City
Benghazi
Cyrenaica · east
Libya's second city and our home base, known for its twin-domed cathedral and the old lighthouse by the sea.
Made in Libya
Libya
Mediterranean coast on top, Sahara below, and five World Heritage sites in between. Here's our home, one panel at a time.
The map
Pick a pin.
Fourteen places to know, from the capital to a volcano in the middle of the Sahara.
Pick a pin to read its story. A simplified map, for illustration.
Home base
Made in Benghazi.
Our studio is in Benghazi, on Libya's east coast. Two landmarks from the city we call home:
The Cathedral
The twin-domed cathedral, built in the 1930s, still stands over the heart of the city.
Al-Manara
The old lighthouse by the sea, where the city meets the Mediterranean.
Libya in numbers
Big country, long coast.
- 1,770km of coast, the longest Mediterranean coastline in Africa
- 1.76Mkm² of land: the fourth-largest country in Africa
- 90%of the land is desert or semi-desert
- 5UNESCO World Heritage sites
- 7Mpeople, most of them living near the coast
Through the ages
A long history.
Twelve thousand years in five panels. Swipe or scroll along.
12,000+ years ago
Paintings on the rocks
In the Acacus mountains, people paint giraffes, cattle and dancers on the rock walls.
631 BC
Cyrene is founded
Greek settlers build Cyrene in the green hills of the east.
193 AD
An emperor from Leptis
Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna, becomes emperor of Rome.
1951
Independence
On 24 December 1951, Libya becomes an independent country.
Today
A growing creative scene
A young, bilingual creative industry is taking shape, and Scada is part of it.
The flag
Red, black, green.
Libya's flag dates from independence on 24 December 1951, declared from Al-Manar Palace in Benghazi, our home city. It became the national flag again in 2011.
24 December 1951
Omar Faiek Shennib, credited with the design, gave each colour a meaning:
Red
The blood given for Libya's freedom.
Black
The dark days under Italian occupation.
Green
Farming, and the prosperity to come.
Crescent and star
A government booklet from 1951 calls the crescent the start of the lunar month in the Islamic calendar, and the star hope and the light of faith.
How it's drawn
- 2:1The flag is twice as long as it is tall.
- 1:2:1The black stripe is as tall as the other two together.
- 270°The sweep of the crescent, with the star in its open end.
Libyan Arabic
Six everyday words.
Libyan Arabic has many words of its own. Here are six you'll hear every day.
شن الجو؟
Shin el-jaw?
What's up? How's it going?
Literally “what's the atmosphere?” It's how friends say hello.
باهي
Bahi
Good. OK. Deal.
The answer to almost anything, from “how are you?” to “see you at eight?”
توّا
Tawwa
Now, right away
“Tawwa nji”: I'm coming right now.
واجد
Wajid
A lot, very much
“Shukran wajid”: thanks a lot.
غادي
Ghadi
Over there
Usually said with a nod towards the place.
يعطيك الصحة
Ya‘tik es-saha
Thank you, well done
Literally “may you have health”. Said to anyone who just did you a favour.
Think you know the map now?
Try the map quiz in the arcade: we name the place, you find it.