Who Are the Berbers?
Having been forced by the Arabs to leave Libya's more prosperous regions, the Berbers are now also numerous in Morocco and Algeria. Those remaining in Libya make up the second largest ethnic group, living among the plateaus and hills of the Jebel Nefusa and in the Oasis of Fezzan in southwest Libya.
Since the overthrow of Gaddafi, there has been a new recognition of Amazigh languages and a resurgence of cultural expression and ethnic pride. Berber villages are small and difficult to reach — people live underground in cave-like houses carved into soft limestone.
Most Libyan Berbers are Sunni Muslims belonging to a tiny Islamic sect called Ibadaya. As far as is known, there has been no recorded Christian witness to this ethnic group in all of history.