Gharyan

Gharyan is a city in northwestern Libya, in Jabal al Gharbi District, located 80 km south of Tripoli.[3] Gharyan is one of the largest towns in the district. Prior to 2007, it was the administrative seat of Gharyan District.

Gharyan
غريان
Gharian, Garyan
City
Gharyan is located in Libya
Gharyan
Gharyan
Location in Libya
Coordinates: 32°10′11″N 13°01′00″E
Country Libya
RegionTripolitania
DistrictJabal al Gharbi
Elevation
[1]
Average elevation:
 505 m (1,657 ft)
Minimum elevation:
 158 m (518 ft)
Maximum elevation:
 895 m (2,936 ft)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total187,854
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
License Plate Code21

In 2005, the population of Gharyan was estimated at 170,000,[4] and it had grown to over 187,000 by 2011.[2]

History
Old town during the 1940s

Gharyan was on the trade routes both south to Fezzan and over the Nafusa Mountains. The early settlement was in caves, i.e. below ground.[5][6]

From 1830 until 1855 Gharyan was in revolt against its Ottoman rulers.[7] By 1884 the Ottomans had established a mayor and town council in Gharyan.[8]

Gharyan was considered a center of Tripolitanian resistance to the Italian invasion in the early 20th century.[5]

Fully occupied by Italy by 1925, Gharyan was developed above ground, with a post and telegraph office, a police station, a medical clinic, several schools and a hotel being built between 1925 and 1928.[9]

The Berber tribe Awlad Abu Say is centered around Gharyan and Mizda to the south.[10]

2011 Libyan Civil War
Main articles: 2011 Libyan Civil War and Battle of Gharyan

In early 2011, the city became involved in the nationwide anti-Gaddafi uprising. Initially successful, on 2 March, government forces retook it.[11]

In April, rebels succeeded in occupying several nearby towns and establishing a second territory on the focal town and the first town demonstrate their will against regime on the 16 Feb. ZENTAIN Libya besides Misrata that is no longer under the control of the Gaddafi forces, but as of late June the rebels had still failed to take Gharyan.[12] On 13 August 2011, the rebel forces in Libya initiated a new battle for control of the city and were in control within two days.[13]

Second Libyan Civil War
Main articles: Libyan Civil War (2014–present) and Tripoli offensive (2019)

On 4 April 2019, the city fell to forces loyal to Tobruk-based General Khalifa Haftar as part of a wider Libyan National Army (LNA) offensive in western Libya.[14] In late June, the city was recaptured from the LNA in a counteroffensive by forces of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, aided in their efforts by collaborating citizens of the city mobilizing against the LNA forces.[15] The LNA restarted the offensive in June 2020.

Lady of Gharyan

Just west of Gharyan, there is a primitive road to the right, which provides a bumpy trip to a derelict former Italian barracks, a relic of World War II.

There is a crumbling building at the camp. Painted on the bricks of one of the walls inside the building is an enormous (c.4m by 10m) representation of a naked woman, lying on her side, American pin-up style.[16] The upper torso of the woman is shaped as an inaccurate representation of the North Africa coast, and the salient points of her anatomy are marked with names of North African towns.

The "Lady of Garian" was drawn by Clifford Saber,[17] a volunteer American ambulance driver with the British 8th Army. Saber created the mural to help boost the morale of his fellow servicemen, finishing on 2 March 1943, while his unit was housed for a few days at the barracks in Gharyan.

Climate

Gharyan experiences a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh), with blazing summers and cool winters; its winters being one of the coldest in Libya. Due to its winter months being 5 °C or 9 °F degrees cooler than Tripoli, the locality sees a cooler variation of said climate, though its higher elevation also meant that the town gets a dozen millimetres more precipitation then Libya's capital city.

Climate data for Gharyan, Libya (1913-1953)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 22.0
(71.6)		 28.7
(83.7)		 32.4
(90.3)		 35.8
(96.4)		 41.5
(106.7)		 40.8
(105.4)		 44.8
(112.6)		 44.0
(111.2)		 41.2
(106.2)		 42.1
(107.8)		 30.1
(86.2)		 23.6
(74.5)		 44.8
(112.6)
Average high °C (°F) 11.9
(53.4)		 14.2
(57.6)		 17.8
(64.0)		 23.0
(73.4)		 27.0
(80.6)		 31.7
(89.1)		 33.1
(91.6)		 33.0
(91.4)		 30.1
(86.2)		 25.5
(77.9)		 19.1
(66.4)		 13.7
(56.7)		 23.3
(74.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 8.2
(46.8)		 10.2
(50.4)		 13.0
(55.4)		 16.9
(62.4)		 20.6
(69.1)		 25.2
(77.4)		 26.9
(80.4)		 26.8
(80.2)		 24.2
(75.6)		 20.5
(68.9)		 14.9
(58.8)		 10.3
(50.5)		 18.1
(64.7)
Average low °C (°F) 4.5
(40.1)		 6.2
(43.2)		 8.2
(46.8)		 10.9
(51.6)		 14.3
(57.7)		 18.6
(65.5)		 20.6
(69.1)		 20.7
(69.3)		 18.4
(65.1)		 15.5
(59.9)		 10.7
(51.3)		 6.8
(44.2)		 12.9
(55.2)
Record low °C (°F) −6.6
(20.1)		 0.5
(32.9)		 1.1
(34.0)		 2.4
(36.3)		 6.4
(43.5)		 9.3
(48.7)		 12.1
(53.8)		 9.8
(49.6)		 11.2
(52.2)		 6.8
(44.2)		 5.8
(42.4)		 1.0
(33.8)		 −6.6
(20.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 72.5
(2.85)		 50.8
(2.00)		 39.7
(1.56)		 15.6
(0.61)		 7.1
(0.28)		 2.1
(0.08)		 0.5
(0.02)		 0.7
(0.03)		 11.1
(0.44)		 22.1
(0.87)		 39.0
(1.54)		 54.1
(2.13)		 315.4
(12.42)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 9.2 4.6 5.6 1.4 2.2 0.8 0.0 0.2 1.2 3.4 6.6 6.6 41.8
Source 1: KNMI[18][19][20]
Source 2: NOAA (extremes and precipitation days 1932-1936)[21]

Transport

In the 1920s, the Italians built a 90 kilometres (56 mi) long railway between Tripoli and a village near Gharyan that was destroyed by the British during World War II.[22]

Economy

Thanks to its mountainous climate (considerably more moderate compared to the rest of Libya), figs are grown for local consumption, with olives and saffron,[8] for both local use and export. Gharyan is also well known for its ceramics industry.

Libyan olive oil companies from Gharyan won silver and bronze prizes in 2020 EVO IOOC Italy International Olive Oil Contest in Palmi, Athena 2020 International Olive Oil Competition in Lesbos,[23] and 2021 Berlin GOOA.[24]

See also

Notes
  1. "Gharyan topographic map". World topographic map. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. World Gazetteer. "Libya: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  3. "Gharyān | Libya". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. "Gharyan". LookLex Encyclopaedia. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. "Jewish cave homes at Gharyan, Libya".
  6. McLaren, Brian (2006). Architecture and Tourism in Italian Colonial Libya: An Ambivalent Modernism. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. p. 219.
  7. "Jewish cave homes at Gharyan, Libya". citing Roumani, Maurice (2016). "Gharian". Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Brill Online. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. Anderson, Lisa (1984). "Nineteenth-Century Reform in Ottoman Libya". International Journal of Middle East Studies (16(3)): 325–348, 331.
  9. McLaren 2006, p. 27
  10. Bell, Anthony; Witter, David (2011). The Libyan Revolution: Roots of Rebellion: Part 1. Washington, D.C.: Institute for the Study of War. p. 20. JSTOR resrep07869. OCLC 754124415.
  11. "Battle rages over Libyan oil port". Al Jazeera. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  12. Kirkpatrick, David D. (25 June 2011). "Western Libya Earns a Taste of Freedom as Rebels Loosen Qaddafi's Grip". The New York Times. Rogeban, Libya. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  13. "Libya rebels take Garyan, south of Tripoli-witness". Reuters Africa. Reuters. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  14. "Libyan strongman orders troops to march on Tripoli". The Guardian. 4 April 2019. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023.
  15. "'Big loss': Libya's UN-recognised government retakes key town". Al Jazeera. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  16. "Lady of Gharyan (photograph)". Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  17. Clifford Saber's history and portfolio is at "Sketchbook of a Desert Rat" Archived 2010-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, American Field Service
  18. "Time series: monthly GASR GARIAN GHCN v3 maximum temperature (all)". Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  19. "Time series: monthly GASR GARIAN GHCN v3 minimum temperature (all)". Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  20. "Time series: monthly GHARIAN GHCN v2 precipitation (all)". Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  21. "Italian Colonies Climatological Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  22. Le ferrovie nell'Africa italiana: aspetti economici, sociali e strategici (in Italian) Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  23. "Libyan national wins olive oil prize in Italy". Libya Observer. 25 July 2020.
  24. "Libyan olive oils win prizes at Berlin awards – plans to increase production". Libya Herald. 6 May 2021.

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