Libya
| Anthem: Allahu Akbar | |
| Capital | Tripoli |
| Largest city | Tripoli |
| Official language(s) | Arabic |
| Government | People's Congress |
| Area | |
| - Total | 1,759,540 km²1,759,540,000,000 m² 17,595,400 ha 679,362.192 miles² (17th) |
| 679,182 sq mi | |
| - Water (%) | Negl. |
| Population | |
| - July 2005 est. | 5,853,000 (countries by population|105th) |
| - Density | 3/km² (220th) 8.5/sq mi |
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate |
| - Total | $67.244 billion (67th) |
| - Per capita | $11,630 (58th) |
| HDI (2003) | 0.799 (58th) – medium |
| Currency | Libyan dinar (LYD)
|
| Time zone | EET zone (UTC+2) |
| - Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+2) |
| Internet TLD | .ly |
| Calling code | +218
|
- This article, or parts of this article, has been imported from the page Wikipedia:Libya.
Libya (Arabic: ليبيا Lībiyā), officially the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الإشتراكية العظمى), is a country in Northern Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, it lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. Slightly larger in area than Alaska, Libya is the fourth largest nation in Africa and the 17th largest in the world. The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.8 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica.
The name "Libya" is derived from the Egyptian term "Lebu", referring to Berber peoples living west of the Nile, and was adopted into Greek as "Libya". In ancient Greece, the term had a broader meaning, encompassing all of North Africa west of Egypt, and sometimes referring to the entire continent of Africa.
With one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, Libya has one of the largest per capita GDPs in Africa. With an area of 1.8 million square kilometres, 90% of which is desert, Libya is led by revolutionary Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi, one of the most infamous political figures of the 20th century.
