Zawila (also spelled Zuila, Zweila, Zwila, Zawilah, Zuwayla or Zuweila) is a village in southwestern Libya.

The instability created by Qaraqush was exploited by the Kanem, who by the end of the 12th century had seized control of the Fezzan, establishing a new capital at Traghan, a few miles west of Zawila.

[2] During this period, Zawila enjoyed considerable prosperity from irrigated agriculture, its production of a leather variety named after the town,[2] and its privileged position on the trans-Saharan trade networks.

The city was cosmopolitan and rich, the site of one of the largest markets of slave captured from the Lake Chad basin.

This period was brought to an abrupt end with the Ottoman conquest of Fezzan, but failure to integrate the economy of the Libyan countryside with the Mediterranean coast led to the disruption of the trans-Saharan trade routes which affected the town's prosperity[5] and it lost its importance and rank of capital.