February 17 Revolution (Libya)

February 17 Revolution is a public holiday in Libya, observed on February 17 each year. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of the uprising on February 17, 2011, which led to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, and people inhabited the region for thousands of years. Italia established colonies after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 and combined them into the Italian Libya colony in 1934. On December 24, 1951, Libya declared its independence.

Muammar Gaddafi led a group of military, staged a coup on September 1, 1969, and took power. In 1977, Libya became the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and Gaddafi formed a totalitarian regime.

In early 2011, the Arab Spring movements took place in the Middle East and North Africa, and the peaceful demonstrations brought quick power transfers in Tunisia and Egypt.

An uprising was staged in Libya on February 17, 2011. Thousands of protests took place in several towns and torched some government buildings while Libyan security forces fired into the protests.

The uprising led to the first civil war. On October 20, 2011, Gaddafi was killed in Sirte, which ended the Gaddafi regime. During the civil war, at least 30,000 Libyans died, and at least 50,000 people were wounded.

The following is the list of the February 17 Revolution in Libya from 2022 to 2026.

Please check more public holidays in Libya: