In the late 1950s into the 1960s, the area of Durham, England became very involved in the development of the oil industry, including accompanying types of research, in Libya. The University of Durham’s geography department hosted a major geographic research project on Libya, and the county of Durham was involved in the construction of one of the earliest oil pipelines in Libya (the very first shipment of Libyan crude oil in 1961 actually went to a British refinery). This activity, funded by various parties interested in the exploration and mapping of Libya, produced over a dozen MA and PhD dissertations on various aspects of Libyan geography in the 1960s, as well as other publications. In fact, Durham’s Geography department hosted what may have been the very first crop of Libyan PhD students in a Western university.

Y.T. Toni	1957	A study of the Social Geography of Cyrenaica (PHD)
R.W. Hill	1960	Some problems of economic geography in northern Tripolitania: a study of agriculture and irrigation on the Jefara plain (PHD)
J.A.N. Brehony	1961	A geographical study of the Jebel Tarhuna, Tripolitania (PHD)
K.S. McLachlan	1961	A geographical study of the coastal zone between Homs and Misurata, Tripolitania: A geography of economic growth (PHD)
A.R. Taylor	1961	The Cultivation of the Olive in Tripolitania: Some aspects of agrarian geography (MLitt)
Hadi M. R. Bulugma	1960 1964	The Western coastal zone of Tripolitania: A human geography (MLitt) The Urban Geography of Benghazi (PHD)
Mukhtar M. Buru	1960 1965	A geographical study of the Eastern Jebel Akhdar, Cyreniaca (MLitt) El-Marj Plain: A Geographical Study (PHD)
Robert G. Hartley	1968	Recent population changes in Libya: economic relationships and geographical patterns (PHD)
Salem Hajjaji	1969	The land use patterns and rural settlement in the Benghazi plain (PHD)
Mahmud A. Khuga	1960 1969	The Jebel Garian in Tripolitania: A regional study (MLitt) The growth and functions of Tripoli, Libya (PHD)

The Department of Geography also published a handful of studies on Libya stemming from the same period of research activity, including much fieldwork on-site in Libya. (Click the links below for PDFs)

R.W. Hill, A Bibliography of Libya (Department of Geography, Research Papers Series No. 1, 1959). Durham.

S.G. Willimott & J.I. Clarke (eds.). Field Studies in Libya (Department of Geography, Research Papers Series No. 4, 1960). Durham.

D.W. Gilchrist Shirlaw, S.G. Willimott, J.I Clarke, M.E. Frisby. Soil Survey of Tauorga Tripolitania, Libya (Department of Geography, 1961). Durham

G.H. Blake. Misurata: A Market Town in Tripolitania (Department of Geography, Research Papers Series No. 9, 1968). Durham.