Jadu is an Amazigh town in western Libya, in the Nafusa Mountains and the Jabal Al-Gharbi District, its about 180 km away from Tripoli. It is surrounded by Al-Rujban on the east and Al-Raheibat on the west.
It is considered one of the most important towns in Nafusa Mountains, as it was, more than once, the capital of the Nafusa Mountains.
The population of the area followed by the city is approximately 117,000. Among the most important tourist areas in Jadu: Archaeological Tarmesa and Muqout, a village with a rich spring of water, and the blue eye, which is a lake located at the bottom of the mountain.
Jadu economy depends on olive cultivation, olive oil production, sheep breeding, traditional industries, and is famous for the Libyan national costume industry known as ‘Al-Jard’.
History
One of its sons, the mujahid, Suleiman Al-Baroni, who was the leader of the jihad in western Libya and the Governor of the Libyan province during the period of Ottoman rule after he represented the Nafusa Mountain (Western Mountain) in the Ottoman envoys council.
Jadu was the site of an Italian concentration camp during the Second World War. In 1942, about 2,600 Jews and other people, who were considered undesirables, were rounded up throughout Libya and sent to the Jadu camp. 564 died from typhus and other privations. The camp was liberated by the British Army in January 1943.
