Libya

Libya (Arabic: ‏ليبيا‎ Lībiyā) is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya faces Egypt to the east, Sudan to the south east, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.

As a result of the 2011 Libyan civil war, there are currently two entities claiming to be the official government of Libya:[4]

The Tripoli-based government of Muammar Gaddafi refers to Libyan state as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya[5][6]. It controls most of the western half of the country.

The Benghazi-based Transitional National Council refers to the Libyan state as the Libyan Republic.[7][8]. It is led by Mustafa Abdul Jalil and controls most of the eastern half of the country.

With an area of almost 1,800,000 square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world.[9] The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 6.4 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. Libya has the highest HDI in Africa and the fourth highest GDP (PPP) per capita in Africa as of 2009, behind Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. These are largely due to its large petroleum reserves and low population.[10][11] Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world and the 17th-highest petroleum production.
Contents