Jebel Akhdar, Libya

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Al - Jabal al - Akhdar (Arabic الجبل الأخضر, DMG al - Ǧabal al - Ahdar, other transcriptions: Jebel Akhdar, Jabal Akhdar and Jebel Akhdar; German for Green Mountain, after the ancient Barce outdated even plateau of Barka ) is a Mountains in the historical region of Cyrenaica on the Libyan Mediterranean coast.

Location

The Highlands is located in the same district al - Jabal al - Akhdar and the adjacent municipalities al - Hizam al - Akhdar, al - Marj and al - Quba. The city of al - Baida is one of the largest cities in the region. The plateau extends in a broad arc from the city of Benghazi over scarce 300 km further on Derna east to Umm ar Rizam.

Geomorphology

The average heights of the mountain plateaus are usually around 400-600 meters, the highest point reaches about 880 meters. The north side is rocky and rugged, traversed by many wadis and covered with red earth, it falls relatively steeply from the Mediterranean, from which it is separated only by a narrow strip of coastal lowlands. The southern side descends in steps gently into the Libyan desert, the surface is in many places of gray sand.

Flora and Fauna

The location of the mountains on the Mediterranean leads to relatively high, but fluctuating rainfall 250-600 mm per year, to a Mediterranean-influenced climate. Contrary to other arid conditions in Libya, which is one of the poorest countries in the forest world, there is in this area forest areas in the order of about 3,200 km ², although about a third of the originally existing forest already had to give way to agriculture. Near the forest and maquis steppe-like areas dominate the picture. Typical plants of the maquis are the Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea ), the mastic tree ( Pistacia lentiscus ), the Kermes oak (Quercus coccifera ) and the carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua ). In the drier steppe-like areas of the branchy asphodel dominate ( asphodel ramosus ), the thorny burnet ( Sarcopoterium spinosum ) and the mugwort, Artemisia herba - alba.

More than half of the endemic plant species of Libya here has their growing area. One example is the strawberry tree Arbutus pavarii.

History

The area was in ancient times by Berbers, the Libyans settled before the Greeks founded their colonies here. The ancient Greek colony of Cyrene was located in a fertile valley in the center of the plateau and 365 has been destroyed by an earthquake.

643 conquered during the Islamic expansion Arab Muslims Libya, followed in the 11th century, the Banu Hilal, before the region in 1517 fell under Ottoman rule.

From 1911 until the end of the Second World War, Libya was occupied by Italy, thousands of Italian colonists settled during this period in the highlands Jabal Al- Akhdar, since it came to meet the climatic needs of Europeans. Even today, many farmhouses date from the time of the Italian occupation.

The Libyan scholar Koran and resistance fighter Omar al- Mukhtar used the wooded uplands more than 20 years as a retreat during the Italian occupation.

Pictures

Green pasture in January

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