Libya

Libya pays $1.5 billion to settle terrorism claims

Libya has paid $1.5 billion to the families of terrorism victims, overcoming the final obstacle to full relations with the United States, the State...

Libya Lifts Death Sentences in Child H.I.V. Infections

Libya on Tuesday commuted the death sentences of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of having intentionally infected hundreds...

Libya frees foreign HIV medics

Libya has freed six foreign medical personnel who were convicted of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV and sentenced to death. In jail...

Libya lifts death sentences for nurses but makes demands

Last week, Libya lifted the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinean doctor in the case about the HIV infection of hundreds of...

Libyan court upholds death sentence for foreign medics in HIV case

The Supreme Court in Libya has upheld the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medical intern condemned for infecting 426...

Road to United States of Africa

Tripoli Conference Delegates Make Declaration As deliberations towards the establishment of a United States of Africa progress in Tripoli, delegates...

Official Name: The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
National name: Al Jumahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uzma

Geography

Capital: Tripoli
Major Towns: Tripoli, Surt, Sabha, Al Jawf, Tobruk
Location (geographical coordinates/latitude and longitude): Tripoli: 32°54'N, 13°11'E
Time Zone: EET (UTC+2)
Size (Land and Sea): 1,759,540 km², (fourth largest country in Africa by area); Water: negligible
Borders with Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria and Tunisia
Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m, highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m

Politics

Head of State: Col. M. al-Gaddafi (de facto) ; Z. M. az-Zenati (de jure); Prime Minister: Baghdadi Mahmudi
Form of Government: Jamahiriya ("state of the masses.")
Independancy: relinquished by Italy: February 10, 1947; from France/UK under UN Trusteeship: December 24, 1951
Currency: Dinar

Industry

Industries: petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement.
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, gypsum
Agriculture: wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle

Population and People

Population: 6,036,914 (2007 est.); 5,670,688 (2006)
Population density per sq mi: 9
Growth rate: 2.41% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 27.59 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 22.8/1000
Religion: Sunni Muslim 97%
Languages: Arabic, Tamashek, Italian, English
Ethnic groups / Tribes: Berber and Arab 97%, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Tunisians
Age structure: 0-14 years: 33.4% (male 1,029,096/female 985,606); 15-64 years: 62.4% (male 1,940,287/female 1,827,429); 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 124,892/female 129,604) (2007 est.)
Life expectancy: 76.9
Literacy: Total population: 76%, male: 87%, female: 63% (1995 est.)

The official name is “Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya “
Muammar al-Gaddafi coined the term “Jamahiriya” which generally translates as "state of the masses."
Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area
90% of Libya is desert
Libya has the ninth highest GDP (PPP) per capita of Africa, mainly due to its large petroleum reserves and low population
The Flag of Libya is the only national flag in the world with just one color (green) and with no design, insignia, or other details. Green is the traditional color of Islam, the state religion. It is also symbolic of Gaddafi's "Green Revolution"
Proves of inhabitants go back to 8th millennium BC
Libya's coastline is the longest of any African country
The Libyan Desert is one of the most arid places on earth with dry periods that sometimes last up to 5-10 years. At Uweinat, the last recorded rainfall was in September 1998 (in 2008)
Some of the Sahara's finest rock art can be found in the Akakus Mountains
In 1922, the town of Al 'Aziziyah recorded an air temperature of 57.8 °C (136.0 °F), which is seen as the highest recorded naturally occurring air temperature reached on earth
Libya is thus one of the least densely populated nations by area in the world with less than one person per square kilometre
Libya has the highest literacy rate in North Africa (82% can read and write)
Tripoli, the capital, is an architecturally and historically interesting city with traditional mosques, souks, houses and khans (public houses
Cyrene (founded in 631 BC) is the best preserved of the Greek cities with temples, tombs, agora, gymnasium and theatre originally modelled on those at Delphi
Assai al-Hamra (Red Castle) is a spectacular fortress that houses a maze of courtyards and buildings
The Leptis Magna are well-preserved ancient remains of a Roman settlement
The desert oasis town of Ghadames is known as the ‘Pearl of the Desert'
The Zallaf Sand Dunes are home to the native Tuareg tribe where sand baths and salt-lake bathing are possible
Jebel Acacus is a World Heritage-listed area has unique natural rock formations and prehistoric rock paintings and carvings