The most significant berber speaking group, the Nafusi, is concentrated in the Tripolitanian region.[4] Berber languages are also spoken in some cases, including Ghadamès, Awjilah, and formerly Sawknah. Tamahaq is spoken by the Tuareg people.
Libya's former Head of State Muammar Gaddafi denied the existence of Berbers as a separate ethnicity, and called Berbers a "product of colonialism" created by the West to divide Libya. The Berber language was not recognized or taught in schools, and for years it was forbidden in Libya to give children Berber names.[5][6]
A minority of Turkish speakers can be found in Libya, most of them belonging to the Kouloughli ethnicity that inhabit cities like Tripoli, Benghazi, and Misrata.
Italian
Italian is spoken in the Italian Libyan community. Number of Italians and Italian speakers has drastically diminished since Libya's declaration of independence and mass repatriation of Italians.
Greek
The Greek language is spoken by an unknown number of speakers in Cyrenaica by some of the descendants of Greek Muslims (locally called Gritlis) who settled in the region at the end of the 19th century.
English is a notable foreign language in business and for economical purposes and also spoken by the young generation. English and Italian are used in commerce, due to the large influx of foreigners. [9]
After the Libyan Civil War and the help coming from France, the French language gained popularity among the younger generations. French authorities expressed their interest to encourage the teaching of French in Libya.[10]
