Zawiya, Libya in the context of "List of cities in Libya"

The Libyan Civil War, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya which was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups attempting to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Zawiya on 8 August 2009 and finally ignited by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security forces who fired on the crowd. The protests escalated into a rebellion spreading across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council.

The United Nations Security Council passed an initial resolution on 26 February, freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his inner circle and restricting their travel, and referred the matter to the International Criminal Court for investigation. In early March, Gaddafi's forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before reaching Benghazi. A further UN resolution authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians, which turned into a bombing campaign by the forces of NATO against Libyan military installations and vehicles. The Gaddafi government then announced a ceasefire, but fighting and bombing continued. Throughout the conflict, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting because the plans set forth did not include the removal of Gaddafi.

Zawiya, officially Zawia (Arabic: محافظة الزاوية Az Zāwiya), is one of the districts of Libya. It is located in the north western part of the country, in what had been the historical region of Tripolitania. Its capital is also named Zawia. the province of Az Zawiya has three major municipalities; according to the new laws of local governance, includes Central Az Zawiya municipality, Southern Az Zawia municipality and Eastern Az zawiya municipality. In the north, Zawiya province has a shoreline bordering the Mediterranean Sea, while it borders Tripoli in east, Jafara in southeast, Jabal al Gharbi in south, Surman in the west.

Per the census of 2012, the total population in the region was 157,747. The average size of the household in the country was 6.9. There were totally 22,713 households in the district, with 20,907 Libyan ones. The population density of the district was 1.86 persons per sq. km.