Fezzan-Ghadames
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. It is largely
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (
wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...
s) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable
Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
. The term originally applied to the land beyond the coastal strip of
Africa proconsularis Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, including the
Nafusa The Nafusa Mountains () () is a mountain range in the western Tripolitania region of northwestern Libya. It also includes the regions around the escarpment formed where the northern end of the Tripolitanian Plateau meets the Mediterranean coasta ...
and extending west of modern Libya over
Ouargla Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune of Ouargla had ...
and
Illizi Illizi (Amazigh language: Ilizi) is an Algerian town and Communes of Algeria, commune, coextensive with Illizi District, situated in the south-eastern part of Algeria, and capital of Illizi Province. According to the 2008 census it is the largest ...
. As these
Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
areas came to be associated with the regions of
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
,
Cirta Cirta, also known by #Names, various other names in classical antiquity, antiquity, was the ancient Berbers, Berber, Punic people, Punic and Roman Empire, Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria, Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was ...
or
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
, the name was increasingly applied to the arid areas south of
Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...
. After the 1934 formation of Libya, the
Fezzan province Fezzan province is one of the three traditional Provinces of Libya. It was a formal province from 1934 until 1963, when it was subdivided into the Governorates of Libya. Its capital was the city of Sabha. In 1963, the province was split into: * ...
was designated as one of the three primary provinces of the country, alongside Tripolitania province to the north and
Cyrenaica province Cyrenaica province is one of the three traditional Provinces of Libya. It was a formal province from 1934 until 1963, when it was subdivided into the Governorates of Libya. Its capital was the city of Benghazi. Between 1911 and 1934 it had been th ...
to the northeast.


Etymology

In
Berber languages The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berbers, Berber communities, ...
, ''Fezzan'' (or ''ifezzan'') means "rough rocks". ''Fezzan'' could also be a derivation from the region's Greek name ''Phasania'' or ''Phazania'', which may mean "the country of the
pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...
s". There are no true pheasants in Libya, but the
Barbary partridge The Barbary partridge (''Alectoris barbara'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae) of the order Galliformes. It is native to North Africa. Distribution The Barbary partridge has its main native range in North Africa, and is also na ...
, a similar bird, is common.


Geography

Fezzan is crossed in the north by the ash-Shati Valley (''Wadi Al Shatii'') and in the west by the Wadi Irawan. These two areas, along with portions of the
Tibesti Mountains The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and i ...
crossing the
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
ian border and a sprinkling of remote oases and border posts, are the only parts of the Fezzan able to support settled populations. The large dune seas known as
ergs The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100 nJ). It is not an SI unit, instead originating from the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). Its name is derived from (), a Greek word meaning 'work' or 'task'. An erg is the ...
of the
Idehan Ubari The Ubari Desert, Idehan Ubari, Idehan Awbari (''Idehan'' means ''fine sand'' in Tamasheq) or Ubari Erg is an erg in the hyper-arid Fezzan region of southwestern Libya with a surface area of approximately 58,000 km2. The area of the Ubari dese ...
and the
Idehan Murzuq The Murzuq Desert, Idehan Murzuq, or Idhan Murzuq (also Murzaq, Murzuk, Marzuq and Murzak), is an erg in southwestern Libya with a surface of approximately 58,000 km2. It is named after the town of Murzuk in the Fezzan region. Like the Idehan Ub ...
cover much of the remaining land of Fezzan.


History

From the 5th century BCE to the 5th century CE, Fezzan was home to the
Garamantes The Garamantes (; ) were ancient peoples, who may have descended from Berbers, Berber tribes, Toubous, Toubou tribes, and Saharan Pastoral period, pastoralists that settled in the Fezzan region by at least 1000 BC and established a civilization t ...
, who operated the Trans-Saharan trade routes successively between
Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
and the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
in North Africa and
Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...
ian states of west and central Africa. The Roman generals Septimus Flaccus in 19 BCE and Suetonius Paulinus in 50 CE led small-scale military expeditions into the northern reaches of the Sahara, and the Roman explorer Julius Maternus traveled there in early 1st century CE. Paulinus reached Fezzan and went further south. With the end of the Roman Empire and the following commercial crisis, Fezzan began to lose importance. The population was greatly reduced due to the
desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...
process of the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
during the early
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Fezzan became a part of the
Kanem Empire Kanem may refer to: * Kanem–Bornu Empire, existed in modern Chad and Nigeria known to Arabian geographers from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900 * Kanem Prefecture, of former prefectures of Chad * ...
, which extended as far as
Zella, Libya Zella or Zalla ( ''az-Zallah'') is an oasis in Libya, in the northeastern Fezzan region . The Sahara Desert town is approximately halfway between Marada, Libya, Marada and Hun, Libya, Hun in the Jufra District. Features Zella is a city in the ...
. Wars against the
Kanem–Bornu Empire The Kanem–Bornu Empire was an empire based around Lake Chad that once ruled areas which are now part of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, and Chad. The empire was sustained by the prosperous trans-Saharan trade and was one of the ...
in the early sixteenth century led to the founding of the
Awlad Muhammad Awlad Muhammad (or Ouled Muhammed) was a tribe that ruled over the Fezzan region from 1550 to 1812. At their height, their domain extended from Sokna, Libya, Sokna in the north to Murzuk, Murzuq in the south. Starting in 1577, the sultanate had to ...
dynasty, with
Murzuk Murzuk, Murzuq, Murzug or Merzug () is an oasis town and the capital of the Murzuq District in the Fezzan region of southwest Libya.Robinson, Harry (1960) "Murzuq" ''The Mediterranean Lands'' University Tutorial Press, London, p. 414 It lies on ...
becoming the capital of Fezzan. Around 1565 it was ruled by Muhammad ibn al-Muntasir. From the beginning of the second ottoman period the place was ran by the Kerdusian of Zawiya. Who raided
Kaouar The Kaouar (or Kawar) is a series of ten oases in the southern Sahara in northeast Niger, covering about from north to south, and east to west. They are on the eastern edge of the Ténéré desert, between the Tibesti Mountains in the east an ...
. And clashed often with the Senusite over rulling of Fezzan The Ottoman rulers of North Africa asserted their control over the region in the 17th century. In the reign of
Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
(1876–1909) Fezzan was used as a place of political exile for
Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
because it was the most remote province from
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. Beginning in 1911, Fezzan was occupied by
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. However, Italy's control of the region was precarious until at least 1923, with the rise of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
. The Italians were resisted in their early attempts at conquest by tribal Arab adherents to the militant Sanusiya
Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
religious order. The
Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...
clans of the region were only pacified by European expansion shortly before the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and some of them collaborated with the
Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...
in the
North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...
.
Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...
troops occupied
Murzuk Murzuk, Murzuq, Murzug or Merzug () is an oasis town and the capital of the Murzuq District in the Fezzan region of southwest Libya.Robinson, Harry (1960) "Murzuq" ''The Mediterranean Lands'' University Tutorial Press, London, p. 414 It lies on ...
, a chief town of Fezzan, on 16 January 1943, and proceeded to administer Fezzan with a staff stationed in Sabha, forming the Military Territory of Fezzan-Ghadames.Berry, LaVerle Bennette "Chapter 1 – Historical Setting -World War II and Independence – Allied Administration" ''Area Handbook for Libya'' (1987 edition) Federal Research Division,
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
, Washington, D.C.; available at
A Country Study: Libya
accessed 17 May 2009.
French administration was largely exercised through Fezzan notables of the family of Sayf Al Nasr. Disquieting to the tribes in western Fezzan was the administrative attachment of
Ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...
, and its surrounding area, to French-ruled
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. However, when the French military control ceased in 1951, all of Fezzan became part of the
Kingdom of Libya The Kingdom of Libya (; ), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa that came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a bloodless coup d'état on 1 Sept ...
. Fezzan was a stronghold for Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
through much of the
2011 Libyan Civil War The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...
, though starting in July,
anti-Gaddafi forces The anti-Gaddafi forces, also known as the Libyan opposition or Libyan rebels, were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi during the First Libyan Civil War in 2011, killing him in the process. The A ...
began to
gain ground is an action game with strategy elements released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1988. It was ported to the Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, and TurboGrafx-CD. Gameplay In ''Gain Ground'', players control one of a set of characters a ...
, taking control of the region's largest city of Sabha in mid-to-late September. The LF country code (.lf) was reserved "on behalf" of Libya Fezzan (for an "indeterminate period of time") by the
International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...
(ISO). There are oil wells in Fezzan capable of producing 400,000 barrels per day, but oil companies fly in staff from northern Libya. The local tribes are not getting any money from the oil trade, and so have turned to smuggling migrants from other parts of Africa, which is feeding the
European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...
and is a $1 billion per year industry.


See also

* List of colonial heads of Fezzan *
Postage stamps and postal history of Fezzan and Ghadames This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Fezzan and Ghadames, both now part of Libya. Fezzan is a south-western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in ...
*
List of French possessions and colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire existed mainly in the Americas and Asia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the second French colonial empire existed mainly in Africa and Asia. France had about 80 colonie ...
*
Germa Museum The Germa Museum is an archaeological museum located in Fezzan, Libya. It contains old objects excavated at Germa, the seat of the ancient Garamantian Kingdom. The Garamantian Kingdom flourished between 400 BC and 600 AD. See also *Capitoline T ...
* Fezzan-Ghadames (French Administration) * Fazzan Basin


References


External links


Map from Google showing a large area of Fezzan and its important cities.


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060813060134/http://www.hostkingdom.net/noafrica.html#Fezzan Hostkingdom.net's History and list of rulers of Fezzan.
Lexiorient.com's article on Fezzan.
{{Authority control Italian Libya