The

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

–

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

border is 461 km (286 mi) in length and runs from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

in the north to the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

with

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in the south.

Description

The border starts in the north on the Mediterranean coast at Ras Agedir/Adjir, proceeding overland southwards and then south-westwards via a series of irregular lines down to the tripoint with Algeria.

History

For most of the 19th century both Tunisia and the coastal regions of modern Libya (organised as the

Vilayet of Tripolitania The coastal region of what is today Libya was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1912. First, from 1551 to 1864, as the Eyalet of Tripolitania ( ota, ایالت طرابلس غرب ''Eyālet-i Trâblus Gârb'') or ''Bey and Subjects of Tri ...

were part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, though with a large degree of de facto autonomy. France occupied Tunisia in 1881 and created a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

. France and the Ottomans established a border on the coast between Tunisia and Tripolitania in 1886, which was then extended southwards down to the vicinity of

Ghadames Ghadames or Ghadamis ( Berber: ''ʕadémis''; ar, غدامس, Libyan vernacular: ''ɣdāməs'', Latin: ''Cidamus, Cydamus'', it, Gadames) is an oasis Berber town in the Nalut District of the Tripolitania region in northwestern Libya. The ...

in 1892. A treaty of 19 May 1910 then delimited the border in greater detail and was then demarcated on the ground with pillars in 1910–11. In September 1911 Italy invaded Tripolitania, and the

Treaty of Ouchy The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

was signed the following year by which the Ottomans formally ceded sovereignty of the area over to Italy. Italy organised the newly conquered regions into the colonies of

Italian Cyrenaica Italian Cyrenaica (; ) was an Italian colony, located in present-day eastern Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, alongside Italian Tripolitani ...

and

Italian Tripolitania Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony, located in present-day western Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. Italian Tripolitania included t ...

and gradually began pushing further south; in 1934 they united the two territories as

Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...

. During the North African Campaign of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Italy was defeated and its African colonies were occupied by the Allied powers, with Libya split into British and French zones of occupation. Libya was later granted full independence on 2 December 1951. France granted Tunisia independence in 1956, and the border than became one between two sovereign states. In 2011 Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a short

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, which occasionally spilled over into Tunisian territory, as well resulting in thousands of refugees crossing the border. The border remains insecure owing to the ongoing

in Libya.

Settlements near the border

Libya

* El Assa *

Wazzin Wazzin ( ar, وازن ') is a town in the western Tripolitania region at the western boundary of Libya. It serves as a Libya–Tunisia border, border crossing to Tunisia. The town is located south-inland from the Mediterranean Sea coast, and is we ...

Tunisia

* Alouet el Gouna * Dehiba

References