Gharyan

Garian (Arabic غريان Ghariyan, also Garjan ) is a Berber town in northwestern Libya, in the district of Gebel Garbi. It was the administrative seat of the district Garian Before 2007. Garian is one of the largest cities in the Nafusa mountains, an area which is mainly populated by Berbers at an altitude of 700 m. In 2011, the city had 38,740 inhabitants.

History

Garian was on trade routes both south of the Fezzan and over the Nafusa mountains. In 1884, the Ottomans had established a mayor and a city council in Garian.

Transport and economic

In the 1920s, the Italian colonial rulers built a 90 km long railway line between Tripoli and a village built near Garian, which was destroyed in the Second World War British fighter squadrons bomb.

Grain and figs are grown for local consumption, as well as olive and saffron for both local consumption, as well as for export.