Libya

From World travel guide

Libya is a country in North Africa. In the north it has a Mediterranean Sea coast, with Egypt to the east and Tunisia to the west. It also has land borders with Algeria, Chad, Niger, and Sudan. More than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 4.4 People 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 6.1 Transportation 7 Talk 8 Buy 8.1 Economy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact 17.1 Communications 18 External links

Regions

Cities

Capital 

Tripoli - One of the major highlights is the capital, Tripoli.

Administrative divisions 

25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions

Ports and harbors 

Al Khums, Banghazi, Darnah, Marsa al Burayqah, Misratah, Ra's Lanuf, Tobruk, Tripoli, Zuwarah

Other destinations

• Leptis Magna - Another highlight is the old Roman city of Leptis Magna. In its time, this site was the second largest town of the Roman Empire, after Rome.

Understand

Climate

Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior

Terrain

Mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions

Elevation extremes 

lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m
highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m

Natural resources 

petroleum, natural gas, gypsum

Land use 

arable land: 1.03%
permanent crops: 0.17%
other: 98.8% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 

4,700 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards 

hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms. More than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert

Environment - current issues 

desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities

History

Independence 

24 December 1951 (from Italy)

National holiday 

Revolution Day, 1 September (1969)

Constitution 

11 December 1969, amended 2 March 1977

Since he took power in a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI has espoused his own political system - a combination of socialism and Islam - which he calls the Third International Theory. Viewing himself as a revolutionary leader, he used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, even supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. Libyan military adventures failed, e.g., the prolonged foray of Libyan troops into the Aozou Strip in northern Chad was finally repulsed in 1987. Libyan support for terrorism decreased after UN sanctions were imposed in 1992. Those sanctions were suspended in April 1999.

Disputes - international 

Chadian rebels from Aozou region reside in Libya; Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in Niger as well as part of southeastern Algeria in currently dormant disputes.

People

Population 

5,368,585
note: includes 662,669 non-nationals, of which an estimated 500,000 or more are Africans living in Libya (July 2002 est.)

Nationality 

noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan

Ethnic groups 

Berber and Arab 97%, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Tunisians

Get in

By plane

British Airways and Libyan-arab airlines both operate flights to Tripoli International Airport from London Heathrow. British Airlines fly about 5 days a week.

By train

By car

By bus

By boat

Get around

Transportation

Railways 

note: Libya has had no railroad in operation since 1965, all previous systems having been dismantled; current plans are to construct a 1.435-m standard-gauge line from the Tunisian frontier to Tripoli and Misratah, then inland to Sabha, center of a mineral-rich area, but there has been little progress; other plans made jointly with Egypt would establish a rail line from As Sallum, Egypt, to Tobruk with completion originally set for mid-1994; Libya signed contracts with two private companies - Bahne of Egypt and Jez Sistemas Ferroviarios of Spain - in 1998 for the supply of crossings and pointwork (2001)

Highways 

total: 24,484 km
paved: 6,798 km
unpaved: 17,686 km
note: data for the length of unpaved roads include the assumption that because they were listed as secondary roads, they are unpaved; some may be paved and some part of the primary roads may not be paved (1996)

Airports 

136 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways 

total: 58
over 3,047 m: 23
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 2 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 22

Airports - with unpaved runways 

total: 78
under 914 m: 18 (2002)
over 3,047 m: 5
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 39
1,524 to 2,437 m: 14

Heliports 

1 (2002)

Talk

Languages 

Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities

Buy

Economy

Economy - overview 

The socialist-oriented economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contributes practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Import restrictions and inefficient resource allocations have led to periodic shortages of basic goods and foodstuffs. The nonoil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. Higher oil prices in 1999 and 2000 led to an increase in export revenues, which improved macroeconomic balances and helped to stimulate the economy. The suspension of UN sanctions in 1999 also boosted growth. Libya's January 2002 51% devaluation of the official exchange rate of the dinar is another fiscal plus, although it will also bring higher inflation.

Currency 

Libyan dinar (LYD)

Currency code 

LYD

Exchange rates 

Libyan dinars per US dollar - 0.6501 (December 2001), 0.6501 (2001), 0.5403 (2000), 0.5403 (1999), 0.3785 (1998), 0.3891 (1997); market rate for Libyan dinars per US dollar - 1.55 (January 2002)
note: Libya devalued its official rate for foreign trade on 1 January 2002 to 1.30 dinars per US dollar; the previous official rate was 0.63 dinar per US dollar (Dec 2001 )

Eat

yummy

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Legal system 

based on Italian civil law system and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Stay healthy

Respect

Religions 

Sunni Muslim 97%

Contact

Diplomatic representation in the US 

Libya does not have an embassy in the US

Diplomatic representation from the US 

the US suspended all embassy activities in Tripoli on 2 May 1980

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use 

500,000 (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular 

20,000 (1998)

Telephone system 

general assessment: telecommunications system is being modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996
domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations
international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (1999)

Radio broadcast stations 

AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 3 (2002)

Radios 

1.35 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations 

12 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999)

Televisions 

730,000 (1997)

Internet country code 

.ly

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 

1 (2002)

Internet users 

20,000 (2001)

External links

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