The town is located south-inland from the Mediterranean Sea coast, and is 360 kilometres (220 mi) west of Tripoli.

A network of tunnels is below this historic portion, and is reserved for women traveling around the old town, without encountering non-familial men.

[2] On 21 April 2011, during the 2011 Libyan civil war, anti-Gaddafi fighters took over the control of the border crossing and 13 pro-Gaddafi officers defected to Tunisia.

The campaign has ended in a definite rebel victory with the capture of Gharyan, the last loyalist stronghold in the area.

The people of Wazzin are divided into two clans, Awlad Mahmoud and Arrbai'a, both of which have several subclans as shown in the table below.