The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, more commonly known as Libya, rests on the periphery of three worlds: Arab, African, and Mediterranean. Libya's strategic location, combined with its oil wealth and revolutionary leadership, have kept this isolated, sparsely populated state in the headlines for much of the last four decades. The Fourth Edition of the Historical Dictionary of Libya provides much needed cultural, economical, historical, geographical, and political perspective on the old as well as the new Libya. More than one-quarter of the information herein is entirely new or substantially revised and updated since the issuance of the last edition. Through its maps, a list of acronyms, a chronology, an introductory essay, its comprehensive bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the most significant events, places, personalities, and ideas, this reference covers everything from the Arab conquest of the area over twelve centuries to the state of the country after the September Revolution and the dominance of the Qaddafi regime.