Editing Demographics of Libya (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Libya}}[[File:Libya-demography.png|thumb|300px|right|Demographics of Libya, Data of [[Our World in Data]], year 2021; Number of inhabitants in millions. ]]
Historically [[Berbers|Berber]], over the centuries, Libya has been occupied by the [[Phoenicia]]ns, [[Greeks]], [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Arabs]], and [[Italians]]. The Phoenicians had a big impact on Libya. Many of the coastal towns and cities of Libya were founded by the Phoenicians as trade outposts within the southern [[Mediterranean coast]] in order to facilitate the Phoenician business activities in the area. Starting in the 8th century [[BCE]], Libya was under the rule of the Phoenician [[Carthage]]. After the Romans defeated Carthage in the [[Third Punic War]], Libya became a Roman province under the name of Tripolitania until the 7th century CE when Libya was conquered by the [[Arab]] [[Muslims]] as part of the [[Arab conquest of North Africa]], and Arab migrations to the region began since then. In the 11th century, major migrations of [[Banu Hilal]] and [[Banu Sulaym]] from the [[Arabian Peninsula]] to [[Libya]] began, with other nomadic tribes from [[Eastern Arabia]].<ref name="Libya - People {{!}} Britannica">{{Cite web |title=Libya - People {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Libya/People |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Centuries after that, the [[Ottoman Empire]] conquered Libya in 1551. It remained in control of its territory until 1911 when the country was conquered by Italy. In the 18th century Libya was used as the base for various pirates. The story of the [[Awlad Sulayman]], an Arab group from present-day Libya dominated northern Lake Chad in the 19th century. Since the Middle Ages, the populations of this region have shared close political, economic, and social ties maintained by the mobility specific to the nomadic way of life. These relationships, fluid due to the difficulties of surviving in this difficult environment, have always been structured in turn, through conflict and cooperation, both of which produced rapidly changing alliances. In the middle of the 18th century, the [[Awlad Sulayman]] carved out a vast area of influence for themselves in Sirte and Fezzan by force of arms and by their alliances with neighboring peoples and the Libian administration. Defeated by the Ottoman administration in Tripoli at the end of the 1830s, the survivors of the [[Awlad Sulayman]] took refuge in the Lake Chad basin where they reconstituted the conditions for their success in Libya; they controlled trans-Saharan trade and maintained their links with Libian society. Despite the limits imposed on their action by the French colonization of Chad and the Italian colonization of Libia; the [[Awlad Sulayman]] retained regional influence during colonial times and appear to maintain it today.
In the [[World War II|Second World War]] Libya was one of the main battlegrounds of North Africa. During the war, the territory was under an Anglo-French military government until it was overrun by the [[Axis Powers]], who, in turn, were defeated by the [[Allies (World War II)|Allies]] in 1943.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Libya - History {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Libya/History |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 1951, the country was granted independence by the United Nations, being governed by [[Idris of Libya|King Idris]]. In 1969, a military coup led by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] resulted in the overthrow of King Idris I. Gaddafi then established an anti-Western leadership. In 1970, Gaddafi ordered all British and American military bases closed.

The Libyan population has increased rapidly after 1969. They were only 2 million in 1968, and 5 million in 2006.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=LY | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref> Many migrant workers came to Libya since 1969. Among the workers were construction workers and laborers from [[Tunisia]], teachers and laborers from [[Egypt]], teachers from [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and doctors and nurses from [[Yugoslavia]] and [[Bulgaria]]. 1,000,000 workers, mainly from other neighboring African countries like [[Sudan]], [[Niger]], [[Chad]] and [[Mali]], migrated to Libya in the 1990s, after changes were made to Libya's [[Pan-Africanism|Pan-African]] policies.<ref name="Temehu">{{cite web |url=http://www.temehu.com/Libyan-People.htm |title=Libyan People & Ethnic Tribes |access-date=2011-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711061330/http://www.temehu.com/Libyan-People.htm |archive-date=11 July 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Gaddafi used money from the sale of oil to improve the living conditions of the population and to assist Palestinian [[guerrillas]] in their fight against the Israelis. In 1979, Libya fought in [[Uganda]] to assist the government of [[Idi Amin]] in the Ugandan Civil War, and in 1981, fought in the [[Libyan-Chadian War]]. Libya had occupied the [[Aozou Strip]]; however, in 1990 the [[International Court of Justice]] submitted the case and allowed the full recuperation of territory to Chad.

In September 2008, Italy and Libya signed a memorandum by which Italy would pay $5 billion over the next 20 years to compensate Libya for its dominion over Libya for its reign of 30 years.<ref name="The Country">[http://www.hejleh.com/countries/libya.html The Country & People of Libya]. Posted 2003. Retrieved January 4, 2012, to 23:53 pm.</ref>

Since 2011, the country is swept by [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]], which broke out between the Anti-Gaddafi rebels and the Pro-Gaddafi government in 2011, culminating in the death and overthrow of Gaddafi. Nevertheless, even today Libya still continues to generate problems within the area and beyond, greatly affecting its population and the [[European migrant crisis|migrant route to Europe]].

Under Gaddhafi the country had oil income and a level of stability, allowing birthrates to fall to 2.56 by 2010.  However, with instability, the government in Libya announced population of [https://libyaupdate.com/libyas-population-is-7-7-million-announces-civil-registry-authority/ 7.7 million as of Oct 2022], indicating a substantial population boom and/or migration.  Since migration is less likely, birthrates probably soared as women no longer afforded security of the old regime, about 10-15% higher than expected.