Hun or Houn () () is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

region of southwest

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 ...

. The town is the capital of the

Jufra District Jufra or Jofra () is one of the districts of Libya. It is in the centre of the country. Its capital is Hun. Jufra was originally one of the 25 baladiya in the administrative system of Libya established in 1988. In 2001, it became a ''Shabiya'', ...

. The "International Autumn Tourism Festival" is an annual

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

usually held at the end of September.

History

During the colonial

Italian Libya Libya (; ) was a colony of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica, Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitan ...

period, Hun was the administrative capital of the Italian Fezzan region, called '' Territorio del Sahara Libico''. Hun was the Italian military center of southern Italian Libya, and was not part of the national Fourth Shore territory of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

Italian Tripolitania Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony, located in present-day western Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. Italian Tripolitania included th ...

and

Italian Cyrenaica Italian Cyrenaica (; ) was an Italian colony, located in present-day eastern Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, alongside Italian Tripolitan ...

. In the 1939 census Italians were 3% of the total population of 35,316 in the city. They disappeared from Hun after Italy's loss of Libya in

World War II 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 ...

. An important Libyan Italian born in Hun was the internationally renowned painter Mario Schifano (1934–1998). In the 1930s the Italian government made some important improvements to the small town, including a connection to the coast via the new

Fezzan Road Fezzan Road is an asphalt road in central Libya, running from Abu Qurayn near the coast to Sabha in the Sahara Desert. It is long. History Fezzan Road was constructed in the early 1960s. It was the largest road project in Libya since the Ital ...

. During the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

, on 8 May 2011,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

hit 8 headquarters compound buildings, 12 ammunition storage and 20 vehicle storage.

Geography

Hun is about halfway between Sabha and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast in the

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 natural landscape around Hun mainly consists of black

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

mountains, with extensive sand dunes, and date palm trees - ''Phoenix dactylifera'' groves indicating

oases In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentWaddan and Sokna are the nearest settlements. Hun is settiling in between of Waddan and Sokna, Hun is the biggest town in the area and population at Aljufra, It is considered the administrative capital of the region . There is a ruined

ksar Ksar or qṣar (), in plural ksour or qsour (), is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh). The equivalent Berber languages, Berber term used is ' ( ...

it was an Italian fort (Forti), It was restored and it is now the Saharawi Museum. There are also several old and new

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s in the city . All three towns are oases characterized by the abundance of

natural spring A spring is a natural exit point at which groundwater emerges from an aquifer and flows across the ground surface as surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere, as well as a part of the water cycle. Springs have long been important fo ...

s and date palm trees.

Climate

Hun has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BWh'') with long, extremely hot summers and short, warm winters as well as very little rainfall throughout the year. In this part of the desert, summer daytime temperatures are a bit moderated due to the influence of the cooler offshore winds from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, although average high temperatures consistently exceed 40 °C (104 °F) during the hottest months of the year. The region receives an average annual rainfall of .

Economy and culture

There are public buses to the cities of

Sirte Sirte (; , ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyal ...

and Sabha. There is also a military airport located between Hun and Waddan,

Al Jufra Airbase Al Jufra Airbase is a Libyan Air Force base in Waddan, northeast of Hun, a desert city in the Jufra District of Libya. It was originally used by the Libyan Arab Air Force during the Gaddafi-era from 1969 to 2011. The runway length does not i ...

. Hun is 240 km south of

, 370 km from

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

and 272 km north of Sabha. The "International Autumn Tourism Festival", is an annual festival usually held at the end of September. It is organized for four days every year from 1996. It is aimed at promoting tourism and culture and organizes concerts and exhibitions.

Notes

External links