The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks in the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar al-QADHAFI assumed leadership and began to espouse his political system at home, which was a combination of socialism and Islam. During the 1970s, QADHAFI used oil revenues to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversive and terrorist activities that included the downing of two airliners - one over Scotland, another in Northern Africa - and a discotheque bombing in Berlin. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically and economically following the attacks; sanctions were lifted in 2003 following Libyan acceptance of responsibility for the bombings and agreement to claimant compensation. QADHAFI also agreed to end Libya's program to develop weapons of mass destruction, and he made significant strides in normalizing relations with Western nations. Unrest that began in several Middle Eastern and North African countries in late 2010 erupted in Libyan cities in early 2011. QADHAFI's brutal crackdown on protesters spawned a civil war that triggered UN authorization of air and naval intervention by the international community. After months of seesaw fighting between government and opposition forces, the QADHAFI regime was toppled in mid-2011 and replaced by a transitional government. Libya in 2012 formed a new parliament and elected a new prime minister. The country subsequently elected a new parliament in 2014, but remnants of the outgoing legislature refused to leave office and created a rival government. The UN since September 2014 has been working to reconcile the governments and encouraging them to form a national unity government.
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria
25 00 N, 17 00 E
Africa
total: 1,759,540 sq km
land: 1,759,540 sq km
water: 0 sq km
about 2.5 times the size of Texas; slightly larger than Alaska
total: 4,339 km
border countries (6): Algeria 989 km, Chad 1,050 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 342 km, Sudan 382 km, Tunisia 461 km
1,770 km
territorial sea: 12 nm
note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north
exclusive fishing zone: 62 nm
Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior
mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions
mean elevation: 423 m
elevation extremes: lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m
highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m
petroleum, natural gas, gypsum
agricultural land: 8.8%
arable land 1%; permanent crops 0.2%; permanent pasture 7.6%
forest: 0.1%
other: 91.1% (2011 est.)
4,700 sq km (2012)
0.7 cu km (2011)
total: 4.33 cu km/yr (14%/3%/83%)
per capita: 796.1 cu m/yr (2000)
hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms
desertification; limited natural freshwater resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, brings water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert
noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan
Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians)
Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)
Muslim (official; virtually all Sunni) 96.6%, Christian 2.7%, Buddhist 0.3%, Hindu <0.1, Jewish <0.1, folk religion <0.1, unafilliated 0.2%, other <0.1
note: non-Sunni Muslims include native Ibadhi Muslims (<1% of the population) and foreign Muslims (2010 est.)
6,411,776 (July 2015 est.)
note: immigrants make up just over 12% of the total population, according to UN data (2015) (July 2015 est.)
0-14 years: 26.52% (male 869,583/female 830,751)
15-24 years: 17.77% (male 588,243/female 551,139)
25-54 years: 46.62% (male 1,567,608/female 1,421,246)
55-64 years: 4.97% (male 163,133/female 155,703)
65 years and over: 4.12% (male 132,740/female 131,630) (2015 est.)
total dependency ratio: 52.4%
youth dependency ratio: 45.5%
elderly dependency ratio: 6.9%
potential support ratio: 14.5% (2015 est.)
total: 28 years
male: 28.2 years
female: 27.8 years (2015 est.)
2.23% (2015 est.)
18.03 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)
3.58 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)
7.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)
urban population: 78.6% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 1.13% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
TRIPOLI (capital) 1.126 million (2015)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female
total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2015 est.)
9 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
total: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 12.42 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2015 est.)
total population: 76.26 years
male: 74.54 years
female: 78.06 years (2015 est.)
2.05 children born/woman (2015 est.)
41.9% (2007)
4.3% of GDP (2013)
1.9 physicians/1,000 population (2009)
3.7 beds/1,000 population (2012)
improved:
urban: 54.2% of population
rural: 54.9% of population
total: 54.4% of population
unimproved:
urban: 45.8% of population
rural: 45.1% of population
total: 45.6% of population (2001 est.)
improved:
urban: 96.8% of population
rural: 95.7% of population
total: 96.6% of population
unimproved:
urban: 3.2% of population
rural: 4.3% of population
total: 3.4% of population (2015 est.)
NA
NA
31.9% (2014)
5.6% (2007)
NA
See the rest here:
CIA - The World Factbook: Libya