History

During the Golden Age of the Persian Empire in the 6th century BC, Oman was the site of many important ports and coastal forts monitoring trade from India and South-East Asia.

Oman was one of the first countries to accept Islam, and due to extensive trading and its role in various Islamic conquests in the Middle East, it is credited with spreading the religion to the east coast of Africa, India and South-East Asia.

History

Morocco was the first Islamic state in Africa independent of the Arab Empire, or the Caliphate. It received large numbers of Jewish and Muslim migrants during the Reconquista of the 1400s, when Christian kingdoms in Europe reclaimed large areas of the Iberian Peninsula from occupying Muslim empires. In 1912, Morocco was split into two protectorates, one Spanish and the other French, and remained a French colony until 1956, when it gained independence as the Kingdom of Morocco.

History

Libya’s history is one of foreign occupation and exploitation by various empires. It has been a territory of the Roman, Arab and Ottoman Empires, as well as an Italian colony during the 20th century. Libya was under British administration following the Second World War until the country gained independence in 1951, becoming the Kingdom of Libya, under King Idris. Libya remained a kingdom until a military coup in 1969, led by Muammar Gaddafi, displaced the King and forced him into exile.