Municipalities of Libya

There are thirty-four municipalities of Libya, known by the Arabic term "sha'biyat" (singular "sha'biyah"). These came recently (in the 1990s to replaced old Baladiyat systam (see below). The Baladiyat system in turn was introduced to replace the system of "muhafazah" (governorates or provinces) that existed from the 1960s to the 1970s.

"Sha'biyat"

"Sha'biyah" is a neologism exclusive to Libya. The term basically means a municipality (or a top level administrative division). The current system which comprises 22 Sha'biya has replaced the 32 Sha'biya system (see below). However, it draws largely upon it. [ [http://gpco.gov.ly/online/shabyat.php] "شعبيات الجماهيرية العظمى"ndash Sha'biyat of Great Jamahiriya, Accessed July 6 2007] The current list is as following:

32 Sha'biyat

The data in this table was taken from the first external link below.There are two minicipalities missing from the map, Al Qatrun and Al-Jaghbub.

Former "Baladiyat"

"Baladiyah" (singular) or "Baladiyat" (plural), are Arabic words used in many Arab countries to denote a type of top-level administrative division (roughly equivalent to municipality). The system consisted of 25 Baladiyat and was introduced in the early 1970s as a substitute to the 3-"Muhafazat" system (Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan). The table hereunder lists the old 25 Baladiyat in alphabetical order with a link to each one. Note that each page linked talk about a "municipality" which means both a Baladiyah and a Sha'biyah. Most Baladiyat remained unchanged in the new Sha'biyat-system and whenever this is not applicable the articles are/will be changed to reflect the new system.
* 1 Ajdabiya
* 2 Al 'Aziziyah
* 3 Al Fatih
* 4 Al Jabal al Akhdar
* 5 Al Jufrah
* 6 Al Khums
* 7 Al Kufrah
* 8 An Nuqat al Khams
* 9 Ash Shati'
* 10 Awbari
* 11 Az Zawiyah
* 12 Banghazi
* 13 Darnah
* 14 Ghadamis
* 15 Gharyan
* 16 Misratah
* 17 Murzuq
* 18 Sabha
* 19 Sawfajjin
* 20 Surt
* 21 Tarabulus (Tripoli)
* 22 Tarhunah
* 23 Tubruq
* 24 Yafran
* 25 Zlitan

The old three-governarate system

Tripolitania, Cyrenaica (same as Cirenaica) and Fezzan were separate States for most of their history until Libya was unified (first as an Italian colony in 1934). They were in use until the 1970s. The map below shows how each of the three Governarates was divided up into smaller "Baladiyat".

See also

* Subdivisions of Libya

References

External links

* [http://www.gpc.gov.ly/online_alshabyat/index.php Municipalities of Libya in the Website of the General People's Committee of Libya]
* [http://www.library.uu.nl/wesp/populstat/Africa/libyap.htm Population data]

References