This article is about the country. For other uses, see Libya (disambiguation).

State of Libya

‫( دولة ليبيا‬Arabic)

Flag

National emblem
(de facto)

Anthem: ‫ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا‬

"Libya, Libya, Libya"

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Capital Tripoli[1]
and largest city 32°52′N13°11′E

Official languages Arabic[b]

Spoken languages  Libyan Arabic

 Berber

Minority Languages  Italian

 Teda

Ethnic groups  Arab-Berber 97%

 3% Others

Religion Islam

Demonym(s) Libyan

Government Unitaryprovisional
government

• Chairman of the Presidential Fayez al-Sarraj

Council
• Prime Minister (GNA)[2] Fayez Al-Sarraj
• Vice Chairman of the Ahmed Maiteeq
Presidential Council
• President of the House of Aguila Saleh Issa
Representatives

Legislature House of Representatives

Formation

• Independence from Italy 10 February 1947

• Released 24 December 1951
from Britishand French oversig
ht[c]
 • Coup d'état by Muammar 1 September 1969
Gaddafi
• Socialist People's Libyan Arab 19 November 1977
Jamahiriya
• The Great Socialist People's April 1986
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
• Revolution Day 17 February 2011

Area
• Total 1,759,541 km2(679,363 sq mi)
(16th)

Population
• 2016 estimate 6,653,210[3](108th)
• 2018 census 7,200,000
• Density 3.74/km2(9.7/sq mi) (218th)

GDP (PPP) 2019 estimate

• Total $79.595 billion[4]
• Per capita $12,100[4]

GDP (nominal) 2019 estimate

• Total $51.330 billion[4](98)
• Per capita $7,803[4]

HDI (2017) 0.706[5]

high · 108th

Currency Libyan dinar(LYD)

Time zone UTC+2 (EET)

Driving side right

Calling code +218

ISO 3166 code LY

Internet TLD .ly

.‫ل ي ب يا‬

a. ^ United Nations note concerning official name: "Following the

adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 66/1, the
Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations formally
notified the United Nations of a Declaration by the National
Transitional Council of 3 August changing the official name of the
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to "Libya" and changing Libya's national
flag."
 b. ^ The official language is simply identified as "Arabic"
(Constitutional Declaration, article 1).

c. ^ The UK and France held a joint condominium over Libya

through the United Nations Trusteeship Council.

Libya (/ˈlɪbiə/ ( listen); Arabic: ‫ليبيا‬‎, romanized: Lībiyā; Italian: Libia; officially the State of Libya,[dubious –
discuss][6][7][8][9]
) is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the
north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the
west, and Tunisia to the northwest. The sovereign state is made of three historical
regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres
(700,000 sq mi), Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, and is the 16th largest country in the
world.[10] Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world.[11] The largest city and
capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over one million of Libya's six million people.[12] The
second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.
Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age. The Phoenicians established trading posts
in western Libya, and ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously
ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks before becoming a part of the Roman Empire.
Libya was an early centre of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was
mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, when invasions brought Islam to the region. In the
16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in
1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ottoman rule continued until
the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1947. During
the Second World War, Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign. The Italian
population then went into decline.
Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I. The
"bloodless"[13] coup leader Muammar Gaddafi ruled the country from 1969 and the Libyan Cultural
Revolution in 1973 until he was overthrown and killed in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. Two authorities initially
claimed to govern Libya: the Council of Deputies in Tobruk and the 2014 General National
Congress (GNC) in Tripoli, which considered itself the continuation of the General National
Congress, elected in 2012.[14][15]After UN-led peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli governments,[16] a
unified interim UN-backed Government of National Accordwas established in 2015,[17] and the GNC
disbanded to support it.[18] Parts of Libya remain outside either government's control, with various Islamist,
rebel and tribal militias administering some areas.[19] As of July 2017, talks are still ongoing between the
GNA and the Tobruk-based authorities to end the strife and unify the divided establishments of the state,
including the Libyan National Army and the Central Bank of Libya.[20][21]
Libya is a member of the United Nations (since 1955), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League,
the OIC and OPEC. The country's official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni
Muslims.