Sabha's Fort Elena on the reverse of a 10 dinars note.
Population: 122827 (as of 2006).
Temperature: max: 47 degrees (July); min: 4 degrees (February).
Humidity: max: 60%; yearly average: 36%.
Climate: desert, dry, hot weather.
The main water source is underground wells,
at an average depth between 70 and 120 meters.
The town of Sabha, also spelt as Sebha or Sabhah, is located
about 780 km south of the capital Tripoli (via Gharyan and Mizda); while the
distance from Ghadames to Sabha is around 800km. As
the modern capital of Fezzan (the southern region of Libya) Sabha is becoming
the largest settlement
in the Libyan Sahara, and an important tourist destination, linking the various
tourist sites of Germa, Acacus, Methkhandoush, Ubari Lakes and Waw An-Namous
with the capital Tripoli.
One of the prominent features of the town is Fort Elena castle
(also known as Fortezza Margherita), which dates back to the Italian colonial
period. Shortly after the installation of Gaddafi, Sabha was linked with Sirte
and became a strategic city to the Libyan military, especially during the Chad
war. It was reported that Sabha eventually became a centre of a nuclear
research facility. Huge quantities of Yellow Cake were found abandoned in
the area after the February 2011 war.
Libya's Channel report about the destruction of the fort of Sabha
After the disastrous UN bombing campaign southern Libya was neglected for many years, while leaving it wide open for various terror groups and criminal gangs from around the world. IN the past few years the fort became a centre of various conflicts between gangs from Chad, Sudan, Mali and local militias from Fezzan. In January 2019 the LNA liberated Sabha and took over control of the fort.
Fezzan Campsite, Sabha (around 12 km into the road to Awbari).
