| Official
Name : |
AL JAMAHIRIYA AL ARABIYA AL LIBIYAH ASH SHABIYA AL ISHTIRAKIYAH AL UZMA
(Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab State) -changed to this in 1977. |
| Total
Area: |
1.8 square kilometres |
| Population: |
6.5 million (2011 estimate). |
| Languages: |
Arabic (official), Berber, English, Italian, Hamitic, Tifinagh. |
| Religions: |
Sunni Muslim 95%, Christian 3%. |
| Capital: |
Tripoli, population 1.095 million (2009) |
| Currency: |
Libyan dinar, divided into 1000 dirhams. |
| Independant: |
24 December 1951? |
| Geography: |
The 4th largest country in Africa. Libya is mostly desert, with only the narrow coastal strip (and esp the north east) receiving sufficient rainfall for agriculture. The vast majority of the interior is uninhabited desert dotted with small oasis communities, the largest being Sabha, that receives most of it's water from underground aquifers. The land rises in the south east to the Tibesti Mountains on the border with Chad. |
| Flag: |
plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam, the state religion. |
