Ghat is mostly inhabited by Tuaregs , especially the Kel Ajjer , and had about 5000 inhabitants in 2010. The place has long been a station of the Trans-Saharan trade . It was also an important handicraft center, with the blacksmiths' workshops with their swords being of great importance. Nevertheless, there have been written records only since the Ottomans came to power in the middle of the 19th century . Due to its remote location, Ghat was hardly in the focus of those in power in Tripoli . Even the Italians did not submit the place until 1930 . After the revolution in Libya, the 12,000 inhabitants left the old town in 1980 after the Libyan government had new buildings built with a good water supply. After the outbreak of civil war in Libya in 2014 , Ghat developed into the center of a de facto independent Tuareg state in south-west Libya.
Ghat often served as a starting point for trips to the mountain and desert region of Akkaku , where numerous rock drawings and the mummy site of Uan Muhuggiag can be found.
