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 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 ...

as Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica. 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. During the Libyan Civil War, 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 natural landscape around Hun mainly consists of black basalt mountains, with extensive sand dunes, and date palm trees - ''Phoenix dactylifera'' groves indicating oases. The cities of Waddan 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 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 springs and date palm trees.

Climate

Hun has a hot desert climate (

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 and Sabha. There is also a military airport located between Hun and Waddan, Al Jufra Airbase. Hun is 240 km south of Sirte, 370 km from 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

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