5bc63e76175fdbb09e6336865a14)
