Al Wahat occasionally spelt Al Wahad or Al Wahah (The Oasis) is one of the districts of Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

. Its capital and largest city is Ajdabiya

Ajdabiya

Ajdabiya was one of the districts of Libya. It lay in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital was Ajdabiya. As of 2007 it was subsumed within the enlarged Al Wahat District....

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History

Traditionally Al Wahat was the western part of Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...

. With the division of Libya into ten governorates in 1963, Al Wahat became part of the Misrata Governorate. In the 1973 reorganization it became part of Al Khalji Governorate. In 1983 Al Khalji was divided into a number of baladiyat (districts), with what is now Al Wahat being included in the Ajdabiya baladiyah and the Jalu baladiyah. In the 1988 reorganization, Jalu was subsumed within Ajdabiya baladiyah.

The status of this area in the reorganization of 1995 which created thirteen districts (shabiyat) is unclear; however, in the 1998 reorganization into twenty-six districts, the name "Al-Wahad" appears as a district for the first time. In 2001 the area was divided between Al Wahat District and Ajdabiya District. In 2007 the former Al Wahat district (area:108,670 km²) was enlarged to include what had been the Ajdabiya District and part of Al Kufrah District. It now has essentially the boundaries that the baladiyah (district) of Ajdabiya did from 1988 to 1995.

Boundaries

Al Wahat has a short border with Egypt, and borders the following Libyan districts:

• Butnan - east and northeast
• Kufra - south
• Jufra, southwest
• Sirte - west
• Benghazi
  Benghazi
  Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
  
   - north
• Marj - north
• Jabal al Akhdar - north
• Derna - north

Towns

The following major towns are located within Al Wahat District, as of 2007: Ajdabiya

Ajdabiya

Ajdabiya was one of the districts of Libya. It lay in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital was Ajdabiya. As of 2007 it was subsumed within the enlarged Al Wahat District....

, Labba, El Agheila

El Agheila

El Agheila is a coastal city at the bottom of the Gulf of Sidra in far western Cyrenaica, Libya. In 1988 it was placed in Ajdabiya District; between 1995 and 2001 the district name is not known; however, it was again placed into Ajdabiya District in 2001...

, Jalu

Jalu

Jalu, Jaloo, or Gialo is a town in the Al Wahat District in northeastern Libya in the Jalo oasis. From 2001 to 2007 it was part of Ajdabiya District. Formerly it was the administrative seat of Jalu District ....

, and Sultan

Sultan, Libya

Sultan is a coastal town in the Al Wahat District, Cyrenaica region, in north-eastern Libya.From 1983 to 1995 and again from 2001 to 2007 it was part of the District of Ajdabiya.-External links:*...

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