Born Out of the Great Deserts of North Africa

The territory of Libya reaches its furthest point south, deep into the interior of Africa, on the frontier with northern Sudan and extends its northernmost point by the Mediterranean Sea. There are at least 2,000 kilometres of coastline and it is not surprising that in the past Libya was generally known as the “Gateway to Africa” and the link between Europe and Africa.It can be safely said that Libya has been born out of the great deserts that stretch, immense and arid and virtually a denuded wasteland, across North Africa.It is a land that is founded on ancient metamorphic and granite formations, overlaid during the passage of countless centuries in terms of geologic time, by varied layers of wind-eroded and marine sedimentary soils.The country has no real mountain ranges, but several ranges of relatively high hills, or “jebel” as they are generally known, and it would be safe to describe Libya as a country of broad planes and plateaux.There are also no natural, perennially flowing rivers, but there are numerous water courses that are commonly known as the “wadis”.These “wadis” both in Libya and in the rest of the Arab world, are dry for the larger part of the year. But one the rains start to fall they become swift-flowing torrents which, if not properly contained can perhaps do more damage that good.Modern technology has permitted most of the “wadis” in Libya to be dominated and exploited for the proper use of agriculture.One such water course, at Ras Hilal, has now the envious distinction of permitting the flow of water almost all the year round.If Libya has no mountain ranges in the commonly known sense, the areas of the “jebel” are amongst the most picturesque in the entire continent of Africa.The main highlands of Libya are to be found in the eastern regions. Here the “Jebel Akhdar” which is also referred to as the Green Mountain dominates the landscape.The Green Mountain overlooks the southern Mediterranean and it was in that region that the Greeks had built some of their more prominent city-states on the territory of Libya, including Bernice, which was later to change its name to that of the present Benghazi.Other ranges of “jebel” are to be found deep in the interior of the country, and the more rekinowne4d of these are the “Jebel Tasili” and the “Jebel Tomo”.The “Jebel Sud” and the “Jebel Farrug” are to be found in the centre of the country and they are also referred to as the interior heights of Libya.Far south, deep into the continent across the trackless ex-panse of wilderness and straddling, the frontiers with Chad rise the Central Saharan mountains, or the “Jebel Tib-esti”. The peaks of the Tibesti at times rise as high as approximately 3692 metres above the level of the seas as compared, for example, to the “Jebel Akh-dar” which rises to a maximum height of 923 metres.Today, these “jebel” or high hill ranges have been developed and are looked upon as some of the more attractive landscapes of the country.The “Jebel Akhdar” which is within reach of the main eastern city of Benghazi, is today very much sought after as a tourist and leisure resort.Here the inviting mountain landscape compliments the shores of the nearby Mediterra-nean to create a landscape that is amongst the most attractive in the entire basin of the Mediterranean.In the West there are several other regions, which described as “jebel” add a picturesque touch and create a unique atmosphere particularly in the region of Nalut, close to the area where Libya borders with Tunisia.Indeed, time appears to have stood still in several regions of the country where its natural heritage is still unspoilt and the environment not threatened.

JOSEPH CUTAJAR