Libya’s chaos, explained in five graphics

CNN — Five short years ago, Libya was one of the wealthiest and most stable nations in Africa. READ: Seven reasons you should care about Libya Libya currently has not one but three ruling powers, all of whom make some claim to be in “government.” The U.N.-backed Government of National Accord took charge in December 2015, tasked with unifying a country bitterly divided by years of conflict. Libya is also home to a host of militia groups, and Mattia Toaldo, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, says the country is “de facto … split in several areas similar to medieval city-states.” READ: Why Libya is on the verge of implosion ISIS fighters infiltrated Libya in 2014, first seizing the Mediterranean coastal town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, and then capturing Gadhafi’s hometown, Sirte, further west. READ: Terror export fears as ISIS ‘caliphate’ shrinks Libya first struck oil in the late 1950s, and has been exporting the “black gold” since 1961; the nation’s economy is almost entirely dependent on its fossil fuel reserves. In recent years, thousands of people have fled sub-Saharan Africa via rickety, dangerous boats from ports along Libya’s Mediterranean coast, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa and on to mainland Italy; the bodies of many have washed back up on its shores a short time later.