The Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, one of the largest countries in Africa, benefits from a wealth of petroleum resources that dominates the nation's economy. Present-day Libya is the site of ancient Phoenician, Roman, and Arab settlements. After colonization by Italy and independence under an aging monarch, the country experienced a revolution in 1969 led by young army officers. Their leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi, attempted to create a new Libya based on his unique socialistic and nationalistic theories – that include Islamic political theory and Libyan tribal practice – as an alternative to capitalist liberalism and communism. The indigenous population of Libya is mostly Berber and Arab in origin.