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Libya
Libya, once shunned by much of the international community over the 1988 bombing of a PanAm plane above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, has undergone a dramatic rehabilitation.
Tripoli formally took responsibility for the incident in 2003. The move, part of a deal to compensate families of the 270 victims, heralded the lifting of UN sanctions.
Months later, Libya renounced weapons of mass destruction, paving the way for a further blossoming of relations with the West.
Overview
A former Roman colony, Libya is a mostly desert country which saw invasions by Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks and more recently Italians before gaining independence in 1951.
Oil was discovered in 1959. With it, the country was transformed into a wealthy monarchy. Ten years later, though, the king was overthrown in a coup led by the 27-year-old Muammar Gaddafi, and Libya embarked on a radically new chapter in its history.
Colonel Gaddafi's revolution has been based largely on distinguishing his country from the world around it. Ideas put forward in his Green Book aim at an alternative to both communism and capitalism, while Islam is adhered to but with a unique slant - Libya has its own calendar based on Muhammad's death, for example.
Colonel Gaddafi called the new system a jamahiriya, loosely translated as a "state of the masses". Power is held by various people's committees, while in practice Gaddafi rules unopposed.
Libya was blamed for the Lockerbie plane bombing, and two Libyans suspected of organising the incident were handed over in 1999 for trial in The Hague under Scottish law. In 2001 one of the suspects was found guilty of killing 270 people in the bombing.
After Britain and Libya signed a prisoner-exchange agreement in 2009, Libya requested the transfer of the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was freed from gaol on compassionate grounds and returned home in August.
Tripoli paid compensation to the US victims of the bombing in 2008, opening up the possibility of full diplomatic relations with the United States.
Libya possesses considerable reserves of oil and gas, but the sector remains relatively undeveloped.
In 2011, the world once again turned against the Libyan government over its use of violence against the popular uprising against the colonel, inspired by the anti-authoritarian protests sweeping through the Arab world.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution authorising Nato air strikes to protect civilians. After taking over the country's east and pockets in the west, the rebels made slow progress, until in August 2011, they stormed into Tripoli, effectively bringing Col Gaddafi's dictatorship to an end.
Facts
· Full name: The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
· Population: 6.5 million (UN, 2010)
· Capital: Tripoli
· Area: 1.77 million sq km (685,524 sq miles)
· Major language: Arabic
· Major religion: Islam
· Life expectancy: 73 years (men), 78 years (women) (UN)
· Monetary unit: 1 Libyan dinar (LD) = 1,000 dirhams
· Main exports: Crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas
· GNI per capita: US $12,020 (World Bank, 2009)
· Internet domain: .ly
· International dialling code: +218
LeadersHIP
Leadership: National Transitional Council (NTC)
Chairman: Mustafa Abdul Jalil
Head of Executive Board: Mahmoud Jibril
Most of Libya is currently under the effective rule of the National Transitional Council as a result of the popular uprising that ended Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year-long rule in 2011.
Aided by a Nato bombing campaign and reported Western intelligence assistance, the anti-Gaddafi forces - previously restricted to eastern Libya and some western strongholds - wore down the pro-Gaddafi forces' resistance and ejected them from the capital Tripoli in August 2011.
However, they were unable to apprehend the colonel and his influential sons, leaving the country in continued political limbo.
Many states, including neighbours Egypt and Tunisia, Russia, the United States and most EU countries, have recognised the NTC as the legitimate authority in Libya.
The chairman of the NTC is Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who served as Col Gaddafi's justice minister before defecting to the opposition at the beginning of the uprising - the first senior official to do so. His pre-eminence in the NTC is contested by some, who him as tarnished by his association with the Gaddafi government.
The NTC has an executive board, headed by Mahmoud Jibril, who effectively fulfils the role of prime minister. A former academic and training consultant with degrees from Cairo and Pittsburgh universities, Mr Jibril from 2007-11 led Col Gaddafi's National Economic Development Board, where he spearheaded policies of economic liberalisation and privatisation.
Ousted leader: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
Until his ouster in 2011, Muammar Gaddafi had been the Arab world's longest-serving leader. A shrewd operator, he survived several attempts on his life and reinvented Libya's system of government.
Coup
Inspired by the Egyptian nationalist leader Gamal Abdul Nasser, the colonel came to power in a bloodless coup in 1969 against the ailing King Idris.
Col Gaddafi presented himself as an Arab nationalist, but his attempts to forge unity with other Arab states met with little success. In the 1990s he turned to Africa and proposed a "United States of Africa". The concept later formed the basis of the African Union.
From 1970s onwards, Col Gaddafi angered the West with his support for a broad range of armed groups, including the Irish Republican Army and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Libya's alleged involvement in attacks in Europe in the 1980s triggered US military strikes in 1986. Dozens of people were killed, including the Libyan leader's adopted daughter.
Rapprochment with West
However, Colonel Gaddafi returned to the international fold after Libya settled civil claims of victims of the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing and agreed to stop developing weapons of mass destruction.
Western politicians, including the British, Italian, French and German leaders, thereupon visited Tripoli in search of lucrative economic deals.
Muammar Gaddafi was born in the desert near Sirte in 1942. He married twice and has eight children, several of whom have roles in the security forces.
Col Gaddafi's eldest son, Seif al-Islam, was initially seen abroad as a moderating and reformist influence, but since the 2011 uprising, has adopted the image of a hard-line supporter of his father.