From about 1000 BC, Libyans had contacts with Africans south of the Sahara. A people called Garamantes, who probably were the ancestors of the present-day Tuareg, captured the important oases along routes leading south to the Niger River. They controlled the gold and slave trade between sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean. During the 7th century BC, Greek colonists settled in Cyrenaica and founded the city of Cyrene, which flourished as a center of Greek art and science. In the 6th century BC, Tripolitania was absorbed as the eastern province of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage.

Later, Libya became an important part of the Roman Empire. It was influential because of its location across the Mediterranean from Italy. Libya's prosperity during this period is reflected by the Roman ruins in the cities of Leptis Magna, Sabrata, and Oea.

In AD 395 the Roman Empire split, and Libya fell under the control of the Eastern Empire, which was governed from Constantinople. The empire's rule in Libya ended in 439, when Gothic Vandals from Spain conquered Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. A century later Constantinople drove out the Vandals.

In 642 Arab armies moved into Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. They arrived in Fezzan the next year. The simple, direct beliefs of Islam appealed to Libyans. Berber peoples formed their own version of Islam and resisted the political control of Arab dynasties based in Damascus and Baghdad.

In the mid-11th century groups of migrants called the Beni Salim and Beni Hilal settled in the area of present-day Libya and started to dominate the local Berbers. Under their influence, the Arabic language and culture spread from the cities to the country.

Since its conversion to Islam, Libya has had many invaders. The Spaniards came in 1510 and the Ottoman Turks in 1551. In 1804 Libya fought a brief war with the United States over control of the sea-lanes in the southern Mediterranean.

Italy took control of Libya in 1911 after invading the country and defeating the Turks. After World War I Italy's leader, Benito Mussolini, declared his intention of forming a second Roman Empire. Italy, which had quickly occupied the main cities and coastal areas, began a policy of bringing Italians to settle in the best agricultural zones. They constructed roads to improve communications for their military forces and built a large naval base at Tobruk.

The Libyan people never accepted Italian rule. Between 1911 and 1932, Libyans in Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica fought the Italian colonial government. The Italians, who had superior military power, finally subdued northern Tripolitania in 1923. Resisting groups of Arabs, Berbers, and Sanusi, however, continued to fight in Cyrenaica under the religious leader Omar Mukhtar, a modern Libyan folk hero. Under him the people of southern Cyrenaica held off the Italians until 1931, when he was captured and hanged. Italy made Libya a colony in 1939.

During World War II Libya was a major battleground for the combined forces of Germany and Italy fighting the Allied powers. A British military government ruled Libya after the Italians and Germans were defeated. Later a French military government took control of Fezzan and ruled with Britain.

After the war Libya became the first country to gain independence through the United Nations. The independent kingdom of Libya was created in December 1951. Libya joined the Arab League in 1953 and the United Nations in 1955. In 1963 the three zones of the country were merged into one national unit, and Libya became a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).